Beautiful chaos by by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

Razorbill, 2011.
(Age 14+) The third in the gothic, paranormal Beautiful creatures series, Beautiful chaos continues the story of Ethan and Lena, a Castor girl, who has changed everything in the world with her supernatural powers. Gatlin, the small Southern town where Ethan lives, is besieged by swarms of locust, heat waves and crippling storms. Mrs Link is declaring that the end of the world is nigh. Ethan is being haunted in his dreams with vision of falling and death and is losing small pieces of his memory,while Amma is visiting strange people with voodoo powers. Will they be able to mend the crack that has opened up between the Castor and Mortal worlds?
As with the first two books in the series, which are essential to read first, the action and plot move along at such a swift pace that I found it difficult to put this book down. There were many twists and turns that kept me guessing. It seemed obvious that someone would die but who would have the unhappy ending that is hinted at on the blurb? Amma's visits to the voodoo man were intriguing and her fear was palpable.
As in the other books the well written main and secondary characters and the small town setting make the story so interesting. Lena is desperately trying to come to terms with her powers, while Link, the ever steady friend is coping with his transformation into Linkabus and trying to woo the unattainable Ridley. Ethan and Lena's love story develops in a satisfactory way, but Beautiful chaos centres on Ethan and the suspense that is engendered by his nightmares.
With a cliff-hanger ending that was a surprise, although there were plenty of hints on the way, fans of this series will be waiting impatiently for the next book.
Pat Pledger