Ethan Wate used to think of Gatlin, the small Southern town he had always called home, as a place where nothing ever changed. Then he met mysterious newcomer Lena Duchannes, who revealed a secret world that had been hidden in plain sight all along. A Gatlin that harbored ancient secrets beneath its moss-covered oaks and cracked sidewalks. A Gatlin where a curse has marked Lena's family of powerful Supernaturals for generations. A Gatlin where impossible, magical, life-altering events happen.
Sometimes life-ending.
Together they can face anything Gatlin throws at them, but after suffering a tragic loss, Lena starts to pull away, keeping secrets that test their relationship. And now that Ethan's eyes have been opened to the darker side of Gatlin, there's no going back. Haunted by strange visions only he can see, Ethan is pulled deeper into his town's tangled history and finds himself caught up in the dangerous network of underground passageways endlessly crisscrossing the South, where nothing is as it seems.
Sometimes life-ending.
Together they can face anything Gatlin throws at them, but after suffering a tragic loss, Lena starts to pull away, keeping secrets that test their relationship. And now that Ethan's eyes have been opened to the darker side of Gatlin, there's no going back. Haunted by strange visions only he can see, Ethan is pulled deeper into his town's tangled history and finds himself caught up in the dangerous network of underground passageways endlessly crisscrossing the South, where nothing is as it seems.
Title: Beautiful Darkness (Caster Chronicles ~ Book 2)
Author: Kami Garcia | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads | Website | Blog
Author: Margaret Stohl | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads | Website
Publication Date: October 12 2010
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
ISBN: 0316077046
Length: 508 Pages
Add it to your TBR Pile: Goodreads
Buy It: Amazon US / Amazon UK
Source: Purchased (Kindle Edition)
Cover Love: Lovely as ever... the script is perfect and the stairs fit the story.
Point of View: 1st person, following Ethan
My Rating: 4 Stars
Hhhhmmm.... I am going to be honest right from the start of this review. I read Beautiful Creatures right before I watched the film. I really enjoyed the book but the film was such a let down to me. To the point that I have a friend that was going to start the series after watching the film and now she doesn’t want to even read the book. I was even finding it hard to start Beautiful Darkness because of disappointed I was with the film. But I knew I shouldn’t be judging the series by the film so I bit the bullet and started.
“We don't get to chose what is true. We only get to choose what we do about it.”
Sadly I struggled to get into it... The first half of the book was just so-so and would have given it three stars if it had stayed that way. However, the second half was so exciting and fun and I would have easily given it five stars if the entire book had been that good. Since there was a mixture of the two I think a solid four is the most fitting.
The reason I enjoyed Beautiful Creatures was because of the relationship between Ethan and Lena. Yes the side characters are fun and the story telling is simply beautiful... like really beautiful. You can almost hear the sounds of the town and you feel as though you could walk down the street and know your way around Gatlin. But it is Ethan and Lena that make this story.
“I had never been this mad at her before. It was one thing to be attacked by someone you hated, but this was something else. This was the kind of hurt that could only be inflicted by someone you loved, who you thought loved you. It was sort of like being stabbed from the inside out.”
So the struggling? Ethan and Lena are just not the same... Lena is pulling away from Ethan. Ethan tries to keep her close but off she goes. So the entire book is really about Ethan trying to find Lena and to save her from... well herself really. I just couldn’t get into the story because of what was happening to them. I know that couples will always at some point have a hard time of things and there are always rough patches, but this entire book was a rough patch for them.
“In Light there is Dark, and in Dark there is Light.”
Then... somewhere after around 65% things started to get really interesting and fun. The story that was unfolding kept my attention and I honestly couldn’t put the book down from this point to the very end. I was so happy to have that same excited feeling as I had from book one again. So much happens at the end of this book. It is just one revelation after another.
“She was my destination. I was always on the way to Lena, even when I wasn't. Even when she wasn't on her way to me.”
So would I suggest this series? My answer at this point would be a big fat yes. As I said I adore Ethan and Lena and I am invested in their future and I want to see what happens next.
However... I think I need a little break from the series. I plan to read a few different books next and then I will come back to them. The writing truly is wonderful and as I said before you really do feel like you are there so with that said there is a lot of drama and I just feel like a need a tiny breather before I step back into Gatlin. I know there are still going to be rough patches but I am looking forward to seeing where the story takes Ethan and Lena next... Just not right away.
“Because life goes on, L. The birds do their thing, and the bees do theirs. Seeds get scattered, and everything grows back.”
No comments:
Post a Comment
I would love to hear what you have to say! I read and try to respond to every single comment I receive. Knowing there are people out there reading is what makes this all worth it... : )