Author: Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl
Series: The Caster Chronicles #2
Published: October 20th 2010
Rating: 4
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.
Beautiful Creatures drew me in from the first chapter and I was instantly intrigued in the small southern town of Gatlin and all who lived there,Casters and Humans alike and so I sped through it in a few days. I bought Beautiful Darkness expecting the same but found it difficult to focus on, I kept picking it up and putting it down, Probably on account of the fact that Lena was really pissing me off throughout the book with her stubborn ways I just couldn't justify the way she treated Ethan after all the extremes he has gone through because and for her.
The plot seemed rather slow/dull at first and it took a while to get to the climax at the end, it was information overload in the last few chapters. The new characters where a great addition to the series and I believe they helped develop the story and Lena and Ethan's relationship. Liv was unlike any of the characters and she was a great in contrast with Lena I couldn't help but feel for her at times, I think she truly did fall develop feelings for Ethan and in some ways he did lead her on, Lena and Ethan were meant to be though and she did act as a hurdle for them to overcome causing their relationship to become stronger in the long run. If it wasn't for John all of the conflict may or may not have occurred but he did push Lena into most of these events that had me screaming at her in rage.
It was great to see more of Link and Ridley, They're definitely my favourite characters in the series along with Macon and it was lovely to see Ridley help out her friends in their times of need. Seeing her dedication to help Lena was a great indication of how far she would go to help the ones she loves and to introduce the fact that she's not all as bad as she sometimes seems. I'm looking forward to seeing Ridley and Link's relationship develop in the next two books as its unlike that of Ethan and Lena.
All in all, While there were certain details that annoyed me I did enjoy the second instalment of the Caster Chronicles and look forward to reading Beautiful Chaos and Beautiful Redemption, I have a feeling that the will involve even more action and crazy twists and turns! Fingers crossed anyway!
-Lily xo
