Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Book Review: Beautiful Darkness: The Caster Chronicles: Volume 2 by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl


Beautiful Darkness: The Caster Chronicles: Volume 2 by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl
Published:12/10/2010

Format:Paperback, 516 pages
RRP:$19.95
ISBN-13:9780141326092
Imprint:Razorbill
Publisher:Penguin UK
Origin:United Kingdom

One night in the rain, Ethan Wate opened his eyes and fell in love with Lena Duchannes. His life would never be the same.

Lena is a Caster and her family is locked in a supernatural civil war: full of darkness and demons. On her sixteenth birthday Lena made a terrifying choice, which now haunts her day and night.

And as her seventeenth birthday approaches Lena and Ethan face even greater danger. A Caster and a Mortal can never truly be together.
Every kiss is a curse.
Ethan's next heartbeat could be his last.
It is their curse now . . .

Review

Beautiful Darkness is the sequel to Beautiful Creatures, continuing the story of Lena the Caster girl and her mortal boyfriend Ethan Wate. As a second instalment, Beautiful Darkness is a tour de force--it takes all the same elements as the first novel, turns a few on their heads, and ratchets everything else up a notch or two on the dramatic scale. The plot twists flows naturally from the build up in the first novel while still managing to introduce the element of the unexpected.

Beautiful Darkness paints a very vivid and layered backdrop for the characters to interacts in and become a part of in a seamless way that some paranormal romance books miss by a mile. Garcia and Stohl have created a world that is interesting and rich, with an old south backdrop, lore, and traditions--the setting is really what sets their work apart from the endless options in the paranormal genre.

You will definitely need to read Beautiful Creatures to fully appreciate this second book as it draws upon the background established in the first novel.

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