Book Review: Beautiful Darkness (Caster Chronicles #2) by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl (no spoilers)

Book: Beautiful Darkness

Authors: Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

Series: Caster Chronicles #2

Publication: September 19, 2011

Source: Borrowed from a friend

Rating: 5/5 stars

Summary (from Goodreads):

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.

My Thoughts

First off I would like to apologize if I fail to form coherent sentences about this book. I'm in awe of the wonderment of this book. After I finished reading it all I could think was wow this book is absolutely amazing. I think the characters and the setting are what totally drive these novels. My only complaint about this book is that there wasn't enough Lena and when Lena was in there she was really weird. Basically the premise of this book is that Lena runs off to this magical caster place, The Great Barrier with a new character, John Breed. Ethan, Link, and Keeper-in-training Liv set out to find Lena through the never ending passageways. Ethan's dad although he is mentioned in the beginning isn't a very big part of this novel whereas we learn some very interesting facts about Ethan's mom Lila Evers Wate. Even in death Macon is still very much included in this novel. I'm so happy my prediction with Macon was correct although I can't tell you what my predication was. I wish there was a bit more Marian and Amma in this novel, but the authors did a great job with those characters. I just love them. There are also a few new characters introduced to us such as Twlya, Arelia (Macon's mom), Liv, and John Breed. We also learn more about Macon's great, great grandfather Abraham, Macon's brother Hunting, and Lena's mother Sarafine. Ethan and Link were great characters as usual, but my favorite character was still Ridley. Ridley goes through some major changes in this novel that I'm still not entirely sure that I'm okay with, but she was still an amazing character. The setting and the pictures I got in my head while reading this novel were amazing. The great barrier was just described beautifully. I also liked the concept of the tunnels being never ending and super confusing.  Like in the first novel Ethan continues to get visions to see into the Ravenwood family past and we continue to put together the pieces of the puzzle. I just wish I could tell you all the wonderful things about this book. It was so amazing. The ending was Wow, just amazing. I couldn't believe what they brought down and I totally didn't see it coming. I was thinking with this novel we weren't going to get as amazing of an ending as the first, but we totally did. I'm so excited to read the next book in the series Beautiful Choas. 


Memorable Quote
"Sometimes if is hard to imagine a place like that really exists. People have been judging me my whole life." (Lena)

Thanks for reading and please do yourself a favor and read this series.

Rachael