Week 50 Review: Beautiful Darkness

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 Review:
I really enjoyed this book, though the first one was a bit better. We learned more about the Caster world, and Ethan's mom, and all that, and Ethan develops a friendship with the apprentice to the Caster Library, and spending time with her because Lena is pulling away, and then goes away with John Breed and Ridley, prompting Ethan, Link, and Miss Library (I can't remember her name, but I know it starts with L because Ethan calls her that by accident at one point during the book) to start on a quest to bring her back. And yeah. Lots of fun to read!

This one was a bit confusing at points, I mean, I get that they would sneak away from his Aunt's house, but that's after the little pow wow with Amma and the Greats and the powerful elders of the Duchannes and Ravenwood families and seeing his mom's ghost and all. I don't get how those powerful ladies just let this group of teens go, when it wasn't really smart, it seemed like they should go with them. But then they pop up at the end to fight the big battle with Sarafina and Abraham.

But other then that, this was a really great book! Ethan's being pummeled with all this, Lena leaving, kinda talking with his mom, and this quest, and then where they end up is pretty great, and unique, and there's a big showdown with Lena's moon being pulled in early, and she makes a choice, and yeah, really good!

I really enjoyed this book, I can't wait to read Beautiful Chaos!

Authors: Kami Carcia and Margaret Stohl
Series: Caster Chronicles #2
Read: December 13-15th, 2011
Source: Library
Reason Why: Must read more of this series!
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Published: October 12th 2010

5/5 Hearts

5/5 Books

4/5 Stars