“She was my destination. I was always on my way to Lena, even when I wasn’t. Even when she wasn’t on her way to me.” – Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl, Beautiful Darkness
Synopsis : Together Ethan and Lena 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.
In the sequel to Beautiful Creatures, Lena and Ethan find themselves dealing with the sad aftermath of the first novel. Slowly, they began to deal with the fissures and distance in their relationship, while darkness begins to close in on them. Along the way, we get introduced to a few new villains and meet a new cast (lol) of characters.
Unlike the previous novel, the majority of the action takes place within 2 months, and wow does a lot of stuff happens. At times it felt as if were overloaded with secrets, revelations and information. The plot points are sometimes as confusing as the Caster tunnels. If it weren’t for the constant reiteration of facts presented in the first novel I think I would have been more lost.
I felt like there were a lot of convenient Deux ex Machinas. I mean they didn’t directly affect the plot, they just seemed to conveniently help move the story along.
However, the reason I can happily wade through all of this is because of the great characters and strong writing. The novel is filled with amazing characters who you want to root for. Each character has a unique voice and personality that you can always count on. I think the ‘supporting’ characters really stole the show for me ! Especially Link who is funny and the perfect sidekick. . . as long as he isn’t singing.
Ethan is far from perfect and isn’t afraid to show it. You can feel his reluctant, yet caring nature. Although he seems to get amnesia about Chekov’s Gun at least three times. I suspect it is to add suspense, but it falls short.
This novel also featured more paranormal elements than the previous, Ethan and Lena fight things more evil than Savannah Snow or the DAR. There are less literary references, a little less southern charm but more touching moments.
I enjoyed this book, maybe not as much as the first one, but the ending has me hooked. Now excuse me, I’m going to pre-order Beautiful Chaos now.
1/2 of the blogging duo at Books and Sensibility, I have been blogging about and reviewing books since 2011. I read any and every genre, here on the blog I mostly review Fantasy, Adult Fiction, and Young Adult with a focus on audiobooks.