“Beautiful Darkness” by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl – Gatlin Unleashed
I have already discussed Beautiful Creatures, the first book in the trilogy by the same name. If you’d like to check it out, you can do so by reading my Beautiful Creatures review. If you haven’t done so and are planning on reading this one, I heavily suggest you take a step back and start at the first book, for this review will contain spoilers about the first part. You have been warned.
In any case, the second book in the trilogy by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl is called Beautiful Darkness, and once again, we follow the adventures of Lena Duchannes, a Caster who still hasn't been claimed by light or darkness, and Ethan, the mortal she fell in love with.
If you remember the first book, Lena carries around a curse with her, and with the loss of her Uncle Macon and the impending arrival of the 17th moon, Lena becomes tremendously worried her curse will destroy all she has and everyone she loves. She decides that the best course of action would be to leave Ethan, and so she heads for the Great Barrier, alongside Siren Ridley, her cousin, and John Breed, a most mysterious man.
On his side of the fence, Ethan is once again plagued by strange visions, and this time he is taken down beneath Gatlin, into the innumerable tunnels running beneath it. He embarks on this adventure with the help of his best friend Link, and Liv, a clever Keeper in training, in hopes of saving Lena from the curse haunting her life.
As you can probably tell by that description, the second book retains much of the first one’s supernatural aspect, even building upon it even further. Whereas the first book was more mysterious and established the character as well as the setting, I found this one to be faster paced and more focused on actual events rather than character development, although there is plenty of that too.
As you can probably tell by that description, the second book retains much of the first one’s supernatural aspect, even building upon it even further. Whereas the first book was more mysterious and established the character as well as the setting, I found this one to be faster paced and more focused on actual events rather than character development, although there is plenty of that too.
The returning characters from the first book will no doubt please many, as they are just the way we remember them, acting like they should, although that is not to say they all maintain the same behavior throughout the story. The new characters which are introduced into the story actually help to breathe some life into it, especially Liv whose curious, energetic and clever personality can become quite contagious.
Even though the characters are on different adventures, they do come together for one of the most explosive climaxes you've probably read, at the same time leaving many loose ends to be tied up in the final book. All in all, if you liked the first book, I highly recommend you keep on going with the adventure with Beautiful Darkness.
 | Kami GarciaPersonal site Kami Garcia is an American writer who grew up in Washington, D.C., holding an MA in education. Along with her friend and co-author, Margaret Stohl, they creating the Caster Chronicles series, which debuted with the very well-received book, Beautiful Creatures. |
 | Margaret StohlPersonal site Margaret Stohl was born in California, and is best-known as being Kami Garcia’s co-author for the Caster Chronicles series, which holds well-regarded books such as Beautiful Creatures and Beautiful Darkness. In 2013 she published what is the start of her own series, Icons. |
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