Book Review: Beautiful Darkness (The Caster Chronicles #2) by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

Beautiful Darkness (The Caster Chronicles #2) by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl
Release Date: 12th October 2010

Publisher: Little Brown Books
Format: Paperback 
Pages: 503
Rating: 4.5/5.0

This book was read as part of the 2013 OTS, 2013 ODY and 2013 BSR

Summary from Amazon:

"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."

Review:
Boy did I enjoy this book. Whilst I will say that there were some things wrong with this book, I thought that it was a solid follow up to Beautiful Creatures. 

I really am enjoying having the story told from a male POV. What with YA fiction dominated by female narrators, having Ethan tell us the story is something different. I also think it's a clever choice. Ethan is a mortal who is just being introduced to the Caster world, just like us. He learns as he goes along, and we're right there with him. I think having Ethan as our narrator is more effective than having Lena might be, so smart move by Garcia and Stohl.

I've heard that some people found Beautiful Darkness a bit hard to get through. But I absolutely loved it - I just couldn't get enough! I thought the plot did well in following up what was established in Beautiful Creatures. I thought it tied in well with both Lena's caster problems, but also the problems of teenage love - I liked reading both problems side by side. And overall, we moved forward, finding out more information of Lena's problems and her indecision over the most important decision in her life.

I have to say, some parts of the plot didn't make sense. Especially involving Macon - I tried to wrap my head around that one, but I honestly don't see how that would have worked. And then there's Lena's decision at the end. I have a hard time believing that the well being of the entire Caster world rests of the decision of one girl. I also have a hard time believing that Lena is the only caster ever to have issues with deciding to be dark or light. So yes, some parts of the plot didn't make sense, but overall, I really, really enjoyed this book, and am excited to continue on with the series soon!