Blog Tour Review: Beautiful Darkness by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

Caster Chronicles, Book 2

Tags: YA, paranormal, romance, South, magic

Summary

Ethan Wate knew that his romance with powerful Caster girl Lena Duchannes was never going to be easy. But, in the wake of Lena’s uncle’s death, things seem almost impossibly difficult. Lena is pulling away from Ethan and hanging out with her Dark cousin, Ridley, and a mysterious boy who is but is not quite an Incubus. Even worse, old and new nemeses return, struggling to stake a claim on Lena and her Caster powers.

With the help of his best friend, a new Keeper in town, and an unexpected Caster ally, Ethan sets off on a journey through mortal and Caster worlds, chasing a Caster myth that may or may not hold the answer to Lena’s changes.

Review

BEAUTIFUL DARKNESS is a worthy sequel to Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl’s bestselling debut novel, Beautiful Creatures. Everything that fans loved in the first book appear here as well: the lush Southern atmosphere, comfortable teen speak, forces of good and evil battling, and a romance that triumphs over impossible obstacles.

BEAUTIFUL DARKNESS occurs on what could be considered a grander scale than Beautiful Creatures. Stakes are higher, adventures are more far-reaching. Events unfold at the same almost maddeningly leisurely pace as the first book, but past the first 150 pages, I found myself absorbed by the epicness of Ethan’s struggles. I loved that the plot takes you miles across Southeastern US and beyond that, in the Caster realm. The physical movement of the characters in BEAUTIFUL DARKNESS now matches the sprawling grandiosity of this series’ premise—something that BC fans will devour.

The second book reveals to us more of the core group of characters’ inner turmoils, from Ethan and Lena’s conflicting emotions and dedication towards one another, to Link and Ridley’s evolutions; introduces several compelling new characters; and adds mysterious depth to some already larger-than-life Gatlin residents. A more or less successful web of characters and their development set this series apart from most other paranormal romances.

The Caster Chronicles works, for me, on the most basic level of sweeping good vs. evil conflicts and romances that conquer all. It is, to be honest, not great writing. I find Ethan’s voice to be generally unconvincing, a boy lacking in truly attractive distinction. All too often the writing contains sentences that make points that the average reader will be able to infer for him- or herself: “duh” reactions to events or revelations. The magical element of this series is still a bit murky for me; I feel like it relies mostly on the characters’ insistence of its malevolence for its impact (or lack thereof). Critical revelations occur with insufficient forewarning, and I was left scratching my head and wrinkling my forehead sometimes in confusion and disbelief.

Those points being made, BEAUTIFUL DARKNESS and the first book have accomplished what the series set out to do: create a slightly different paranormal romance world that Twilight fans will greedily devour. If you’re not too hampered by a need for literary sophistication, then this is one of the most entertaining and epic paranormal series out there.

Photo credit: Vania Stoyanova.

Similar Authors
Stephenie Meyer
Anastasia Hopcus
Maggie Stiefvater

Writing: 3/5
Characters: 4/5
Plot: 3/5

Overall Rating: 3.5 out of 5


Cover discussion: 4 out of 5 - I love how nice it looks alongside the Beautiful Creatures cover. The stairs in the background allude to the Caster Tunnels that feature so prominently in this book.

Little, Brown / Oct. 12, 2010 / Hardcover / 503pp. / $17.99

ARC received at BEA.

This review was brought to you as part of the Beautiful Darkness blog tour organized by Novel Noise. Another tour stop occurs today at Raw INK Online, and the next blog stop on the tour is Monday, October 18 at GreenBeanTeenQueen. Happy book birthday, Beautiful Darkness!

Summer Giveaway #9: Beautiful Darkness by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl (international)

So who in the world has been impatiently waiting for the sequel to Beautiful Creatures, to read more about Lena and Ethan? Well, here's your chance to read Beautiful Darkness by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl months before everyone else can!

Summary:

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.

To enter, fill out the form here, making sure to answer the question. This giveaway is open INTERNATIONALLY and ends Friday, July 30, 2010. Good luck!

Review: Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl

Tags: YA, romance, mystery, magic, South

Rating: 4 out of 5


Summary

Ethan Wate can’t wait to get out of Gatlin, South Carolina, where his family has lived for many generations. Nothing new ever happens in Gatlin, and everyone knows everyone else’s business…until the mysterious and beautiful Lena Duchannes arrives in town. Immediately, people dislike Lena, and rumors fly: she’s the niece of the town recluse, Macon Ravenwood, and strange things seem to happen wherever she goes.

However, Ethan feels a powerful connection to Lena, for she has appeared in his dreams for months, as a girl he never manages to save. No matter how much the town shuns him for trying to get to know her, and no matter how much she resists him, Ethan is determined to get to know Lena and to find out what his dream means…secrets, dangers, and all.

Review

BEAUTIFUL CREATURES seems poised to be the next big thing in YA literature. It’s got all the right elements: eclectic characters, villains, magic, and true love. It’s almost 600 pages long, but you’ll be unable to put it down, even during the slower and more confusing moments.

The story of Ethan and Lena is primarily a romance, one that will appeal to YA romance buffs who appreciate Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight and Maggie Stiefvater’s Shiver. This means that at times their romance can feel a little unbelievable in its intensity and all-encompassing-ness. However, that the story is told from Ethan’s point of view makes it wonderfully sweet, a romance to swoon over. Ethan is an accessible protagonist whose complex feelings of alienation, desire for hometown escape, and doomed love for an unaccepted girl makes him heartachingly real and desirable in readers’ eyes. Ethan Wate will make all bad YA boys ashamed of their rebelliousness, and that’s saying something.

I very much enjoyed the way in which the paranormal element was treated in BEAUTIFUL CREATURES. I had no idea that that was what BC was going to be about, and so in the interest of not spoiling your reading experience, I’m just going to say that. I loved its slow but satisfying buildup.

One might mistakenly expect that a 600-page YA book would be tedious and slow-moving, but BEAUTIFUL CREATURES just might prove that long YA books are the best kind. The story moves along at a delicious and deliberate pace, slowly building atmosphere and making you beg to have your growing list of questions answered. Occasionally some scenes and conversations between characters may seem a bit too drawn out or unnecessary, but overall the book is as easy to devour as a cool glass of iced tea on a hot summer day.

Overall, you won’t regret reading BEAUTIFUL CREATURES, no matter what kind of reader you are. From the paranormal aspect, to the romance, to the rich Southern atmosphere, this book will be sure to draw you in. Don’t miss out on the book that is worthy of all the hype it’s getting!

Similar Authors
Stephenie Meyer (Twilight)
Maggie Stiefvater (Shiver)

Writing: 4/5
Characters: 4/5
Plot: 4/5

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5


Cover discussion: 3 out of 5 - Mysterious and romantic... just like the story itself!

Little, Brown / Dec. 2009 (but available now!) / Hardcover / $17.99

Thank you, Margie, Kami, and Little, Brown for giving me the opportunity to review this book!

Waiting on Wednesday (14)

Another three-parter WoW post because all of a sudden I'm stumbling across so many brilliant sounding reads that I want to share them with you all!

Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

There were no surprises in Gatlin County. We were pretty much the epicenter of the middle of nowhere. At least, that’s what I thought. Turns out, I couldn’t have been more wrong. There was a curse. There was a girl. And in the end, there was a grave.

Lena Duchannes is unlike anyone the small Southern town of Gatlin has ever seen, and she’s struggling to conceal her power, and a curse that has haunted her family for generations. But even within the overgrown gardens, murky swamps, and crumbling graveyards of the forgotten South, a secret cannot stay hidden forever.

Ethan Wate, who has been counting the months until he can escape from Gatlin, is haunted by dreams of a beautiful girl he has never met. When Lena moves into the town’s oldest and most infamous plantation, Ethan is inexplicably drawn to her and determined to uncover the connection between them.

In a town with no surprises, one secret could change everything. 

Can we just say that if you are not immediately attracted to the stunning cover, then the mysterious synopsis should attract you? I love books where the characters or locations have mysterious histories abound with the paranormal. And there seems to be a strong love interest. Plus, people like Vania and Karin keep on raving about this book on Twitter and Goodreads, pretty much driving me mad with anticipation. And Kami and Margaret are very active on their blogs and on Twitter, which builds up the exictement even more. It sounds like it's gonna be great!

Beautiful Creatures will be released in hardcover by Little, Brown on December 1, 2009.

The Actor and the Housewife by Shannon Hale

What if you were to meet the number-one person on your laminated list—you know, that list you joke about with your significant other about which five celebrities you’d be allowed to run off with if ever given the chance? And of course since it’ll never happen it doesn’t matter…

Mormon housewife Becky Jack is seven months pregnant with her fourth child when she meets celebrity hearththrob Felix Callahan. Twelve hours, one elevator ride, and one alcohol-free dinner later, something has happened…though nothing has happened. It isn’t sexual. It isn’t even quite love. But a month later Felix shows up in Salt Lake City to visit and before they know what’s hit them, Felix and Becky are best friends. Really. Becky’s husband is pretty cool about it. Her children roll their eyes. Her neighbors gossip endlessly. But Felix and Becky have something special…something unusual, something completely impossible to sustain. Or is it?

A magical story, The Actor and the Housewife explores what could happen when your not-so-secret celebrity crush walks right into real life and changes everything.

Shannon Hale is one of my favorite authors and she can clearly do no wrong. I very much enjoyed her previous adult novel, Austenland, and so am looking forward to reading this one!

The Actor and the Housewife will be available from Bloomsbury on June 9, 2009.

And finally, I don't like to post WoW choices if they don't have a cover, but I really really really couldn't resist this one, because this just might be the most highly anticipated book on my list for the next few years. From Megan McCafferty's website:

Bumped by Megan McCafferty

Alessandra Balzer at Balzer & Bray/HarperCollins Children’s Books acquired World English rights to New York Times bestselling author Megan McCafferty’s new novel in a two-book deal from Heather Schroder at ICM. Bumped is a sharply funny and provocative dystopian novel set in a world where only teens are able to have babies, and are contracted by adults to carry them to term. Megan is best known for her Jessica Darling series, which started with Sloppy Firsts and most recently ended with Perfect Fifths.

Can we say, "Holy....!"? Megan's gone dystopian lit! This is going to be awesome. I have no doubt that she'll conquer this new genre the same way she redefined chick lit/YA lit with the Jessica Darling series.