Beautiful Darkness by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl Review

Photo from Goodreads

Title:Beautiful Darkness
Authors: Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl
Published: October 12th, 2010 by Little, Brown and Company

Plot Summary 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.

Fiona's Grade: B- 
I have some mixed feelings over this book. On the one hand, I enjoyed it- it was a nice read away from school work.  On the other hand, some of it reminded me of New Moon, which I did not care for. (In short the whole mythical person goes away against there will part accounted for most of that. Though it was made to look as if Lena had no choice. Then she did. Then the reader understood why.)

One thing I really liked about the book was the fact that Ethan was no longer a Mortal stumbling around in a mythical world. He was given a purpose in "The Order of Things" (actual quote in the book). It made his motives more complex throughout the novel, rather than just "I gotta get Lena back" although it was still one of his driving forces. I also really liked the new character, Liv. I think it will be interesting to see if/how she is incorporated into futures books, though I think her primary purpose (of making Lena jealous) is done.

I really didn't like (although after doing some soul searching, I do understand better) was Lena's angst. Angst, angst everywhere. It was understandable towards the beginning but after awhile it just got to be too much. And though I now understand why, it is still a little irksome.

Once again, I didn't really see the romance between Ethan and Lena. I think the authors are telling us rather than showing us this, because after all, a Mortal and a Caster can never be together (physically, a mortal will die.) So, I guess it's some sort of forbidden romance.

Overall, if you enjoyed Beautiful Creatures, you will probably enjoy this. It didn't go crazy off in some other direction, although there were a few twists you probably won't be expecting, which I for one enjoyed. The lower grade than the first is because Lena's angst really started to grate on my nerves, but once I got past that, it was very enjoyable. I do plan to read Beautiful Chaos, but it may take me awhile because the books in this series are not a short read.

Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl

Photo from Goodreads 

Title: Beautiful Creatures
Authors: Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company- December 1st, 2009 
Plot Summary from Goodreads: 
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

Fiona's Grade: B 

When this book first came out, I started it, but didn't really care for it so I stopped reading it after only a couple of pages. However, when I heard a movie was coming out, I decided I should pick it up and give it another try. And I actually really enjoyed it. 

When I started it, I really enjoyed the Southern small town aspect of it- how they were living in the past. Those are the kind of stories that interest me. The first subplot with the Civil War Era soldier was really interesting to me for that reason. Not so much the magical stuff until the second half of the book. Probably not even the second half, more like the last quarter. I also enjoyed all the references int he book, particularly when they were quoting all sorts of people at the meeting halfway through the book. 

My one thing I didn't really get about this book was the whole romance aspect. I just didn't see it. What I saw is that Ethan was an open-minded human being, unlike the rest of Gatlin and was interested in making a new friend- even if that new friend was a little odd. Also, they went from being kinda friends to being in love and refusing to admit it to being in love and admitting it. That just seemed really rushed to me. 

The characters were okay. When I picked up the book the first time, I thought Ethan was a girl. I didn't make that mistake the second time around. Truthfully, all the characters were stereotypical. No one surprised me. 

Overall, I enjoyed this book for the two plots in  its massive page number. If you like paranormal novels, this is one for you. It was a little dull at time, but fortunately, I could put it down and pick it up at my leisure. When I looked on Goodreads, it had some truly awful reviews; I don't think it is that bad. Sure it has some things that could be fixed (I even noticed a typo at one point), but it's a debut novel. I plan to check it out but don't know whether or not I will continue with the series.