Monday 29 July 2013

Beautiful Darkness (Castor Chronicles Book 2)


Synopsis

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 harboured ancient secrets beneath its moss-covered oaks and cracked sidewalks. A Gatlin where a curse has marked Lena's family of powerful Supernatural’s 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

Once again this book is told from Ethan’s point of view, which is a refreshing change, he is such a likeable character, that I couldn’t help liking.  The book starts with Ethan attempting to hold Lena together after the devastation on her birthday; Lena is inconsolable and doesn’t want anyone’s help. She isn’t the same character that you read about in book 1 and I found myself getting a little annoyed with her, wanting Lena to pull herself together. Yet as the story progresses with its may twists and turns you come to a point where everything you’ve read comes together.
In this 2nd book there are many new characters that are unveiled as the story moves on, Liv the keeper in training, John Breed an incubus who can walk in the sun and in particular I loved the cat Lucille Ball (maybe I’m a little bit biased being a cat lover) who appears a lot more in this book. They add depth to the story and unexpected twists, which holds the reader well. The small town of Gaitlin is the perfect setting for this story, there is Link in his beat up beater, the all American school, and along with Amma and her cooking it really pulls you into the story. I loved the whole backdrop to this tale and the caster tunnels and world that make up a secret part of Gaitlin; the authors really do their job well with their vivid descriptions.
When Lena disappears with John Breed we find Ethan, Liv, Link and Lucille Ball being drawn into the caster tunnels, they go deeper than they’ve ever been before and get a lot more than they bargained for. The way the authors entwine the caster world into the ‘normal world’ is so exciting pulling the reader into the tunnels with Ethan and the others. In Beautiful Darkness the setting is quite different to Beautiful Creatures; the setting in the caster world and tunnels is so different to Gaitlin and the school in book 1. The songs and the visions intrigue the reader as you try to decipher what they mean  and the way the visions are from the past but impinge on the present leave a  tangle of magic and involvement
I found this an excellent sequel to book 1 and couldn’t wait to read book 3, I would recommend this book for older readers, even though the target audience is young adult. This is a great read at anytime but be aware you may not want to put it down so make sure you have the time to read them. I rate this book

No comments:

Post a Comment