No matter how badly you want things to stay the same, the never will. Things change; it’s a part of life. Sometimes, though, it can seem like things are slipping out of your control. That’s how Ethan feels in the book Beautiful Darkness by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl. I am on page 239 of the second book in the series, and so far, in my opinion, it is the best. Things have taken a turn for the worse after Lena’s sixteenth birthday. As summer arrives, Ethan is haunted by visions of a doomed love story between Macon and some woman. To make matters worse, Ridley is back with a mysterious guy named John Breed, who seems to be different than any other person in Lena’s family. Things are just beginning in Gatlin, and it will be a summer Ethan will never forget.
To Ethan, his small town has become bigger than ever, and it seems that people are keeping secrets from him. Secrets that might save his life and explain Lena’s sudden disappearing acts. When Ethan’s father arrives back from the psychiatric ward at Blue Horizons, he notices how strange everyone is acting. Amma is cooking up a storm to hide her grief, Link is still heartbroken over Ridley, the Sisters cat, Lucille, is disappearing as well, and Lena is burning books and hanging out with Ridley and John. Ethan wonders if she is slipping away, for good.
A new character surfaces in this book, and is more than she seems. Olivia Durand, or Liv to her friends, poses as Aunt Marian’s new summer research assistant. But Ethan wonders why an exchange student from Britain would come to Gatlin, even if it’s where his famous mother worked. Ethan and Link, who now knows the condition of Lena’s curse, set out to get Lena back before she and Ridley harm anyone, but instead they find the truth about Liv. As it turns out, she is tied in with the web of secrets, and is much more involved than Ethan anticipated.
As Ethan talks to Liv and Marian, he finds out he is not as human as he thought. He is involved in this too, and is bound to one of the Ravenwoods or Duchannes. Although I am assuming its Lena he is bound to, the women tell him that it could be anyone. Things progress further when Ethan, Link and Liv go into the dark caster tunnels below the town, in search of answers, and in Ethan’s case, Lena. They are plagued by demons, ghosts and Amma in the tunnels, which they are never supposed to go to ever again. All three of them think that’s a good idea.
This book, keeping up with the first book, has so many twists and turns; more than the caster tunnels themselves. Readers will not be disappointed when they read this book and will want to continue reading until the end. I know I can’t wait until I can finish this book and find out the answers to the mysteries. Like who is the woman with Macon in the visions, what on earth is John Breed, is Ridley really trying to go light instead of dark, and are things between Lena and Ethan ever going to be the same? I don’t know the answers yet, but I’m excited to find out, and you will be too.
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