Caster Chronicles - Book 02 - Beautiful Darkness

Beautiful Darkness by Kami Garcia

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Wow! I really love the Caster Chronicles!

When I started reading this book, I found it very difficult to read and it took me a while to get into it. I put this down to the fact that the authors have an overly descriptive manner in their writing which sometimes overburden the book and makes it drag a bit. Once I had gotten into the book however this did not seem to bother me much.

In this book Lena is still grieving for her uncle whom she is convinced she killed when saving Ethan. She pushes everyone away from her and becomes very dark inside of herself. Her eyes become more gold than green and this scares Ethan to no end. This also creates a perfect opportunity for the Dark Casters to get to her and they do so through the intervention of Riley and a new (seemingly cross-breed) male character who understand what she is going through with the decision of claiming herself. It doesn't help that Ethan befriends a Keeper in training, Olivia, who is a beautiful blond with blue eyes whom Lena believes is better for Ethan than her because they cannot be together like a normal boyfriend and girlfriend in any event. Throughout the story it seems that Lena and Ethan have very little of their relationship left and Lena eventually decides to run away with her new friends to a mythical place where she does not have to decide between becoming evil or good.

Ethan of course follows Lean in an attempt to save her after learning that her mother Sarafina, acting in concert with the original Ravenwood (whom is portrayed as evil incarnate) to call Lena's seventeenth moon forward through time and to force her to make her choice to claim herself even earlier. Ethan also discovers the disturbing truth about his mother and Macon's love for one another. He eventually is able to free Macon, who returns as a normal Light Caster to save Lena and stop Abraham and Sarafina's evil plot.

Ethan and Lena is reunited, Riley becomes mortal, Macon is revived and Lena (as a very surprising twist in the story) claims herself half for good and half for evil. This causes the balance of nature to be thrown of kilter, the consequences of which we will surely learn in future books.

I really loved this story. I found Lena's self pity a bit stifling but cannot see myself acting differently in the same situation. Once again Ethan's narration of the story was very refreshing and his very Southern comments and quirkcs caused for some laughs throughout the book in addition to the action and suspense! How could I have given the book anything but 5 stars and a very resounding two thumbs up! I cannot wait for the next instalment which will no doubt be just as action packed and interesting.

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