Beautiful Darkness

By: Kami Garcia, Margaret Stohl

Narrated by: Kevin T. Collins

Length: 15 hrs and 56 mins

Publisher's summary

Fall under the spell of the Beautiful Darkness, the sequel to the instant New York Times best-selling gothic fantasy, Beautiful Creatures!

There were no surprises in Gatlin County. At least, that's what I thought. Turns out, I couldn't have been more wrong.

Ethan Wate used to think of Gatlin as a place where nothing ever changed. Then mysterious newcomer Lena Duchannes revealed a secret world of curses and Supernaturals with terrifying abilities. Lena showed him a Gatlin where impossible, magical, life-altering events happen. Sometimes life-ending.

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.

Download the accompanying reference guide.

©2010 Kami Garcia (P)2010 Hachette Audio

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I could have liked this book more if 1/3rd of it was cut out .... Good over all story.... Jus dragged in places

Hope there's another book coming

What did you love best about Beautiful Darkness?

The continued love story between Lena and Ethan.

What did you like best about this story?

The commitment of friendships and love.

Have you listened to any of Kevin T. Collins’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Yes. This one is awesome.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes.

Any additional comments?

I loved the story and how the narrator made it come to life.

Great story with a good reader.

What a great story. It really makes you want to continue the series and find out what happens next.

Kami and Margaret you wrote an awsome story

Kevin you gave an awesome performance narrating and the sound effects made this one of the best books I've listen to ever on audible. But I beg you not to see the movie because you will come out of it so disappointed, the movie butchered the book and did not give it justice at all. I'm just about finished with Beautiful Redemption and am trying to get my daughter and my grand girls to listen to this. Looking forward to more books from you both.

amazing book!

loved it! the narrator did an awesome job...love the music that accompanies the story. what an awesome tale. ive listened to it numerous times and this wont be my last.

a good follow up

really enjoyed the 2nd book in the series. was a good follow up. looking forward to the next one.

Great book

Loved it!!
The story line was awesome!! It kept you interested the entire time! Action packed

Interesting, but could be better

I have bought this book for my daughter, she is in the right age for a YA novel. But then I thought, what the hell, the book is out in public for anyone to read, so I read it. I try to write my review as if I were a few years younger :)

The story is interesting. The idea of the hidden magic world below a real town is not that original, but still compelling. There is still much can be said or written about it. I thought I was familiar with the story of the first book in the series since I saw the movie, but listening I gathered that the book was different. Anyway, I learned enough backstory to enjoy this volume. The creatures and the magic system was awesome. I could hardly wait to see them in work. Unfortunately the authors didn't expand the full potential these creatures were capable of. I expected more use of magic and more direct conflict and fight. More about this later.

There were some really good characters, I liked Link and Liv the best. Oh, and the old ladies. Unfortunately they were not the main characters. I found Ethan - who supposed to be the hero - a weak, girlish kid. He did nothing else but think of Lena. He didn't play computer games, he didn't play soccer, he didn't hang out with his friends. He did nothing what a guy at his age would do. Actually I didn't understand why he insisted on belonging to Lena. There was no future for them, because they couldn't be together as mortal and immortal. OK, I could accept this because of the power of love overcomes every barrier. But the girl consequently refused him and sent him away, she was impossible go get on with. If was Ethan I would have left Lena and picked up Liv. I just couldn't believe that Ethan was able to love Lena with such an intensity. I'm not too romantic, I suppose.

As I said I would love to see more fight. Some may say that this is a YA book for fifteen to eighteen years old kids, and we must be careful writing about violence. Come on. These kids already played through Call of Duty Black Ops II. Twice. They watched ol' Skywalker get burned and turned dark in Star Wars. They watched the ork battle in The Lord of The Rings. I don't say that the book should contain extreme violence, but if my thirteen year old son would read it he would fall asleep bored.

It's same with the sex. I support that there shouldn't be forthright sex scenes. But again: come on. Most of our kids had their first sexual experience before the age of eighteen. A seventeen year old boy spends most of his day thinking about cars and computers games and girls. And when they think about girls they don't stop at holding hands and innocent kissing. I didn't, and I was a quite average guy. "YA books shouldn't have sex in them" is a myth, which should be busted. YA books shouldn't have steamy sex scenes, I agree. But guys put your hands on your heart and say: "when kissing, I strictly forbade my hands trying to explore my girl's touchy spots". You cannot, because you would lie. But in this book that wouldn't even be possible, because when it gets hot, the mortal one of the couple gets burned for real.

I had one other problem with the book: it was too long. It was too long, because of the repetition of the same thing over and over again. It could have been compressed into half length. Making it shorter would have increased the tension and quicken the pace. Also it could have helped to avoid having long discussions before or during actions. It was annoying how the characters explained the evident while I was eager to know what was really happening. Our kids are growing in a very intense environment and got to used to fast image video clips and action movies, not explanations stretching until becoming boring.

I have to mention that I loved the narration, and the southern accent. I also liked the style the book was written, it flowed smoothly.

I wonder what my daughter will have to say about the book.

delightful!

good reading for all ages! feel like I'm right there in gatlin right along with the casters ;)

Loved it a lot

I Loved it. I finished it in 3 days. The narrator did a good job.