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

Like the Book Love the Series Narration So-So

Would you consider the audio edition of Beautiful Darkness to be better than the print version?

No

Would you be willing to try another one of Kevin T. Collins’s performances?

Maybe. If he promises never to attempt a british accent EVER again. Liv just sounds like Stewie Griffin from the Family Guy.

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

Not as much as the first.

Any additional comments?

It really bugged me that he made Liv sound like Stewie Griffin. I really hate that show and it ruined Liv's character for me.

Amazing

I read books 1-4 when they first came out and couldn’t put them down! I’ve listened to books 1-3 in 2 weeks and have just started book 4. This is such a great series, it keeps me on the edge of my seat! I just found out there are a few more books, like spin offs I believe. I’m very excited to start. Highly recommend!!

Love This Story!

..and I'm confident you will, also, particularly if you do read in this genre. This second installment of the Beautiful Creatures saga contains some interesting twists and turns. It is true that at some points, the story take it's time to develop but I think that is part of the story..keeping "true to it's nature", if you will. The same can be said for the tension between the characters, and some dialogue that you find yourself wishing would or would not be exchanged between them. If you become invested enough that you get "mad" a character for what she (or he) is not doing or saying, (as I did) then the author(s) have done their job! It would not be the same story if things were "easier", or things were said differently. I find Kevin T. Collins' narrative performance pretty much impeccable. He really makes Ethan real. He does this so well that the character of Ethan himself really becomes the driving force of the story, and not just because it is, in fact, relayed in first person from his perspective. His genuineness and personality really come through. You feel like you are in his head and experiencing these events from the inside out. Also, I liked the song and the sound effects and did not find them to be too much. Highly recommend!

Just ok

Any additional comments?

This one was just okay. I kind of got a bit tired of Lena's constant whining. Waa Waambulance! She's so moody and just got on my last nerve!

So conflicted

If you aren't looking for a book that requires a great amount of thinking or any background knowledge in the genre of fantasy, this is a good book to get. It's nice an long, if that's what you're looking for and all unknown information is spoon-fed to you all the way through the book. It's got your typical Romeo and Juliet-esque love story, and you can't help but root for them. There is not a lot of ambiguity is characters' good/evil alignments, except for a couple of characters, because that's really the basis of the plot.

All in all, I eat up this type of story, but that doesn't keep me from getting frustrated. I thought the voice acting was great. The southern accent annoyed me, but that has more to do with the book's setting. The plot is great. It's a new spin on something a little overdone. But I did get frustrated with the two main characters, because at times they seemed so thick-headed. I would have something figured out long before either of them did, and I wanted to yell at them for being dense. I didn't feel like the male protagonist was *totally* realistic. As I was Ethan's age about 8 years ago, I don't recall being that emotionally intelligent as a 16-year-old, so that is was stood out to me the most, as far as flaws go. Like I said, overall I liked the book. The characters weren't under or overdeveloped for the span of time it took to listen to the book. But I felt like the end was a big middle finger, and a ploy to make me buy the next book (which I did).

The song 16 Moons throughout the book is what really made the audiobook for me. It was a great touch, and it made my hair stand on end.

Wonderfully detailed

I loved it, the narration was wonderful and the story was very detailed. Can wait to read more.

Excellent and very entertaining

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes, and I have. It's suspenseful and unexpected.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Beautiful Darkness?

Link's being bitten and becoming an Incubus/?

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

Yes.Beautiful Creatures--Excellent.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

No

Exciting Follow Up! Love the Lore! But....

I have really loved this series. Love paranormal stories set in the south. The book really expands and flushes out the original cast of characters (Ethan, Link, Amma, Ridley, and Macon,) in addition to bring on a few new ones (IE: Olivia "liv" Durand.) The dynamic and interaction between Ethan. Link and Liv on their exploration through the tunnels to find Lena made if a fast pasted read. The author's put a lot of work into building upon the lore and developing rich environment descriptors which really helped to paint a picture of the story. Secretly hope Liv gets her own book series w/ Macon.

HOWEVER.... 2 negatives I had was:
1.) I found Lena character/ journey really seemed like an afterthought. While the other characters grew/ developed, she just felt stagnant and one dimensional. When she was present in the story she came off as a whiney indecisive emo. So much emphasis is put on her power, her claiming, Abraham, Sarafine, however the final scene was very short. Nothing really happens. She doesn't Hulk out, no big fight. Very anticlimactic.

2.) The "16 moons" song that played during the story was SUPER F'ING ANNOYING!!!! Because of this fact alone, I preferred reading it rather than listening to it.

book 2 wow

even better then the first book the story keeps going keeping true to characters just wish they made this correctly into a TV series with the right cast to play cause the movie didn't do it justice if someone takes control of this into a TV series and casts the right people for the parts this would be a TV hit or streaming hit make sure link is casted correctly though n ridley

Hard to get into

I was eager to start this book, but the beginning had me feeling short changed. there is a small time jump where we start out with Lena turning "bad" and turning her back on Ethan. it felt unfinished, and made her a whiny little girl. For most of the first half of the book it was Ethan chasing Lena and Lena telling Ethan...I want you, wait no...you must get away from me...wait I DO want you....no wait. ugh.
Now, when you get further into the story you kinda start understanding why she feels like she does but it seems like it takes FOREVER to get there.
I almost gave up on the book i was so frustrated, however, the last half redeems it. I just wish the whole book was exciting as the last half.
All I all, it was enjoyable, I simply wish the beginning had been executed differently following immediately the aftermath of book 1. but tha may just be me.