BEAUTIFUL DARKNESS: CASTER CHRONICLES #2

By Danielle Case

I was a contest winner, a few months ago, and was able to get my hands on an Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) of the soon-to-be-released "Beautiful Darkness". This is the 2nd in the Caster Chronicles series by Margaret Stohl and Kami Garcia, and I was very impressed. I will try to say very few spoilers (if any!) in this review, but if you are at all concerned of being the least bit spoiled, this review is not required reading!

"Beautiful Darkness" got much more detailed about what other beings there are in the world of Stohl and Garcia, and that was very interesting stuff, in my opinion. Hand in hand with new kinds of beings are of course many, many new characters. There are one or two introduced too close to the end to really connect with, but the rest are very interesting and mysterious.

The book also has lots more confusion, action, mystery, and "NO WAY!" moments, and the book does have much more of a cliff-hanger ending than the last (REALLY big cliff-hanger!).

I really like the cover art change from a fence to a stairway, as it really does reflect the book more. I don't really remember a fence showing up in the book at all, in fact, but there are definitely several staircases and the characters certainly use them.

Some bits are a little unbelievable, and they come at the end, but I shan't say what these are, exactly, and other parts tend to drag on.

HOWEVER, this book was really, really excellent, and I recommend it. I am eagerly awaiting the third book in the series!