It’s finally here!!! The day we’ve been talking about for months…the very first installment of the Beautiful Darkness Book Discussion!!! Hopefully you’ve all gotten your books and are ready to dive in. So without further ado….
Welcome to the Beautiful Darkness Book Discussion!! Over the next twelve weeks we will be discussing Beautiful Darkness a few chapters at a time with posts and discussion questions by a variety of guest posters. Posts and discussion questions will go up on Tuesdays and recaps of the discussion question answers will go up on Sundays. For the complete schedule of chapters and dates click here.
Also, as we are the Bookworms and are physically incapable of not hosting a give-away for any major event on this blog, there’s a give-away going on in conjunction with the discussion! WOOT!! Find out all about that here as well.
And now a warning….while we will keep each week’s post spoiler free for those who have only read up to and including the chapters being discussed that week, if you haven’t read the book at all you will find spoilers about the sections of the book being discussed. SO…if you haven’t read the book at all…STOP. GET THE BOOK. READ IT. RETURN. Easy, peasy, extra cheesy, right, Cutie? And in conjunction with that, we do ask that all of you participating in the discussion please keep your responses spoiler free. We know this can be hard but please have a heart for those who are enjoying the read-along aspect of the discussion and do your best. We in turn will do our best to monitor the comments.
And finally….on with this week’s discussion written by Pushy, Danny and Fragile!!!!
Kerry: Okay, I’m just going to say it: I like Beautiful Darkness more than Beautiful Creatures. There, it’s out there, and I can’t take it back. Don’t get me wrong; I love Beautiful Creatures. In BC, we watched Lena’s journey as she struggled with her two possible destinies, and Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl did a wonderful job telling her story. But, in the months waiting for BD, I’d forgotten how much I ADORE Ethan. To me, BD is all about Ethan’s journey. He learns so much about himself and his family, and he comes out stronger for it in the end.
Danny: I’m so with you! I also loved Beautiful Darkness more than Beautiful Creatures. And I’m so happy about this, specially since “second” books in series are often just about pulling out some drama but Beautiful Darkness was more! I fell in love with Ethan all over again and more in BD. He’s growing up and becoming a man – yeah I know he’s still a Teenager…. But Ethan developed to a totally swoon-worthy character!
Pushy: I have to admit that I adore this book but I’m not willing to say I like it better than Beautiful Creatures, I love them both but in different ways (and, No, that’s not a cop out!). Kerry hits it right on the head in my opinion when she says that while BC is about Lean and her journey, BD is about Ethan and his. And for as much as I enjoy all we learn about Ethan in this book, I loved BC for the same reasons with Lena. But is this book fantastic? HELL YES!!!!
Kerry: And don’t even get me started about how my brain exploded at about the half-way mark (if you’ve read it, you know what I’m talking about). I literally threw gently placed my Kindle on the bed and yelled, “OMFG”…except not in letters. (I scared the bejeezus out of my husband, btw.)
And my three word review sent to Pushy around the same time?
“Lena’s an idiot!”
Just like I spent all of New Moon wanting to slap Edward, I spent all of BD wanting to slap Lena.
Danny: *giggles* Right you are. Although Lena couldn’t help herself I was still angry with her from time to time!
Pushy: *puts fingers in ears and screams “NANANANANA”* Let’s keep it spoiler free, ladies! I don’t want to talk about how angry Lena made me or else I’ll have to say why, and that is for another week! *waggles eyebrows*
Kerry: Oh, and did I mention that Link is all kinds of hotness in this book?
Danny: OOoOoOo Don’t get me started with Link! What I loved most about BD are the secondary characters they are perfectly developed and not some flat characters that are just “there”. Here they are part of the story, part of the development of the plot and I absolutely love Link! He’s the best friend ever!
Pushy: And not just Link, I mean there’s….oh nerts! Well, you’ll see….*wink*
Kerry: I can’t wait to hear what everyone else thinks about this awesome book…I even hear that Danny’s finally finished it 😉
Danny: Hey!! I was reading during a really busy week and I really wanted to read it all at once. I drove Pushy crazy btw, she wanted to talk to me about BD so badly yet she had to wait for me to finish…
Pushy: *sighs* It was wonderful, it was perfect, it left me desperate for the third one…how long do we have to wait until that comes out? *crickets chirping* Oh, yeah….
Kerry: I absolutely love how Kami and Margaret set the scene. It’s Southern gothic at it’s best, and this Southern girl can just see the town in my head. After a few months away from Gatlin, the way Ethan describes how his world and Lena’s Caster world have come together completely got me back to the mindset I had when reading BC.
Danny: The Prologue was perfect! I totally agree with you Kerry – it was simply perfect to get us back to Gatlin and Lena and Ethan’s story.
Pushy: And that makes three of us. I loved how just by reading these three pages it was like I was slipping into a warm sweater and sitting down to coffee with an old friend. This story drew me in with Beautiful Creatures and I’ve been waiting for Beautiful Darkness for months. It’s so nice to see these wonderful characters again.
Welcome back to Gatlin:
The Town owned us, that was the good and the bad of it .
So much of this prologue is dedicated to setting the scene and getting the reader back into the Caster Chronicles world, but as you read these words, what did they do for you? Did they set the scene for you to continue the journey with Ethan and Lena? Did they settle on your mind making you feel the warm, humid air and the languorous pace of life in Gatlin? Did they remind you of characters from Beautiful Creatures that you wanted to learn more about?
that Kami and Margie made?
Leave your answer in a comment below and remember that each answer to this week’s discussion question is an entry into the Beautiful Darkness Book Discussion contest!
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I am working my way toward reading this book! I do so solemnly swear. *crosses heart* I just. haven't yet. *runs away swiftly*
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Do NOT make me come sit on you, Cutie!! I know I'm bigger than you are. *gives you THE look*
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Gah! I missed kick off, mostly due to the fact that I still don't have the book! *be's full of fail*
Will get it soon and return! 😀
Funny post! But I'm worried. I already wanted to slap Lena several times in book one. Not sure how much more I can take!
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I loved how Kami and Margaret set the scene. It brought back all of the love I had for Beautiful Creatures. I love their writing, and the prologue definitely set the mood. I want…no I need to know what happens to the characters in this book. I am definitely excited to find out.
My recent post Teaser Tuesday 33
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Well, I don't have the book in front of me but I can tell you that I was pretty neutral at this point. It actually took me a few chapters to get back into the story. But I'll discuss those feelings later. For now (prologue), I think I was mainly just interested in what direction the second book was going to go in.
My recent post Due Date directed by Todd Phillips
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While you may worry about Lena, I can assure you there are SO MANY other fabulous things that go on in this book I KNOW you will not be sorry you read it. Get the book, read the prologue and come back to answer the question!! I'd love to know what you think as you enter into this. 🙂
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Awesome answer, elizabeth!!! Thanks for joining in and I agree, at this point I was DYING to find out what happened next. See you next week! 🙂
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Great answer, Suzie! I'm definitely interested in hearing your thoughts on the next few chapters! 😉 Thanks for joining in!!!
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Well, I must confess that when Danny asked me to be part of the discussion posts for this book, I held off on reading it so that I had the book fresh in my mind since I read anywhere from 5-7 books a week. And since we were still a couple of weeks off, I thought it would be best if I waited a little before starting it. So although I can't say much for Beautiful Darkness, I will say this:
Beautiful Creatures was okay… not great. There were many things about it that I liked and a few that I didn't (the size of it being one of them). I thought there were just too many pages that were blah blah blah-ing about the weather and sightseeing around town. With that said, this series has so much potential. The characters are loveable – I love the fact that we have a male narrator (which you don't get a lot of in YA). The town, the townsfolk, the secret library… all these things were way cool.
Ok so I just read the prologue – (I'm thinking I might read this book along with your discussion posts)… yes, this might be the way I do it! I'm so smart! Alright maybe I won't be able to do this only because now I want to keep reading it… ugh. Decisions, decisions! Ok, so yes, prologue was great. I'm already getting the vibe. I love the simplicity of Ethan's voice and the descriptions of what's gone down since we were last here. I'm feeling it.
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Finishing Beautiful Creatures, it felt like a need to reenter theie beautiful world! You know I got up in the middle of the night and turned the computer on again to order my copy of BD!
I am still a bit worried if I can keep a secret from Ethan:D He is just great, how could I not tell him about the end of BC???
My recent post Follow Friday 5
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Nely!!! Thanks for answering this week's question. And even though you didn't necessarily dig all the descriptive passages in BC, I'm glad to hear the prologue of BD hooked you!! I'm definitely looking forward to hearing how you enjoy the rest of the book. 🙂
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I completely understand the need start BD right away. Waiting for it to come out was so hard and now, having read it, waiting on the third book is that much harder!! Thanks for joining in on the discussion!! 🙂
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I was so hoping this blog or Fragile would host another discussion like the one we had for BC!!! I don't have the book yet, will be getting it ASAP and I am so excited to join in when I get it!!! WOOT WOOT
My recent post Robert Pattinson & Kristen Stewart Land in Brazil- Let the Feathers Fly!
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Haha. Great Post.I also thought Beautiful Darkness was way better (and I LOVED BC).
I thought the prologue was absolutely fabulous, intriguing and effective. My best friend and I went to get the book on it's released date and headed back to my house. There we assumed the positions (this is a regular thing…), me on my bed her on her bed (AKA, my trundle) and started to read. I am a fast reader, and she is not. We made it a deal that the person ahead cannot squeal with excitement or rage before the next person gets to that point. Once I finished the prologue, I was dying with excitement. All those months and months of waiting were finally over and I was elated. I turned to sit on my stomach, hands holding up my chin, staring at my BFF. She gave me a weird look and I said, "Just keep going." She did and when she finished she said, "Oh.My.God." That is where the teenage fangirl hooting and hollering took place.
It was a very effective passage at brining me back into Gatlin. I didn't forget how great BC was, but I did forget just how much Kami and Margie can make the reader feel. Even the prologue had my heart jumping out of my c
hest.
Amazing, simple amazing.
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Woo-hoo!! We're looking forward to hearing what you have to say. 🙂
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Great answer, Britta, and I love that you and your BFF got to share this read together. That sounds just so perfect!
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I actually thought there should be a little more background in the prologue. I don't think this could be a stand alone book and there were a couple things I forgot that I kinda needed in those pages. All in all I think that it left me feeling like a grey afternoon… which is totally how you should feel when someone you love dies.
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Greta, thanks for jumping in!!! I'm glad you've stared reading and you make an excellent point, the tone is very much in tune with the emotions that Lena, Ethan and everyone else who was close to Macon would be feeling. Great comment!
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