Review: DREAM DARK

Dream Dark by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl
Book 2.5 of the Caster Chronicles series
Format: ebook
Genre: urban fantasy, YA

About Dream Dark:

When Link joined his best friend, Ethan Wate, on a quest through a mysterious network of underground passageways endlessly crisscrossing the South, he knew the journey would be dangerous. But returning home to Gatlin, South Carolina was just the beginning...

Wounded during a climactic battle, Link discovers that tending his injuries won't be as simple as visiting a doctor and that healing his arm should be the least of his worries. For being bitten by a Supernatural does more than break the skin -- it changes a person, inside and out, turning Link into someone more and more like the dark creature who injured him.

In this never-before-seen short story by New York Times bestselling authors Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl, listeners witness Link's heart-racing transformation. Dream Dark is set before the much-anticipated third Beautiful Creatures novel, Beautiful Chaos, and as a special bonus includes an exclusive sneak peek at the first five chapters.

Source: Info in the About Dream Dark was taken from GoodReads at http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11568316-dream-dark on 22/09/12.

Narrative Evaluation:

Dream Dark is meant for old Caster Chronicles series fans only. This book does not exactly have a beginning and an end though a little explanation is given sorrounding the event where the story took place, but it is not enough for new comers to this series. There isn't enough info about this world or the events before or the characters, really, for a reader who is new to this series to follow the story line. Having said that, there isn't much else that can be said about this novella. Lena is still the striking black-haired girl in my imagination as when I first encountered her in Beautiful Creatures. But Lucille the cat, my favourite character is nowhere to be seen in this novella at all, which is a bummer for me! However as an old fan of this series, I think this novella is a wonderful addition and carried the same masterful story telling quality while the story building is left off altogether. The story building is hinged mainly on the full-novel books in this series which you have to read to fully understand this one. This novella is also broken down further into two shorter stories. The first one is from Link's POV and the second one is from Ethan. And I liked it that I got the chance to see things from Link's point of view. It was interesting! On the whole I enjoyed this book and would recommend it to all Caster Chronicles fans!

Empirical Evaluation:
Story telling quality = 4.5
Ending = 4.5
Cover art = 2
Story itself = 4
Plot = 4.5
Pace = 3.5

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 cherries


Image Credits:
Lucille-like picture - was taken from moroka323's site at http://moroka323.deviantart.com.
Lena-like picture - was taken from Lady-Symphonia's site at http://lady-symphonia.deviantart.com.

Review: BEAUTIFUL DARKNESS

Beautiful Darkness by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

Genre: urban fantasy, YA

About Beautiful Darkness:

Ethan Wate used to think of Gatlin, the small Southern town he had always called home, as a place where nothing ever changed. Then he met mysterious newcomer Lena Duchannes, who revealed a secret world that had been hidden in plain sight all along. A Gatlin that harbored ancient secrets beneath its moss-covered oaks and cracked sidewalks. A Gatlin where a curse has marked Lena's family of powerful supernaturals for generations. A Gatlin where impossible, magical, life-altering events happen.

Sometimes life-ending.

Together they can face anything Gatlin throws at them, but after suffering a tragic loss, Lena starts to pull away, keeping secrets that test their relationship. 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.

Source: Info in the About Beautiful Darkness was taken from GoodReads at http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7842288-beautiful-darkness on 06/10/10.

My review of Book 1: Beautiful Creatures is here.

Review:
Positives:
Image on the right reminds me of Lena. Maybe Lena and Ethan has grown on me with the waiting time between getting my hands on this ARC and the first book, Beautiful Creatures, that I was actually looking forward to reading this one. What I said about the first book still holds true with this one. The things I liked most about Beautiful Darkness is the humour between the lines. The book made me smile. Humour makes for a pleasant read. Plus, I like the authors' "voice". They have a way of telling the story in such a way that is pleasant to read. Second is the ending. The authors gave us an ending with satisfying resolution even though it also gave us the lead to the next book's story giving it a cliffhanger effect. I like satisfying resolutions! :) I also like the way the plot twists and the surprises it brought! What a wonderful read that makes!!

My favourite character: Lucille...

Not so positive:
Dramatic Overkill. It has the tendency to be too dramatic! Specially towards the end. The characters talk about hurrying because they are running out of time yet they take the time to stage drama revelations!?! It kinda brought the believability status a notch down. And I still think the cover could do with an artistic injection from the likes of Gene Mollica. However I am pretty resigned by now that this series is going to have non-attractive covers. What can I say? It's Monday. Shoot me.

Story telling quality = 4.5
Ending = 4.5
Cover art = 2
Story itself = 4
Plot = 4.5
Pace = 3.5

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 cherries


Buy Link:

Acknowledgements:
Lena-like picture - was taken from LadySymphonia's site at http://lady-symphonia.deviantart.com/.
Lucille-like picture - was taken from moroka323's site at http://moroka323.deviantart.com/.

BEAUTIFUL CREATURES

Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

Caption At The Cover Sleeve:

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

There was a curse. There was a girl. And in the end, there was a grave.

Lena Duchannes is unlike anyone the small Southern town of Gatlin has ever seen, and she's struggling to conceal her power and a curse that has haunted her family for generations. But even with the overgrown gardens, murky swamps, and crumbling graveyards of the forgotten South, a secret cannot stay hidden forever.

Ethan Wate, who has been counting the months until he can escape from Gatlin, is haunted by dreams of a beautiful girl he has never met. When Lena moves into the town's oldest and most infamous plantation, Ethan is inexplicably drawn to her and determined to uncover the connection between them.

In a town with no surprises, one secret could change everything.

Genre: teen paranormal romance

My Take On This Book:
Cliffhanger Ending!

I like the humor in the story lines. Chapter one, and the book had me giggling on my lunch break with everybody giving me looks in the staff room. I think that earned the story-telling quality a 4 out of 5. The story itself even if it is not terribly original is quite captivating. The authors have seemlessly blended modern day teen culture with paranormal fantasy that as a reader I could believe in. If I have to grade the "suspension of disbelief" for this story I will have to give it a 4.5 out of 5. The ending however is a cliffhanger. Although the ending did close the book nicely, it is also the beginning of the next book. Gave the impression that the whole book is just chapter one of a bigger book. That deserved a 2 out of 5.  The cover art? It could do better. I have seen this book for sometime now in the blogosphere but ignored it for a few months just because I do not find the cover attractive to my fantasy reader's eyes. The art department who did this cover needs to be fired. In a marketing graph, this cover art would be a 1 out of 5. Overall, I would give this book an entertainment value of 3.5.

Cherry's Rating : 3.5 out of 5 cherries