Beautiful Darkness by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

I've been eagerly awaiting this book--the second in a projected quartet called The Caster Chronicles--since I read the first volume, Beautiful Creatures, back over the summer. I was so eager, in fact, that when I arrived at the Union Station Barnes & Noble, the booksellers had yet to put the books out on the shelves. It was, after all, the first day the book was available for purchase.

The books are set in a sleep Southern town in South Carolina, where the grits are cheesy and the people wave Confederate flags, and everything is always the same. Ethan Wate, the youngest scion of a family that's been holed up in the same town for generations, dreams of getting away until he meets Lena Duchannes, a mysterious girl who's come to live with her creepy uncle, the town's resident social pariah and enigma. As Ethan and Lena begin a relationship, Ethan learns more and more about Lena and her uncle's secrets, the town's shady history, and his own family's closeted skeletons. With endearing characters, vivid settings, and an original "universe" (for the fantasy/sci-fi novice, that refers to the rules and conventions of a fictional world), readers get sucked into Ethan and Lena's lives and find themselves thinking about this unlikely couple even when the book is finished.

Like I said, I was super excited for Beautiful Darkness to come out. So, did it live up to my expectations? Definitely. Plenty of surprises, twists, and unexpected appearances made this next book a thrilling and exceptional read. For those who have read Beautiful Creatures, some people we thought were dead aren't--or aren't exactly. Other characters who we thought we understood aren't quite all they previously appeared. And the secrets of Gatlin have only gotten deeper and more impenetrable. No more spoilers!

A Must Read for everyone, particularly if you haven't gotten into this series yet. Pick up Beautiful Creatures and get your rear in gear!