Beautiful Darkness

Bibliographic Information
Title: Beautiful Darkness
Author: Kami Garcia
Type of Media: Audiobook
Narrator: Kevin T. Collins
Publisher: Little, Brown Young Readers
Copyright Date: December 5, 2012
ASIN: B00RWTW8J8
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Curriculum Ties: N/A
Interest Age: 14-18






Plot Summary
Lena's 16th moon has passed without a claiming but instead of life getting easier it has only become more dark. On the fateful night of Lena's 16 birthday she chose to save Ethan's life and unknowingly sacrificed her uncle in the process. Now she can't seem to get rid of the guilt and is pushing Ethan away as a result. Ethan has no recollection of what happened that night. He knows Macon is dead and that the claiming never happened but he does not understand why Lena is pulling away. Things get stranger as Ridley shows back up with a guy names John Breed who seems to have the power of an incubus but can walk in the daylight. This time it seems it might be up to Ethan to save Lena.

Critical Evaluation

The plotline in this book is the element that will keep you reading, or listening, in my case. Just as you think you understand what is going on a big twist takes place and the hero finds himself trying to solve a new issue. The characters are also lovely and have different layers to them. You realize that even though the casters and incubus are chosen to be either bad or good it is still complicated. As the story continues to develop so do the characters and you will grabble with whether you love or hate them.

The setting of this novel is in a fictional town, Gatlin, in South Carolina. The story is taking place in a realm of beings who possess special powers and live right besides mortals with a few who are privy to their existence and have specific roles as keepers of the archives or as waywards. Garcia does a great job creating this world as believable even though it has fantasy written all over it. 

Reader's Annotation
This quick paced fantasy story will keep you entertained with a cute romance tinted with darkness.

Author Biography
Kami is a co-founder of YALLFEST, the annual young adult & children's book festival is Charleston, SC, and she is on the Board of YALLWEST, the sister festival held annually in Los Angeles. Kami is also on the NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) Writer's Board. Kami has an MA in education and she was a teacher and Reading Specialist for 17 years.

Kami grew up outside of Washington DC, wore lots of black, and spent hours writing poetry in spiral notebooks. She is fascinated by the paranormal and she's very superstitious. When Kami isn't writing or hanging out with her family, she loves watching disaster movies and Supernatural, listening to Soundgarden, and drinking Diet Coke. She lives in Maryland with her husband, son, daughter, and their dogs Spike and Oz (named after characters from Buffy the Vampire Slayer).
(sourced from Amazon author page)

Margaret Stohl is the USA Today, Publishers Weekly, Los Angeles Times, Indie-Bound, Wall Street Journal and Internationally Bestselling author of nine YA novels, and has been published in 37 languages and 48 countries.  Prior to becoming an author, Margaret worked in the video game industry as a writer and lead designer for sixteen years, eventually co-founding 7 Studios game developer with her husband, Lewis Peterson. She is also the co-founder of YALLFEST (Charleston, SC) and YALLWEST (Santa Monica, CA), two of the biggest kid/teen book festivals in the country. An alumnus of Amherst College, Stanford University, and Yale University, Margaret lives in Santa Monica with her family, two rescue cats, and two bad beagles.
(sourced from Amazon author page) 

Book Talk Ideas

• Trust amongst friends
• Relationships and emotions
• Paranormal abilities

Possible Challenges

• Magical Beings
• Romance

Defense File

• Have the library's selection policy and the Library Bill of Rights ready to hand out
• Access to honest reviews from trusted sources
• Know the awards, if any, the book has earned
• Understand the material so you can explain the use of the book as a good talking point for serious and sensitive issues
• A lot of times people just want their concerns heard, so make sure you listen
• If they are still persistent be able to offer them a reconsideration form

Reason for Inclusion
I chose to include this novel because it has a lot of great characters and a plotline that keeps twisting and turning. More specifically, I included this as an audio book because the narrator is fantastic and there is also an unusual use of sound effects in the book that just work.