This was a lush, compelling read. The prose was dense and rich. It was a book that needed to be savored and not gulped. And at over 500 pages, it filled almost a week of my reading time. Also rather unusual for the genre, the viewpoint character is Ethan Wate the male main character. We see the town and the story through his eyes. The events in this book begin very soon after the conclusion of Beautiful Creatures. This review does contain some spoilers if you haven't read the first book.The story begins with Lena pulling away from Ethan. Ethan thinks that she is pulling away because of depression after the death of her beloved uncle. But nothing he can say or do is helping her. It doesn't help that he is being plagued with disturbing visions of both Macon and Abraham. When Lena gets involved again with her cousin Ridley and John Breed - the newcomer to town who is part incubus and part something else, Ethan doesn't know what to do. He turns to the new girl in town - Liv - who is a keeper-in-training to help him find some answers. Many adventures happen as Ethan, Liv and Ethan's best friend Link explore the many hidden tunnels under the Southeastern United States as they try to find Lena and save her from committing herself to the Dark. Everyone learns more about themselves in this one. Life-altering and world-altering decisions are made. I recommend this book to older YAs and others who enjoyed the first volume of this series. I thought it was an extremely entertaining and well-written book.
