This series took a serious nosedive for me and I have to say that I feel generous giving it 2 stars. The first book is interesting because it is setting up the unique world and mythology, while having the heroine, Ari, search for the mystery surrounding her mother's death and the curse of her family. Even though I had issues with it, it was entertaining enough that I enjoyed it. This second book loses all the appeal I felt in the first book.Ari makes a monumentally horrible decision that just ruined the whole story for me. (SPOILER) She goes looking for a gateway into Athena's realm and finds it, but decides to hold off going through because she doesn't know what she'd be getting into. A smart move. But she accidentally falls through it and chaos ensues, but she is miraculously unharmed and returned. BUT then she immediately turns around, makes a new portal and jumps in without thinking and with only a couple of other kids as backup. She may not have wanted to take an army in with her, but it seemed idiotic that she goes in without an adult or two that know how to kick butt. Of course, they are immediately captured (ridiculously quickly) and then Sebastian tries to tell her it's not her fault, but it is. They're there because she jumped in headfirst into an impossible situation.Add onto that the fact even though everyone says Athena is brilliant at strategy, she seems to be really stupid. Every time she has an easy chance to kill Ari, she doesn't take it. (SPOILER) She even releases her once when Ari was completely at her mercy. While the book tries to explain it away by claiming that Athena needs Ari's power, I'm still not sure why that is justification for keeping someone around who is obviously so intent on killing you. She made the first gorgon, so it seems like she should have the ability to use the gorgon's power herself. If she gave another creature the ability to turn things into stone, it seems logical that she would have to have that power herself. Or even if she doesn't, why can't she just find someone who doesn't want to kill her and give them the power, like she did with Medusa? I'm really not seeing a valid reason as to why she is acting the way she is. Or let's say those options are impossible, why not actually be nice to the person with the power you want to use and flatter and bribe them onto your side rather than torture them and those that they love, so they hate you with a passion so great you'll never be able to sway them to your side? It just doesn't make any sense.Both Athena and a side character villain seem very shallow and one-sided. They're just evil for the sake of being evil, which is boring and not compelling as far as characters go.Plus, I felt like most of the issues and problems in the story seemed to just be easily fixed. Or at least they required no work on the heroine or hero's part. (SPOILERS) They get captured once, Athena frees them. They get captured again and someone swoops in and saves them. She's struggling with her relationship at the beginning and even though the guy has been distant and standoffish, she simply talks to him and then it's all fine again (with no explanation of why he was standoffish). She wants to rescue Violet and her dad and after getting herself and Sebastian captured, Violet and her dad are saved by a rogue follower of Athena. Even when one of her friends is shot in the stomach with a shot gun, he is dead for all of a few pages before miraculously reappearing. She's looking for a way to get into Athena's realm and finds the exact information she needs on her second trip to the library. It's like the plot just moves forward with no need for Ari to do anything--it all just falls into her lap. Sure, there is pain and suffering along the way, but no real problem she solves or puts effort into fixing. Even when she needs to get Athena's blood to open the portal, she's lucky enough to have some from the first book just laying around (blood from a wound she didn't even make--it was someone else!).Frankly, I gave this book 2 stars because it kept my attention throughout the story, but by the end (after guessing every "twist" of the plot) I was thoroughly bored and really don't have any curiosity left to push me into the next book. There is a tiny spark of curiosity still there to see more of Ari's father and Violet.P.S. I also think it's ridiculously nice of Ari that she hasn't gotten upset that when she freed the prisoners in the first book, Michel kept her from rescuing her father and kept that little tidbit of info from her. I kept expecting her to mention something to Michel about it. Anything, really. But she never said boo about it and I kept thinking "what the crap!". I know they tried to explain it away by saying that her dad had done bad things to Michel and the people of New 2, but I still think it was crummy and underhanded of him to not only keep her from rescuing him, but never saying a word about the fact that the guy was her dad. 3.5 stars. I was super excited to get this book, as I loved the first one. But somehow, this book was not able to draw me in as much. It was very slow starting, and ending. It was almost anticlimactic. I am very bummed. It took me two weeks to read it- which is forever. When I like a book, it usually takes no more than 5 days.But, the detail and ideas were great.Hoping number 3 is much better- if I read it.
What do You think about A Beautiful Evil (2012)?
Short and sweet review.. this book, I just couldn't put down. I read it quite a while back.
—Cedrick
Allam çok sevdim ben bu seriyi. Gel de diğer kitabı bekle şimdi!
—Eeyore
I loved the book I couldn't put it down at all!!
—rainysky
