Review: A Beautiful Evil - Kelly Keaton

A Beautiful Evil by Kelly Keaton, published by Simon and Schuster on 2nd February 2012

Goodreads synopsis:
When Ari first arrived in the dilapidated city of New 2, all she wanted was to figure out who she was. But what she discovered was beyond her worst nightmare. Ari can already sense the evil growing inside her—a power the goddess Athena will stop at nothing to possess.

Desperate to hold on to her humanity and protect her loved ones, Ari must fight back. But Athena’s playing mind games, not just with Ari but with those she cares about most. And Athena has a very special plan for the brooding and sexy Sebastian.

Ari is determined to defeat Athena, but time is running out. With no other options, Ari must unleash the very thing she’s afraid of: herself.

Review:
This is a stellar sequel to 'Darkness Becomes Her' which was one of my surprise favourites of last year.  The plot is significantly advanced and plenty of lingering questions are answered.  There's no danger of second book syndrome here with this fantastic read which kept me gripped from start to finish.

The story picks up with Ari wanting to rescue her father and Violet from the clutches of Athena, as well as figure out a way to break the curse which has plagued her family.  I loved her determination to save the people who matter to her and I enjoyed seeing her trying to embrace her powers, however much they scare her, so that she can take down Athena once and for all.  She's an unstoppable force when she sets her mind to something and she's often willing to sacrifice herself to ensure the safety of others which is an admirable quality.

She also has to navigate her relationship with Sebastian who continues to be charming and mysterious.  He's sexy and gorgeous, plus he has one of my favourite names of all time - what more could you want!  His character takes a major step in this book which I definitely did not see coming.  I'm looking forward to finding out how this will affect the two of them in the next instalment. 

I was pleased that we got to learn more about all the Gods and the personal history of Athena which I found really interesting.  Ari also gets to explore the Novem Library which is in a very unusual place and throws new light on what she's up against.  The mythological aspect of the series is one of the things I love best about these books, so I was glad that a significant amount of time was spent on ensuring this was interwoven into the plot.    

Seductive storytelling and full on action makes this a book not to be missed.  Fans of the paranormal romance genre should go out and grab this one now.  You won't be disappointed!

Review: Darkness Becomes Her - Kelly Keaton

Darkness Becomes Her by Kelly Keaton, published by Simon & Schuster Children's Books on 9th June 2011

Goodreads synopsis:
Ari can’t help feeling lost and alone. With teal eyes and freakish silver hair that can’t be changed or destroyed, Ari has always stood out. And after growing up in foster care, she longs for some understanding of where she came from and who she is.

Her search for answers uncovers just one message from her long dead mother: Run. Ari can sense that someone, or something, is getting closer than they should. But it’s impossible to protect herself when she doesn’t know what she’s running from or why she is being pursued.

She knows only one thing: she must return to her birthplace of New 2, the lush rebuilt city of New Orleans. Upon arriving, she discovers that New 2 is very…different. Here, Ari is seemingly normal. But every creature she encounters, no matter how deadly or horrifying, is afraid of her.

Ari won’t stop until she knows why. But some truths are too haunting, too terrifying, to ever be revealed.

Review:
I hadn't actually heard much about this book prior to reading it, so I was totally unspoiled as far as the plot went.  What attracted me to the book originally was the gorgeous cover.  I love the purple and black colouring and the tag line 'Beneath every beauty. Evil stirs'.  The girl on the cover is also extremely hypnotic with her green eyes and mass of silvery hair.

The story gets off to an intriguing start with Ari finding out about the circumstances surrounding her mother's death.  Soon after she ventures into what used to be New Orleans before it was devastated by hurricanes which destroyed the city.  It's now called New 2 and is under the control of the Novem, a group of nine families.  In New 2, Ari hopes to discover more about her heritage and the curse which seems to have blighted female members of her family.  She ends up uncovering a whole lot more than she bargained for.

'Darkness Becomes Her' contains elements of Greek mythology which is something that I absolutely love.  I've always enjoyed reading about myths and legends and the Greek Gods and this turns out to be an important aspect of the story which I'm looking forward to being developed further in future installments.

Ari meets lots of interesting characters throughout the book, including love interest Sebastian.  I've always loved boys called Sebastian and the one in the story is no exception.  Dark and mysterious and knock-down gorgeous, I loved the developing romance between him and Ari.  He certainly made me feel weak at the knees too!

I loved the way that Kelly Keaton provided a real mixture of romance, paranormal, horror and mythology and only wish that the book had been longer.  There's plenty to grab readers' attention and as the story doesn't conform to the usual paranormal template, there's lots of surprises in store too. 

The second book in the Gods and Monsters series is called 'A Beautiful Evil' and will be published in 2012.