We start A Beautiful Evil with Ari learning to fight, because she can’t afford to get whooped by Athena. Again. Not when Athena already has her father, and Violet. So Ari learns to fight.

Then she decides that this waiting thing is for the dogs, she’s going to break into Athena’s domain instead of wondering when (& where) Athena’s going to show. So off she goes, along with Sebastian and Henri. Only, things don’t go quite as Ari imagined they would, and she gets whooped. Again. So now Ari not More...

A Beautiful Evil by Kelly Keaton was a delightful book that really stood up to its predecessor, Darkness Becomes Her. With it's enticing plot and cool play on mythology, A Beautiful Evil is sure to be a favorite!

I enjoyed the book book in this series, Darkness Becomes Her, but I wasn't absolutely blown away by it. A Beautiful Evil builds upon the foundation Darkness Becomes Her sets and explodes into a story that was just awesome. The stakes are high, there is action, and there is so many piece More...

You know things are bad when the heroine of a book wants to die and you want her to die too. I'm usually not too picky about cliched story lines or unlikeable characters in a book as long as something or someone stands out and excites or inspires. Unfortunately, Ari stands aside and lets the people she cares about suffer for her. Ari, who wants to rescue Violet and her father from Athena, charges into situations unprepared, unfocused, and unwilling to use her powers because they make her feel li More...

I have to say this second installment in the Gods and Monsters series was truly awesome and I think it hit a couple of my expectations on the nose and some were truly and totally knocked out of the water. I liked the ending a lot and cant wait to hear of the next installment to the series to find out where Athena stands.

The story takes place after the first book ends when the people Ari should have held close were stripped from her because of the Goddess Athena's jealousy. In New 2 a lot of thin More...

'A Beautiful Evil' is the sequel to 'Darkness Becomes Her' by Kelly Keaton about a fictional future New Orleans (New 2) and a young woman trying to find out about her roots.

In this well-written fantasy, Ari continues to try to save her friend, Violet, from the Greek goddess Athena's grasp. To help her in her quest are her friends. Sebastian, a warlock vampire, is her romantic interest, and the rest of the "elite" from New 2 play important roles.

It's not a bad idea to reread 'Darkness Becomes Her More...

OMG! Kelly created a more amazing book!! This book answers so many questions and then leaves alot more in its wake!

Obviously Ari is still kicking ass and taking names as she did before but shes even better at it now and getting the answers she needs! She is worrying about everything and still moving forward. Ari doesn't let somethings get to her but Athena knows where to hit, right at the heart! Ari was alone so much she isnt used to caring about people but she doesnt even worry about it, she kn More...

It could be worth more than 2 stars, if not for the pure stupidity of the characters.

Ari is afraid to harness her power because she does not want to become a gorgon, so she always stops herself before they fully manifest. Understandable. But the one time she decides to let loose and turn someone to stone, does she attack her enemy who is within striking distance. No. She leaps to unleash her power on the one she loves turning him to stone. Pure stupidity.

Up into this point, this book has been a More...

Review brought to you by OBS reviewer Annabell

Review: Upon receiving a copy of A Beautiful Evil, which is the next installment in author Kelly Keaton’s Gods and Monsters Series, I was very excited! I had really enjoyed the first one and was looking forward as to how the story would progress. I was not disappointed!

A Beautiful Evil begins right where the first book left off and Ari is undergoing strenuous training under the eye of no-nonsense Bran at Presby in the hopes of finding a way to defeat More...

Original review posted on The Book Smugglers

A Beautiful Evil is the sequel to last year’s Darkness Becomes Her and it picks up right where the previous book left off. Ari, our cursed-to-become-a-gorgon-when-she-turns-21 protagonist is training to be able to tap into her dormant powers so she can face the powerful Goddess Athena and rescue her father and her friend Violet. She has also been allowed by the Novem – the supernatural families that run New 2, this world’s futuristic version of New Orl More...

I will be the first to admit that I wasn't the biggest fan of DARKNESS BECOMES HER. I knew the story had some serious promise, I just thought that Ari had a bit of growing up to do. I am so so so pleased to say that A BEAUTIFUL EVIL is an AMAZING sequel and far surpasses DARKNESS BECOMES HER in my opinion. The stakes are even higher for Ari and the romance between her and Sebastian even hotter! Even if you didn't like the first novel, you definitely have to at least give A BEAUTIFUL EVIL a shot. More...

Also appears on The Screaming Nitpicker.

My disappointment with A Beautiful Evil and most of the twists it brings to the story hardly surprises me, but it stings nonetheless, especially because reviewing this book would be as easy as copying and pasting my entire review from Darkness Becomes Her here. Sequels are supposed to offer some variety and improvements, not be more of the same in both the good and bad ways.

There are authors both professional and aspiring out there who would kill to have a More...

Well, where the last one was a 3.5 star that I wanted to round up to 4, this one I just have to round down. I still really like Ari, her voice is clear and I find her easy to relate to. I love the cast of kids supporting her, they really feel like a family. And the sense in the first book of too much of a good thing with all of the differently myths and creatures being pulled into one book worked more smoothly and naturally into this one once they didn't have to be introduced and explained const More...

This is one of those occasions where I really would love Goodreads to have a half star rating as I really feel that I would prefer to give this novel, a sequel to Darkness Becomes Her, 3.5 stars rather than just 3. I did have to go away after I finished this book though and really think about my feelings towards it because they are somewhat mixed.
So here's what I liked about this story. I liked the characters. I think Ari and Sebastian are really great as the main protagonists. Their back storie More...

Kelly Keaton really knows how to make her characters suffer. I thought Ari had it bad in Darkness Becomes Her, but what she goes through in A Beautiful Evil, if it were me, I would have crumpled into pieces and completely lost myself. Not Ari though. Even when she thought things were completely hopeless she never gave up. She would work her brain until she found a way.

A Beautiful Evil is just as action packed as Darkness Becomes Her and full of lots of twist that I did not see coming at all. My More...

I was so excited when this book came to my doorstep! Not only was it a surprise but I knew I would love it! Sure enough, this book captured me gluing my eyes to the pages.

What I liked most about this book is the characters growth in the book. I love it when an author can change a character so significantly right before your eyes. Ari is now in training and learning to use her powers. I loved that Ari had to be pushed, that so she can break that human barrier. I still love that Ari is so determi More...

This review is a hard one to write - I guess I had a hard time connecting to the book. I had the same problem when reading the first one: the idea of dystopian mixing with mythology sounded like a good premise going in, but I don't think it worked for me. So anyway (previously in this series), the Greek goddess Athena destroyed New Orleans awhile ago, and the heroine, Ari, needed to go there to find out more info about her dead mother, and for some reason Athena's after her. Unfortunately, there More...

This and other reviews can be found on Reading Between Classes

Cover Impressions: OOOOOOHHHHHH PRETTY! I love the colors and the transition from hair to snake reflecting Ari's pending transformation.

The Gist: Having survived Athena's attack, Ari attempts to learn about her enemy and formulate a plan for rescuing her father and friend, Violet. (Really. That's it. Can you tell that I am less than enthusiastic?)

Review: I love re-tellings of the Greek Myths. I am particularly fond of the Medusa myth More...

3.5 Stars

Darkness Becomes Her captured me. The story and the main character, Ari, both had this grittiness that I adored, and that remains true for Ari’s character in this second installment. The story, however, I didn’t find as interesting. There really isn’t much going on in A Beautiful Evil, although the few major scenes that are there definitely pack a punch. The book isn’t very long at just 285 pages, but I still felt like nothing was happening for most of the story. I didn’t even consider More...

O ma gosh AM ADDICTED!!!!! Kelly Keaton is good... i really dnt know where to start i jst finish reading this book i cnt even wait for the next one. I actually went to her website and it said the next one is coming this year September CAN'T WAIT....this book is a page turner i couldn't put it down, gosh am so giving it 5 stars it deserves, Kelly Keaton deserves it am not gonna spoil it for anybody but its a book i will sooooooo recommend to anybody. Gosh i love Ari nd Sebastine,this book is a mu More...

You can read all of my reviews at Alluring Reads.

A Beautiful Evil is the much anticipated follow up to Kelly Keaton's A Darkness Becomes her. I read the first installment in the Gods & Monsters trilogy recently and immediately rushed out to get the second. I was blown away with the setting as well as the imaginative blend of dystopian/mythological elements and while I did feel that a lot of that was a bit lacking compared to the first it is still a worthy follow up. I do think that this one More...

Hm. A light, enjoyable read, but I wanted more from it, and at times the characters frustrated me.

The book picks up pretty much where the first one left off, which makes it easy when you're reading the books back to back like I was.

One thing I did like, though, was (view spoiler)[the exploration of Athena's personality and her madness after so many years - the lengths that she is willing to go to, and the things that are normal for her but horrify others. (hide spoiler)]

Once again I felt that the conflict was too rushed and More...

Good job for book two... I wanted more of a connection with Ari at times...I felt like their was lots of information not pertinent to this book...and while I enjoyed Ari's fascination with the Garden District (who wouldn't -google images, it's beautiful) I felt like there should be a connection or a significance which wasn't given in this book..also a lot of back and forth with plot building. That being said, I really did enjoy the story. I gave four stars for a reason...It is a new and fresh ta More...

Sonunda bitti. Telefonumla bu kadar ilgilenmeseydim belki daha önce biterdi. Neyse, mitolojik bir hikaye. Biricik tanrımız Athena kötü kadın rolünde. Ben onu hiç böyle düşünmezdim. Sırf seri bozulmasın diye almıştım. Çok sıkıldığımı itiraf etmeliyim. Okunacak daha güzel kitaplar var!

4.5/5
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In Short
- A Beautiful Evil is definitely action packed with lots of twists in
- I love how Kelly challenged her characters
- The characters and their relationships grew stronger in this book
- I do feel that this could have been rounded off nicely without needing a 3rd in the series
- I would have loved for Kelly to just go over what happened in Darkness Becomes Her

In Long
I have to admit that I sadly didn’t remember much from Darkness Becomes Her but I did remember that More...

Ari is an unusually beautiful teenager, with an unusual family history. Ari is attending a private school in New 2 (formerly New Orleans, before the hurricanes) however, this school teaches not only education basics but also how to fight and use various weapons. She is allowed to study in the private library, really Pandora’s Box. Ari must learn how to harness her skills ( from her ancestor, Medusa) in order to go back and fight Athena in order to free her father and a young girl. She is assiste More...

This is a DEFINITE must read! This sequel is even more exciting and intense than the first book. There are places in this story that break my heart! But I LOVE the ending. Sooo romantic! I hate spoilers, so not going to go there, but I will say that everyone has things they don't like about themselves. Ari could give us all a lesson on acceptance and learning to like even those things none of us find especially attractive.

The only downer was the swearing, but I was greatly relieved that it had c More...

Kelly Keaton's first book in this series Darkeness Becomes Her broke paranormal ground, and captured the imagination with it's luscious macabre atmosphere, refreshing spin on the paranormal, and the strong female lead. A Beautiful Evil picks up the tone perfectly, with Ari struggling through a brutal self-defense class at Presby, her new high school, filled with the Novem's powerful heirs. The plot line is a bit predictable with Ari charging into battle before she's ready, a la Harry Potter or More...

So I read this right after I finished Darkness Becomes her and I can honestly say this one was a lot better to me. I did like the 1st one but there were to many instances where Ari got on my nerves. A Beautiful Evil had enough action in it to make me want to just jump straight to the end but I was also more wrapped up in the characters this time. I do think it was paced a little fast, but I don't know if I can honestly log that as a complaint. Sebastian just keep getting yummier by the page. I w More...

Pretty good. The second book made a better impression on me than the first.

What I liked about the book:
Gorgons! Whew, a new mythical creature. Although the book has vampires, witches and lycanthropes, the main character is one I haven't seen in alot of young adult books.

Minor characters that you can't get enough of. Ms. Keaton wrote in characters that you get invested in. I cannot wait to find out what happens with Michel, Henri and Violet (what is she anyway?!) and even Athena.

The book flowed More...

A lot of times the second book in the series doesn't add up to the first but in this case it does. Unfortunitly that means that the romance level is the same as in the first book and to me still disapointing. It just seems to fake, unrealistic. I wish she had a deeper conection with Sebastian that everyone could feel. But besides all of that I loved the book.

Ari is now training to fight Athena to save her father and her friend. She spends all her time studying in 'the bottle' which is a secret l More...