I've read a lot of paranormal YA romances. A LOT! I suppose you could quantify it as a metric fuck-ton of them. Beautiful Darkness was so boring and bland that it has nothing to distinguish it from anything other story in the genre. It's built on cliche tropes and lacks an original thought in its pages whatsoever. The only thing I got out of reading this was pure frustration. 
 Lena and Ethan is an OTP that I really just can't get behind. I've never wanted an OTP to break up more than I do here. I hate to compare this to Twilight but the comparison is pretty apparent. Beautiful Darkness is the New Moon of the series. The thing is, New Moon actually had some real emotional depth to it. I remember ugly crying over how much pain Bella was in. I connected to the characters and really was invested in the outcome. In Beautiful Darkness I couldn't empathize with any of the characters. In fact, I was unbelievably frustrated with them most of the time. Lena is the absolute worst. She's entirely selfish and spends 90% of the book treating Ethan like dirt. Ethan, being the glutton for punishment he is, just keeps coming back for more. I just wanted to take Ethan aside and be like "You need to get away from her because right now you're on a one way trip to crazy town! Also, let's not forget that it's impossible for them to be with each other "physically" without Ethan dying. Ethan says that the physical part of their relationship isn't important because he truly loves her. That's really easy to say when you're 17. Just wait until you're a 25 year old virgin and see how that feels. On top of all that, Liv, a second love interest for Ethan, is introduced and she's so awesome. Liv is an amazing female character and totally a ride or die kind of girl. Seriously... Liv is so dope. Honestly, I just wanted Ethan to decide to just be friends with Lena and then fall in love with Liv. 
 In the end, Beautiful Darkness was a story about a couple that perhaps would be better off without each other. Certainly Ethan would be because Lena is a downright nightmare to be around! On top of the endless romantic drama there's another trope I can't stand: cryptic mysticism. CRYPTIC MYSTICISM = BULLSHIT! I don't know why there are so many characters that won't just freaking explain things! What good has withholding vital information ever done for anyone? If things would just be explained it would help the slow pace immensely. It was tiresome having to wait for characters to figure everything out when someone could have just told them. It would have cut out so much of the story that dragged and make it much more compelling as a condensed version. 
 I guess the question I need to ask is if I will continue on with the series. I think I will but only because I already have the books. I just hope there is less whiny bullshit going forward or this may be a series that I DNF. Right now, I'm giving it a hard Lucille Bluth side eye...