Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl
Genre: YA Paranormal
Publication: December 1st, 2009
Publisher: Little Brown and Company
Page Count: 563
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There were no surprises in Gatlin County.
We were pretty much the epicenter of the middle of nowhere.
At least, that's what I thought.
Turns out, I couldn't have been more wrong.
There was a curse.
There was a girl.
And in the end, there was a grave.

Lena Duchannes is unlike anyone the small Southern town of Gatlin has ever seen, and she's struggling to conceal her power and a curse that has haunted her family for generations. But even within the overgrown gardens, murky swamps and crumbling graveyards of the forgotten South, a secret cannot stay hidden forever.

Ethan Wate, who has been counting the months until he can escape from Gatlin, is haunted by dreams of a beautiful girl he has never met. When Lena moves into the town's oldest and most infamous plantation, Ethan is inexplicably drawn to her and determined to uncover the connection between them.

In a town with no surprises, one secret could change everything.

I finally read this book! Finally! I am definitely a late comer to this series and I'm kinda bummed on what I've been missing out on all this time. Sadly, I watched the movie before I read the book so my whole idea what different than what I'd thought the book was. The movie definitely did not keep true to the book, but I thought, besides the book, it wasn't that bad of a movie.

I really loved Ethan's voice. He was such a cute kind of guy to read about. He definitely had an unrealistic male thought process, but it didn't bother me that much because the story was very interesting. I loved that he'd do anything for his girl, but it kinda freaked me out how a sophomore was in this series and I-will-die-for-you relationship. It definitely had almost a--hate to say it--Twilight feel, but it wasn't that distinct, fortunately.

What was absolutely amazing about this book was the world building. Absolutely memorizing. From the southern feel of Gatlin to the lifestyle that is Lena's everyday life. I loved all the magic that was included in it and it wasn't at all confusing to read about.

With that said, I definitely feel like I enjoyed it more when I had first read it than I do now. Sure, it's been two months since I read it, but, now thinking back on it, I can't really think of anything that significant about it that would make me want to rave about it now. The writing was consistent and had plenty of imagery and was very authentic. The story kept me reading; I finished it in four days, but maybe with all the hype there was over this series, I was expecting more. That's not to say that this book wasn't that good, but it just didn't have that final Wow Factor that would distinguish itself from a good book to an absolutely amazing book.

Besides a very serious relationship among teenagers in the first book, I really did enjoy Beautiful Creatures a lot. The plot, besides this book being over 500 pages, was a quick read and the characters were very interesting to read about. They all had personality and were dimensional.

4 Splashes