Beautiful Creatures
Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl
Book 1 of the 'Caster Chronicles' series
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.
Recommended for those who enjoy:
gothic teen novels, teen romance, supernatural becomings, blossoming love, 'coming of age' transitions, freedom from being stuck in one place, fantasy fiction
Cold Tea and Crumbs rating: ★★★★☆
My thoughts:
Beautiful Creatures is a compelling tale narrated by Ethan Wate, a boy stuck in a 'middle of nowhere' Southern USA small town who longs to escape and discover the 'outside' word. Ethan's plans are to finish high school as quick as possible and then attend any college that will accept him, that is until Lena Duchannes moves to town and starts to stir up the small town folk and strange occurrences begin happening. Ethan's now more preoccupied with learning more about Lena and her secrets.
Ethan Wate and Lena Duchannes may be the main characters in the book but I personally 'warmed' to other characters more than these two. My favourite has to be Macon Ravenwood the loveable eccentric whose best interests are always in ensuring that Lena is safe, whether that is from the typical high school students or the more supernatural beings. I do however like that it's written from Ethan's perspective which is a welcome difference to the usual female narration.
The story is predictable most of the time but name me a book that isn't! I enjoyed reading Beautiful Creatures as it was an escape during my lunchtime breaks or an easy read before I went to sleep. It didn't take me too long to finish it, approximately 3 weeks when reading about 30 minutes a day. I actually chose to read this book after watching the movie and although I enjoyed it, I felt there were large elements missing from the movie and aspects of it that didn't seem to piece together properly. After reading the book and rewatching the movie, there is differently more meaning to aspects of it. Warning: The movie does not follow the book closely at all, there are a lot of aspects missing from the film and an altogether different ending! I'll be addressing these in a post to follow for those who want to find out or to discuss. Stay tuned for that soon.
Over to you:
Have you read Beautiful Creatures, what did you think of it? Enjoyed reading it or disliked it? Whose your favourite character?
Have you read the book and watched the movie? Which did you like best?
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