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.
Beautiful Creatures is set in the small town of Gatlin where everything is about gossips and the memory of the Civil War. Ethan is lost in the flow after his mother’s death and hopes to leave this middle-of-no-where-town as soon as possible. He has been haunted by very weird dreams for the past weeks. Dreams of a girl he is desperately trying to save without ever succeeding and waking up soaked wet or full of mud depending on the dream. His wondering will come to an end when a new girl moves in town to live with her uncle, the town’s hermit, in his supposedly haunted manor and she will completely change his life, for better or for worse.
This book is quite thick (560ish pages) and I have to say it took me a little while to really get into the story, but once I was in though, it didn’t take long until I flipped the last page. At first everything is mysterious and fuzzy. Ethan meets this girl everyone is taking great pleasure picking on, and it won’t take long until he realize she is the girl from his dreams. They can also talk to each other with their mind but you have no idea what’s going on until page 140ish when you get to learn what Lena really is, and she’s not human. That’s when the story picked up for me. The plot took a stronger turn and characters had a mission. I enjoyed following them, learning more about this mysterious world no human is aware of along side with Ethan.
Beautiful Creatures is different from every Young Adult Paranormal I’ve read before. First because it’s from a boy point-of-view, and the mystical creatures involved are unique and intriguing. There is a lot more going on behind the scenes of this town than the little touristic country town popular for it’s reenactment of the Honey Hill Battle. You don’t get to know who are Ethan & Lena’s allies and enemies until the very end because not every secondary characters really are what they pretend to be, and some of the revelations were a shock to me.
I loved both main characters, they were both truly awesome. Sometimes weak, other times strong, they complimented each other perfectly. I also had a sweet spot for Link, his isn’t that major character but he is so charming. Ridley, Lena’s cousin made a good impression on me, there is more to her than eyes can see!
The end was fast-paced and spectacular. So much happened in so little time and I can’t wait to see the consequences to the choices that were made. Good for me, Beautiful Darkness will be out soon!
Read an excerpt (first 200 pages!)
Caster Chronicles:
Beautiful Creatures
Beautiful Darkness (Oct 2010)
Book Stats:
Book Source: Personal Shelf
I have been tempted to order this book for a while but I have never been sure about whether I would like it or not.
ReplyDeleteThanks to your review, I think it may have just moved up my TBR pile =)
What a great review! I now see why I have to pull this book from my TBR pile and finally read it. Something different in the paranormal YA category is something I can't miss! Also, I love that it's told from a guy's POV. There should be more of those on the shelves!
ReplyDeleteLoved this book :)
ReplyDeleteGreat review! I keep thinking about picking up this book but I still have so many other books to read and keep adding new ones to my TBR pile. It might take awhile til I get around to this one though.
ReplyDeleteStill it does sound good based on your review!
I'm currently in the process of reading this one. Right now, I'm about half way through and loving it. It's really cool and different to be reading from Ethan's perspective - definitely a refreshing change.
ReplyDeleteI hope to finish it soon. If my house wouldn't have been insanely hot last night (air conditioning broke, thankfully it is now fixed), I could have read all night. Heat and reading doesn't mix well with me. I'm excited that you liked it though :)
-Ashley
I have been looking at this book for-awhile. I enjoyed your review. I might just pick this one up. :-)
ReplyDeleteI love this book!
ReplyDeleteI'm a relatively new convert to YA, so a lot of the series I've been reading have already all been published so I don't have to wait for the next ones to come along - I really hate having to wait a whole year to find out what happens next! I quite liked this one too, and am looking forward to reading Beautiful Darkness.
ReplyDeleteI first read this one either earlier this year or sometime late last year and i have to say that i fell in love with it. I totally agree with you about Ridley, i loved her and i think that Link was totally adorable. I love this book and i can't wait for the next one :)
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