Review: Beautiful Creatures

Beautiful Creatures (ARC) by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl
Publisher: Little Brown Books for Young Readers Pub. Date: December 1st, 2009
Pages: 576
Age Level: YA

Synopsis
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.

Review
Beautiful Creatures is the perfect combination of supernatural elements, romance, and suspense. It truly took the words compelling and mystifying to an entire new level.

Beautiful Creatures was filled with so many wonderful characters. Ethan and Lena were both well developed and I was really sucked into their lives. There was, however, one small thing that bugged me about Lena. The whole, "Keep away, you'll only get hurt." mantra got kinda old and was very reminiscent of a certain other book we are all familiar with. Aside from that, she was a witty and exciting character. And Ethan, don't even get me started. He's cute, funny, caring, and many other things that make me want him! As for some of the other characters, I thought Amma was hilarious in her own weird way and Lena's family was all so intriguing. I loved getting to learn about their lives and different abilities through out the book. Especially Ridley whom, for some reason, I found to be very entertaining.

Beautiful Creatures is one of those books that is so filled with key details to the plot throughout the entire book that you might literally miss something important if you blink. I really enjoyed this though as it kept me tuned in and interested. The overall story line was thrilling and there were so many twists and turns that it kept me guessing on most things until the end. The flashbacks were an insightful and chilling addition to the story.

As for the writing, one thing I especially loved was that Beautiful Creatures was told from Ethan's point of view. At first I wasn't sure how well two female authors would pull that off but they did wonderfully in both the dialogue and context. I'm pretty sure this is the first book I've ever read written by two authors so I must admit I was surprised how well the writing flowed. Another thing that really made this book was Kami and Margie's excellent use of imagery.

The ending was definitely a surprise. There was only one thing I had figured out and lets just say there was a lot more than just one thing to be revealed towards the end. I was very pleased with the end and it left off promising a second book which we already knew there would be.

All in all, Beautiful Creatures was an utterly satisfying, and riveting read that I believe anyone could enjoy. I will definitely be re-reading this one and I'm anxiously awaiting the second book.

Grade
Characters: A-
Writing: A-
Plot: B+
Ending: B+
Enjoyment/Likability: A-
Recommendable: A+
Cover: A+

Overall: A-