Customer Reviews

Beautiful Creatures (Beautiful Creatures, Book 1)

5 star:		(251)
4 star:		(135)
3 star:		(70)
2 star:		(42)
1 star:		(36)

 

 

I liked this book. It was interesting, the paranormal aspects were fairly unique, and I love a story with a long family history like this one has.

But I just liked it. It never grabbed me by the throat and demanded that I keep reading. I think, mostly, this was because the pacing was off. There was too much time during the story when I was relaxed and not worried about whether the characters were going to get out of trouble. Sure, there were intense moments when I was glued to the pages, but then things slowed down too much and I was lulled into a strange sense of security. This made it too easy to set the book down.

The characters weren't as developed as I wanted them to be, either. Ethan's voice felt too feminine to me. Actually, when I first started reading, I thought the story was from Lena's perspective, just based on the voice. Then, after I adjusted to Ethan's voice, he didn't feel real to me. His entire character felt cliche, like the teenage girl's ideal boyfriend, not what boys are actually like (I think another reviewer said this, and I couldn't agree more).

Then there was the setting. It didn't *feel* like the south. To me, the story could have taken place in any rural situation. We didn't get a sense of southern culture, which is so unique and could have had an amazing impact on the story. A really good example of southern setting, by the way, is Shadowed Summer by Saundra Mitchell. Great book. But I digress...

Beautiful Creatures is a good story. I think it could have been great if it had been shorter, which would have increased the tension and kept the reader glued to the pages through the whole story. Or, at least, if it had a bit more depth to it with the characters and setting. Overall, the only thing that really set it apart was the paranormal aspect, which was really interesting and unique. Unfortunately, it's not enough.

Total side note: I find it interesting, and a little sad, that so many people here are voting against the reviews that don't give high stars, even when the review is fair and well-written. After all, different opinions are what make the world an interesting place. Expecting everyone to agree with you just turns us all into lemmings. :)

I have never really liked romance plots, and most of the time I despise YA romance. I don't think I will ever much like either, and my track record will most likely show cynical remarks for everything from the movie Titanic to Twilight to Pride and Prejudice and especially Romeo and Juliet. But Beautiful Creatures is an anomaly on that review record. Because I didn't just enjoy Beautiful Creatures. I loved it. And not just because there's magic in it.

First I loved the return to 1990's modern fantasy! For anyone who doesn't know what that amounts to: witches. Not ones with a special, hidden school (under no circumstances, however, am I complaining about Harry Potter) but the ones who hide in plain sight. Sabrina the Teen Age Witch. Disney Channel's Halloween movies. TNT's Charmed. Casper the Ghost. Having grown up with books and TV shows such as those, the return to witches and curses and dark charmed objects is more than welcome. But even if you won't be on the nostalgia train with me, the witch element should be welcome to anyone even remotely tired of faeries/fairies, angels, demons, werewolves, and (dare I say it?) vampires.

Second I loved the incorporation of 90s fantasy with 21st century style--something I'm sure fans of the current YA will enjoy. What I mean is a first person story that moves quickly. This novel moves quick, sucking the reader right along. Yet, even when incorporating the 21st century style, Beautiful Creatures still manages to be different: it's first person, through the guy's POV. Kinda neat.

The third thing I loved is the length of this novel. Most YA these days is rushed, even if it is long, and it doesn't seem properly developed. Rushed, in musical terms, like things were cut out. But Beautiful Creatures has substance to it, but every scene still matters, and for once I wasn't saying, "I wish it had more to it." In other words, the novel feels complete, and it wasn't just a three hour read.

And the fourth (and grudgingly most important)thing I loved about Beautiful Creatures was the love story, which was beautifully done. The authors made fabulous choices. For one thing, it's first person, through the dude's POV, which cuts out all the fawning and whining and obsessiveness of the female's POV. For another thing, little time is wasted on the crush-developing stages. It just happens, rather than dragging the reader through months of "Does she like me? Does she hate me? Was that a smile at me?"

Most importantly in that important point is that Ethan and Lena's relationship IS special, where other YA relationships just claim to be special and "true." I'm not calling it true love or anything, just that their relationship feels genuine. And that the fantasy elements (with the witches and all) are integral to it all. In other words, rather than fantasy elements being slapped on to make it "cool," they serve a legitimate purpose in the story, and they make Ethan and Lena's relationship stronger and better.

In the end, I highly recommend this read to anyone. I enjoyed it immensely. I didn't roll my eyes like I usually do at romance 'stuff'. It wasn't cliche or corny. I didn't want to gag at two teenager's supposedly "true" love for each other. Rather, I enjoyed the world, enjoyed the setting especially (small town in the South?), appreciated the fact that high school wasn't portrayed as it usually is in books and movies. And while there will undoubtedly be those who disagree with me, this novel has my full stamp of approval, and I can't wait until the sequel...if there is one, which I hope there will be.

Beautiful Creatures, at its core, is a "forbidden love" story, with a healthy portion of "its a race against time" thrown in.

I'm not one to delve into the details of a book, giving away spoilers and secrets to try to convinvce people if the book is good or not. The real question - the one you want to know - is if the book is fun to read, holds your attention, and is "satisfying". And to this I would say "yes."

The story will seem like other popular "modern fantasy" forbidden love stories, but of course Beautiful Creatures has its own twists and turns.

The story is set in a southern town that has a very strong sentiment toward the civil war. History buffs should not get too excited, its not close to being that historical. Its all just a "set" for the romance in the story. The civil war connection allows the author a surprising amount of opportunities to broaden the story without it coming across as being a historical book. I think it was a good choice, because its a bit unique and some of the story details are very fresh.

One thing that the authors really nailed was character development. Proper character development is important in any story. In this story, the authors have done an excellent job. The main characters have unique yet believable backstories, and the characters remain true to themselves throughout the story. Each character even has their own way of talking (well, within reason) and the dialogue is fresh and fun to read. Each has their own "world" of things thats important to them. For example, Link (the male friend of one of the main characters) has very specific and realistic goals, that unexpectedly help propel the story forward. Amma, the narrator's "hired help who is part of the family now" has very specific agendas and ideals. Even minor characters, like Ethan's 3 aunts, have their own set of values and goals which add to the story, without weighing down the story movement. The characters grow and mature, and have their own epiphanies and realizations about the events in the book. Superbly done.

The Plot is above average. Critical readers will spot only two or three areas which could stand some improvement, which is way above average in my opinion. There were a few places in the book I had to conciously suspend my disbelief, but I suspect the "juvenile fiction" crowd that this book is targeted to would not share my quibbles.


I will probably read the sequel. Oh yes, they left ample room for a sequel. It was written to allow a fluid transition. But, I felt that the transition was so "fluid" that it may have been at the cost of a completely satisfying ending. I did wish that the book had more of a sense of closure when I was finished. At least I can take some satisfaction in knowing that there are many unexplored details for the next book.

Overall, this book was a jewel to enjoy, with different facets showing different angles of the same beautiful core. I'm very pleased with it overall. I will be gifting it to some young adults who I know.

I love a southern gothic novel with all of its dark secrets, rich atmosphere and spooky happenings thrown in and authors Kami Garcia and Margie Stohl deliverer in a big way. From the first pages I was hooked. What is the mysterious link between two teens who have never met each other? What's going on with these strange dreams? Ever since Ethan's mother died he has been having dreams; dreams so realistic that he wakes up with mud under his fingernails, dreams with a girl that he did not know but that he knew he was in love with.

Ethan is a typical small-town high school student counting the hours before he can graduate and put Gatlin, South Carolina, in his rear-view mirror forever. For his entire life he has lived in the same town and attended classes with the same classmates and the same teachers. Everyone knows everyone and if anything happens, everybody knows about it and nothing ever changes.

Then she arrives. Lena is the first new student Jackson High has seen in years and is instantly the center of attention although not in a good way. If her unusual outfits and black nail polish aren't enough, word soon spreads that she lives with her uncle, Macon Ravenwood, Gatlin's eccentric recluse that nobody has seen for years yet everybody knows stories about. Almost immediately the tightly-knit community closes ranks against her. But not Ethan. Even though he knows he is committing social suicide he is inexplicably drawn Lena.

And then things start changing in ways that Ethan never saw coming.

What I Liked: Beautiful Creatures has sort of a 'Romeo & Juliet' thing going with casters (witches) and mortals instead of Montagues and Capulets. Ethan and Lena make great star-crossed lovers and the sense of impending doom that pervades the whole story makes it evident that this is not going to end well. I've never been to keen on teenage romances but I'm willing to make an exception in this case, mainly because the authors did such a great job of developing the characters of Ethan and Lena. The psychic/spiritual bond between them combined with the opposition they get from just about everyone else makes it hard not to cheer them on and hope for them to prevail.

Kami Garcia's southern roots show through in the level of detail included about life in Gatlin. I've never spent any time in small southern towns but I really felt that I had an understanding of life in Gatlin was. This also is apparent in the way that the supernatural aspects of the story are drawn, relying heavily on rural American folklore. This went a long way toward making an otherwise fantastical story easier to accept.

My only problem with Beautiful Creatures is the pace of events. From the beginning, the reader is aware that something big will be happening at the end but, at over 600 pages, it seemed to take forever to get there. That said, I really wanted to know how it would end so I kept reading, and I'm glad I did. Also, the cast of supporting characters, while well-rounded, tend to be stereotypical. I guess this is by design, though, as you can't tell a story about a small-minded community without populating it with small-minded people.

My final assessment is that Beautiful Creatures is a fun read with well-crafted characters and an imaginative plot. I recommend it highly for young adult readers.

I have read several books this year that I really loved---but this one stood out above even those. It would actually be easier to say what I didn't like about Beautiful Creatures, but I'm pretty sure Amazon frowns on completely blank reviews. :)



If you've read any of the other reviews here you have an idea of the basic plot, so I'm going to jump straight in with the superlatives.



Things I adore about Beautiful Creatures:

1. The Writing Style: It is so smooth, fluid, and consistent that it's hard to believe it was written by two authors. It doesn't have that disjointed feeling where it's obvious one section was written by Author 1 and the next section was written by the Author 2. (I wasn't surprised when I learned that the authors work together the whole time.) My favorite thing about the style was that it was poetic and full of meaning without having that `purple prose' quality. The writing never felt forced.

2. The Characters: I love characters that are not only real, but really likable---and Beautiful Creatures has them in abundance. I liked how depth was given even to the villains. I may not have l agreed with what they did, but I could tell where they were coming from, and that made them more real.

Link was a great character and I loved that he was steadfast in his friendship with Ethan. I get so annoyed when (supposed) friends in books don't have any loyalty.

Ethan's dad was not physically in the book much, but his grief was palpable and understandable. He was always at the edge of Ethan's thoughts---so much so that you felt like you knew him. One of the most poignant scenes of the book takes place in his office, and it made me cry like a baby.

Also, the secondary characters like the Sisters (Ethan's great-aunts) are incredibly fun, but if I listed all the characters I liked it would take forever, so I'll move onto what I loved about the main characters. They are both so fully realized, it's amazing. The conflicting feelings they experience are extremely realistic. Like how Lena's dislike of the cookie-cutter cheerleaders wars against Lena's own need to be liked and to fit in. Often you have characters who are outsiders but they're so `cool and tough' that they don't care that no one likes them. I just don't buy that. I think Lena's portrayal is much more accurate---she doesn't want to be like the other girls, but she wants to be accepted by them. And both Ethan's claustrophobia about living in Gatlin and his fear of losing his friends and the place he's carved for himself in the school are completely understandable. Ethan's choice to stick by Lena is made even more touching because of this inner struggle.

3. The Atmosphere: The southern setting is both beautiful and spooky, and the descriptions are so vivid they leap right off the page. Reading Beautiful Creatures is like being in a lucid dream. If you want to be truly transported to another place, this is the book to read.

4. The Romance: I love that the romance was given a chance to develop. By the time Lena and Ethan got together, there was no doubt in my mind that they were actually in love. It is much more satisfying when the characters have actually shown why they care about each other instead of just telling us how in love they are.



And finally, the one thing I didn't like: The book ended---and I so didn't want it to! But I take solace in the fact that there is going to be a sequel. And hey, I can always read it again. In fact, I already am.

I love a good gothic tale of the south, you can picture the plantation houses, dark lowly hanging oak branches dripping in moss, and hear the women on the porches sipping their sweet tea. Beautiful Creatures is a love story, wrapped up in antibellum whispers, and oozing with mystery and immortality. This is a big book, 576 pages, and I was worried that it would be all filler and no substance. NOT TRUE. The authors Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl have written a smart, lavish, creative, and unique young adult book that will appeal to everyone.

Ethan Wate lives in Gatlin South Carolina, where everyone knows everyone elses business, all the way back to the civil war and beyond. Each household is built on the blood of thier forefathers, whether it was spilled on the battlefield or worked to the bone. Ethans house is filled with sadness since his mother died and his father has decided to write his book, isolated in his office , dead to the world. The only person who is "alive" in the house besides Ethan is his housekeeper Amma. Amma feeds Ethan, both his stomach and his mind and I saw her as his touchstone to the only motherly love he has left. Dreams, and a strange song have begun to haunt Ethan and when he learns there is a new girl in school, he somehow knows there is a connection. Lena Duchannes, black hair, pale and enchantingly beautiful. She is the niece of the towns "shut-in" Macon Ravenwood. At this point a book can go so wrong. A new girl who is "different" a scary uncle who lives in a house than can change its interior at will, a high school full of people who dont like her based on that...BUT it doesnt go rotten and predictable from there. "Beautiful Creatures" is a love story that spans generations, and family trees (which are there for us in the book, marvelously detailed to the T) Lena is different allright, her family is a conglomeration of beings that all of our fairy tales, horror movies, and romances are about. I have to admit I got terribly attached to these characters, In particularly Macon Ravenwood. Once in a great while I find a literary crush and he is my latest!

I will not give away the plot, or the meat of this juicy southern novel, but I will tell you that in the end I wanted more. It has both humor and heart, which are hard to come by together. I know this is the first book of a series, and Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl have handed all of us the kind of book you want to curl up on the couch with and savor every word. I totally recommend this to anyone who likes a good mystery, fantasy, romance, or even historical fiction. Pick this up, you wont regret it.

Ethan Wate lives in the small town of Gatlin, SC. He's a member of the basketball team & part of the "in" crowd, yet, underneath his jock exterior, Ethan secretly loves to read & wants to leave Gatlin as soon as possible. Anywhere will do, so long as Ethan can get away from Gatlin. But when Ethan begins the 10th grade at his local high school, things change. Lena Duchannes is new in town, & Ethan feels an instant attraction to her. He has been dreaming, literally, about Lena for months now, & the girl from his dreams just happens to show up in Gatlin. Suddenly, Gatlin might be exactly where Ethan wants to stay.

"Beautiful" Creatures is a wonderfully told Southern Gothic. The mystery of Lena's past kept me up far too late, & I would recommend this book to anyone who loves YA paranormal. I was a little worried about "Beautiful Creatures" being narrated by a male because I am so used to female narrators. However, I instantly loved Ethan & can't imagine another narrator.

Beautiful Creatures is a compelling story that grabs your attention and sucking you into the lives of Ethan, Lena and others who live in Gatlin. Though I do not normal enjoy paranormal novels, I was intrigued to keep reading and dive in to this amazing world. Kami and Margaret are inspiring writers, who have written an amazing and charming novel. A 5 star must read!

It has taken me a small eternity to write this review. I was down a hand for I had to use my left index finger to clamp down on my left eyelid in order to stop the twitching that began around page 65 of Beautiful Creatures. Meet the culprit. "As I lay down, she sat up, I sat up, she laid down, I laid down. Awkward." Hell, now the right one is doing it.

To quote Hawkeye, from the 1991 movie version of Last of the Mohicans, Beautiful Creatures is "a breed apart and makes no sense" therefore making it nearly impossible to describe. It's a contradictory mess and filled with 600 pages of driveling, hyperbole, that attempts, and yet fails miserably, at being cerebral. I'll take it from the top.

Ethan. Who knew that 16 year old boys had so much in common with my great grandmother? Big granny could tell you everything there was to know about Southern style architecture, felt the world would end if she ran a few minutes late, and loved Gone With the Wind. Coincidentally, she and Ethan could have been soul mates. Even more amazing, Ethan is popular. Had he gone to my school (which was in a small southern town I might add) he would have been beat, both before and after school, and mocked mercilessly during class.

Lena. Can't really say anything about her, she is that flat and dull.

Amma. She must have fallen out of the crazy tree and hit every branch on the way down. She would dominate at a staring contest, could probably teach me a thing or two about setting the eye on someone, and if I ever needed to intimidate a guy by sharpening my pencil, she'd be the first person I would call. But as a character, she sucked arse.

Plot. Can't say much about it as there isn't one. I've seen it mentioned more than once in various blubs, that Beautiful Creatures is a memorizing Southern Gothic tale. To be frank, these women would be hard pressed to describe a south that didn't appear in Gone With the Wind. This was truly driven home when another granny in the book stated that she wanted to be buried with her Bible so that she would have something to read once she passed. Any southerner worth their salt knows that statement would never be uttered south of the Mason Dixon line for two reasons. One, we all know that you will your battered family Bible to the least liked family member so that they are coerced by post mortem guilt to display it among their treasures once they have written your death date in it with a 10 cent pen they find buried in the back of a drawer and second because grannies don't read Bibles, they just quote from them in order to brow beat you into submission. Basically, this entire book spits out clichés, cites works of literature that far surpass this one, Lena worries that she is evil, and she and Ethan hunt for a book that is rendered useless.

I wish I could have told Lena not to fret, because the real spawn(s) of Satan are the people who are responsible for publishing and/or advertising this book. Beautiful Creatures was blogged, blurbbed, and podcasted for at least 6 mos. prior to its release. I'd given them props if I weren't so mad at them for their treachery. Had I been in their shoes, I would have quoted Bill Nighy from Love Actually, "Please boys and girls, buy this festering turd of a book so that someone can finally knock Stephanie Meyer off the best seller list."

Lastly, for those of you who read my review thus far, I must apologize. I have pulled a Garcia and Stohl and have gone on too long. I bid you my blurb.

"Beautiful Creatures is freakishly weird, nonsensical, and plot-less tome that will leave your eye twitching long after you have turned the last page."

I started reading BEAUTIFUL CREATURES slowly, just a few pages here, another few there...and then all of the sudden, I was in. I plowed through the remainder of the entire book-- a hefty 600+ pages-- in about a day and a half. I couldn't put it down-- I was reading at stoplights on my drive home.
I hate it when books are long for the sake of being long-- if I'm going to read about a character going through each step in the process of making cereal, there'd better be a point to it. What's fantastic about this book is there IS a point to it-- every word in the book is valuable. It's written with the succinctness of a short book, yet still goes on for 600 pages. Which means that's a powerful, beautiful, and well-planned 600 pages.

The characters are amazingly rounded and realistic; the love story doesn't go without angst/frustration, which makes it one of the best YA love stories I've read in ages. I LIVED for those romantic, sweet scenes that exist just often enough to keep me clambering for the next one. The magic aspect of the world is well built and heavily detailed in a way that makes it all the more believable. The real gem of this book, however, is the setting. As someone from the deep south, I'm always mixed on the way we're portrayed in books. BEAUTIFUL CREATURES simultaneously shows the grace, history, and beauty of the south along with the often irritating small-mindedness that infects some areas.

I will confess that I felt the power of the love story dropped a little in the final chapter, but I think this may just be my interpretation. There were also a few very minor unfulfilled character development moments. But it wasn't enough for me to not give this book five stars-- overall, BEAUTIFUL
CREATURES is a glorious love story spun in the rich, mysterious, and magical world of the deep South. It's sure to be a huge hit-- how could it not be?

-Jackson
Author of:
Sisters Red and As You Wish