Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

A Blog with Bite YA Review

Beautiful Creatures follows the story of 16 year old Ethan, a normal teenage boy living in a small southern town called Gatlin. Only our poor Ethan isn’t like most normal teenage boys. His mom died in a gruesome car accident and his father is going slowly insane locked away in his office where he only comes out for dinner. The only one who is there to take care of Ethan is his live in nanny Amma, who has been with the family since Ethan was born. She cooks, cleans and practices a little voodoo on the side. Nothing like a little southern voodoo and chicken bone grave reading to get the hairs on the back of your neck standing.

Ethan under the surface is looking for more than the small minded town of Gatlin. He wants more than the pretty girls who prance around like the southern belles they are. When Ethan starts having dreams of a girl with no face, he is sure for the first time in his life he has fallen in love.

Lena Duchannes is what every girl wants to be, beautiful smart and different. She’s also the girl everyone wants to hate, with her edgy looks, and her “We're Different” family she immediately becomes the outcast of every town she goes to.

Lena and Ethan meet- it’s so powerful a hurricane surrounds them, without knowing Lena is a powerful Caster (witch, magic wizard of some sort) he realizes she is the girl from his dreams. Eventually Ethan and Lena discover they share the same dreams and can talk to each other telepathically. Lena on her 16th birthday will be claimed to either the light side or the dark side…..Ethan will do anything to protect her, thus we venture into a story of cursed and forbidden love. Dark forces of evil will torment and do anything to break them apart.

So savvy readers, perhaps when a book is so hyped up and the reviews so dazzling, when you finally sit down to read it your expectations are set way to high. When I started Beautiful Creatures I was expecting a dark gothic southern fairy tale…as stated by the description of the book. What I was not expecting was a  story chop full of political agenda. Maybe that’s why I as a reader couldn't emotionally invest myself to any of the characters. Everything seemed to have some hidden meanings and the characters felt forced to say things that didn't fit them. I liked Ethan and Lena’s relationship and that it faintly mixed with the older dead couple featured in the book. Although the characters weren't having sex I thought the physical and intense emotions were a bit overboard for 15 year olds. Honestly towards the big end….I found myself wanting the story to just BE OVER…...I will admit, I won’t be continuing on with Lena and Ethan’s journey. 

2/5 YA Paranormal