Beautiful Creatures

Ethan Wate is sixteen years old, living in the small town of Gatlin, South Carolina where his family has lived for centuries, and having a very tough year. His mom was killed in a car accident a few months ago, and his father, a writer and, like Ethan's mother, a former history professor, has retreated into his study and emerges only to eat and shower. If not for Amma, their housekeeper who has always been a second mother to him, Ethan would be alone.

He doesn't really fit in at school, either, with only his basketball skill giving this bookish, thoughtful kid a social toehold.

And lately, he's been having weird dreams about a beautiful girl he's never met.

Then Lena Duchannes movies into the home of her uncle, the town hermit, Macon show more Ravenwood. Ravenwood plantation is a bit notorious locally; it's the only one in town that wasn't burned when General Sherman's troops passed through. There are spooky stories about the family. And Macon Ravenwood himself has a big, black dog who looks to be mostly wolf. So Lena is set up to be the high school outcast almost before she sets foot in Stonewall Jackson High.

That's before she gets on the wrong side of Jackson's Mean Girls. It's not a great social move on Ethan's part, either, when he quickly falls for Lena and lets it be known.

But high school social issues are the least of the their problems. Lena is a caster, a member of a race of magic workers. Her Uncle Macon is something even stranger. And Lena's family is cursed, due to the actions of her ancestor Genevieve Duchannes, who loved a mortal--Ethan's great-great-great-great-uncle, Ethan Carter Wate. On her rapidly approaching sixteenth birthday, Lena will be claimed by either the light or the dark--and she is afraid, in fact nearly certain, that it will be the dark.

Meanwhile, strange things are happening around them and to them. Ethan and Lena can hear each other's thoughts. The leading ladies of Gatlin society, never especially open-minded or tolerant, become ever more poisonous, led by the mother of Ethan's best friend, Link. Amma has magic of her own, different from the casters', and she's determined to protect Ethan. Things spin further and further out of control as Ethan and Lena search for answers to the mysteries and a way to stop Lena from "going dark" on her birthday.

This book is creepy and compelling. Lena, Ethan, Link and many of their classmates are in many ways a nightmare version of my worst memories of high school. The nature of the curse and the complexity of what is really happening, to Lena and to Ethan, are fascinating.

Thoroughly satisfying, and recommended.

I received this book free as part of an Overdrive promotion. show less

I really enjoyed this book - I adored the characters, they were all interesting and quirky and likeable, and I even liked the characters you weren't supposed to like. Ethan is a teenage boy, growing bored in his small southern town, who only thinks about getting away from Gatlin. Until Lena moves to town, that is. Lena is reviled by her town and classmates; she lives in the forbidden creepy mansion Ravenwood, with her uncle, who the town fears and mocks. He is the Boo Radley of Gatlin, and as much as I like Boo, Macon Ravenwood is a little cooler. His house is magic, and the interior can change on a whim. This is one of the things I loved about the book- the magical whimsy throughout. I of course loved Marion Ashcroft, the librarian, show more who you also find has a bit more up her sleeves than just being the public librarian.
Lena is a caster- and so is her family. On their 16th birthday, the fates decide if they are a good caster, or a bad caster. Which way will they turn out? Which way will Lena go? Lena is a powerful caster, yet she surprises the reader by also being just a regular teenager, with a crush on a boy. There is a battle against the clock of good versus evil, and to be honest, you don't always know which way it will go!
This book is rich in its charms, with the small southern town, eccentric characters, magic, a loyal dog, and romance. I very much enjoyed the world that Garcia and Stohl created. show less

The thing I love most about this book is that it is from the perspective of a teenage guy who is a pretty normal dude and not a douche bag like *cough cough Edward Cullen cough cough* other male characters we've seen in YA lit.

The story is good. I think it's pretty original - minus the love story of course - the Casters, what happens to a teenage girl when she is forced to follow her family's "career". It's very interesting.

I also like the rhythm and flow of the writing. It was comfortable and not choppy. Ethan's voice was very well defined.

I also think that the authors did a really great job of writing about a small Southern town. Being an outside growing up (junior and high school years) in a Southern small town a lot of what they show more write rings very, very true. I was really impressed by how they captured Southern small town community without it being a horrid stereotype. show less

This book and I got off to a fantastic start. I absolutely loved the prologue as it established the setting and the tone of the novel beautifully. I daresay that it was some of the best establishment of setting that I have seen in YA fiction and actually found myself re-reading just that portion. Then it kind of all spiraled downhill for me.

You see, I was hesitant to pick up Beautiful Creatures due to the extravagant amount of pages it contains. It's incredibly rare for me to find a book longer than, oh about 300 pages that I actually enjoy. Too often I find that there isn't enough going on in the story for the book to warrant so much excess. I also find that these longer books contain too much fluff. Unfortunately the first problem show more was alive and well in Beautiful Creatures. I really believe this story should have been cut down to at least half its size because there really is not that much happening. Basically Lena and Ethan are in love right away without any buildup. Lena is doomed because of a curse placed upon her as a consequence of the actions taken by one of her very dead relatives. Ethan and Lena only have so much time and have to find a way to reverse the spell. There are some small town issues with outsiders and finally a brief confrontation which results in a whole lot of nothing. Now do you see what I mean about the length being a tad unnecessary?

The lack of story wasn't the only thing that bothered me. If you have read any of my other reviews then you are well aware of how much I despise these romances that just appear out of nowhere and are love at first sight. Sure, Ethan had been dreaming of Lena before they actually met but that doesn't create a solid foundation for any kind of love. He barely even knows the girl. I'm also not a fan of people throwing away every other aspect of their life just to be with this person that they have randomly fallen in love with. In real life that is known as an unhealthy relationship. Ethan became the male version of Bella to me. He quits everything else and spends every waking moment with or thinking about Lena. Gross. Just gross.

I was also incredibly disappointed by the ending. Throughout this story there is all this buildup and what you hope will be foreshadowing with the constant dream they both share and then the ending just feels like a major letdown. Nothing is resolved. If anything more problems are created so you feel like you just wasted all this time reading the book in the first place.

Overall:

I wish I liked this book, but overall I just don't. I won't be reading the rest of the series. show less

When I received this book from the Amazon Vine program, I didn't really know much about what kind of story I was getting. After reading the blurbs and stuff, the book didn't really pull me in very much and I was a little turned off by how thick the book was. Really between the cover, and legnth, and the boy-meets-girl blurb I was afraid this was going to be a Twilight wannabe. I finally decided enoughs enough and started to read. I was maybe two chapters in when I knew I was reading something different and special. The first half of the book, my mind just buzzed with questions....the book was a huge puzzle I couldn't figure out but wanted to. Ethan meets newcomer outcast Lena, who lives in the big scary mansion with her recluse uncle. show more What is Lena's secret, what do the numbers written on her hand mean? What secrets are up in that mansion? By going deeper than these obvious mysteries, and fully fleshing out both Lena and Ethan's backgrounds, the authors have written one of the most creepy, entertaining, and emotional YA novels in a long time. I had a busy weekend but I still managed to read the 627 pages in three days. I worried that the end would be cliche and rushed because I knew the authors were already working on a sequel. The hint at where the sequel will head was just that, a hint. Enough to again keep us readers guessing. I can't say enough about how enjoyable and well-written this story is. In my opinon, this story should find some of the mass raves as Twilight because it more than deserves it. "Beautiful Creatures" is a must read! show less

I didn't want to read this in the first place - I am not a fan of romance in any fashion

and the back cover saying it would be enjoyed by fans of Twilight was not encouraging

either. And I feel ashamed to say that it took me so long to read, from the end of 12th

grade to winter break of my college freshman year, skipping an entire summer as well.

Keeping score, that's about 8 months reading roughly 560 pages from start to finish. The

reason I say I'm ashamed is because I let a slightly slow start get to me. The meat of

the story of was more satisfying.

The romance between Ethan and Lena is very star-crossed, between Caster (like a witch)

and Mortal. Even more so with Lena not yet knowing if she's a Dark or Light (bad or

good) Caster. show more However, that is not what truly drew me in.

Aside from the power and supernatural occurences present, which I love and look for in

about every book I lose myself in, you can see the truth in Southern living and the kind

of exclusion that occurs when someone is too different...no, exclusion doesn't quite

describe it. More like a witch trial and, ignoring the fact that Lena is an actual witch

in this case, it exemplifies how an entire community can turn against someone over

things so trivial.

I live in the South as well, often between Virginia and Maryland, with a Confederate

flag from my uncle's trailer and little things like political stance, religion, race,

etc. being the talk of the town of someone. God forbid if they happen to be gay or trans

(both and proud, baby). Therefore, I could see clear parallelism in the members of

Gatlin. With the Ravenwoods being the "Boo Radley" of the town - their dog/wolf is named

with that reference, by the way. With the student body of the school pulling a "Carrie"

type of prank on poor Lena. With petitions of expulsions over things that no one could

prove was even connected to Lena. With the town member's obsessions with family ties and

history from the town. It all seemed so real and true to life, knowing my own home, even

if it isn't from a more stereotyped southern state like Georgia or Louisiana (this takes

place in South Carolina). Personal experience plays a lot in a book's interpretation, in

my opinion.

Still, regarding the love story and Claiming on its own, the most gripping part was

seeing the emotional toll on Lena. That feeling of drifting off and thinking that no

one, not even the one you love most, would be able to save you.

Very nicely done. show less

Ethan can't wait to leave the little town of Gatlin. But then Lena Duchannes shows up, and he realizes he'd give up anything at all to keep her safe and happy. Ethan has no power to do so, however, because Lena is a powerful Caster and Ethan is just a mortal. What can he do against the dark forces seeking Lena's soul, or the fate that has tainted the Duchannes line for generations?

I loved the portrayal of Gatlin, with all its comforts and constraints and traditions. It felt like a real place. Ethan and Lena are a great couple, both as individuals and together; I bought their relationship entirely. I thought the plot was a little scattered, but I was so enthused by the role reversals in this book that I didn't care. That said, I liked show more the recent movie better. show less