Review: Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl

Title: Beautiful Creatures
Author: Kami Garcia & Margret Stohl
Reading Level: Young Adult
IBSN:  9780316042673
Blurb:
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.

My Thoughts:

Ethan just wants to get out. Out of his house. With his non existent dad. Out of this dead-end town. With the people who only care about the DAR and being in everyone else’s business. That is just what he plans to do too. As soon as he’s out of school, he’s out of Gatlin. Nothing could keep him there. Except maybe the new girl.

I started this book with very little to no expectations. People were saying they loved it but it had been so long since I read the blurb that I didn’t even remember what it was about. I was expected the standard girl meets mysterious boy that is so common in YA. Boy was I wrong! First off this is boy meets mysterious girl. That definitely puts a new spin on it. Add that to all the other brilliant elements and you have one great book on your hands.

I was enchanted from the very first page. The main character, Ethan is very relatable. I admit that sometimes I have trouble with connecting to male narrators but I had no problem with Ethan. He is just like any other person that grew up in a small town in the South(which I did). Lena brings the mystery and the intrigue to the story. I loved her! She was everything she should be. Then as if the the main characters weren’t enough, there is a whole cast of minor characters to love. Some are scary. Some are funny. Some are quirky and some are just plain mean. But every single one brings something greatly unique to the story.

I said it many times before but some of my favorite books have everything to do with the setting. Gatlin is a small southern town that is bit too focused on its heritage. I connected instantly with it! I still live in a very small southern town. One red-light small. So it was no big leap for me to visualize Gatlin. Some people might read this book and think people/towns like this don’t really exist. I have news for you, they most certainly do! The thing that Garcia and Stohl did with the town is what’s amazing. They made it unwelcoming and dismal but at the same time it was gothic and beautiful.

What it really comes down to is, I just really loved this book. I fell in love with these charaters and with the story its self. I feel like I took a vacation to Gatlin and meet some wonderful people along the way. I can’t wait to visit again. 5 Stars!