Justine's Thoughts: Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl

Beautiful Creatures
By Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl

Pages:

563

Book Description:

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.

A quote:

Any book is a Good Book, and wherever they keep the Good Book safe is also the House a the Lord.

Any thoughts:

Beautiful Creatures is one that is brilliantly woven and contains everything you could possibly ever want in a novel -- romance, paranormal, mystery, a wonderful setting, and history.

...Though the history part slowed me down. I have to be honest but I’m not really into those kinds of things like the Civil War, which is most likely the reason why it took me about a week to finish it. The first two hundred pages or so are meant to be understood because those facts will come up for sure later on in the story. That’s why I slowed down to let it all sink in. But that doesn’t mean I didn’t like the overall novel, because I really did.

First of all, the writing is astounding, and seeing everything through Ethan’s eyes made it better. He is such a nice, kind, really caring boy. I think I’ve got a new literary crush. Lena is also a great character. She was a big mystery to me at first -- still is, but less of a mystery -- and I’m still a little anxious to know her better, especially the thing about her real name. The rest of the characters are amazing, too! Amma, The Sisters, Macon Ravenwood, Marian, Link...they are all very likeable. I hope to read more about them in the sequel and I hope to find out more about Ridley, who seemed to change my opinion of her in the end.

The storyline is amazingly creative. With high school drama, not-so-normal family gatherings, a person in town who is looked upon as Boo Radley from To Kill a Mockingbird, and a newly moved-in girl who Ethan has dreamt about but never met...you can’t go wrong. And the end was...strange yet incredible.

Also, one thing I kept thinking about while reading was the five senses. You know -- touch, feel, smell, hearing, sight? Each one of them is included so I visualized the setting and everything else in the tiniest of details, making it all a wonderful scenario. Garcia and Stohl have created a world that is unique and imaginative. Beautiful Creatures is probably one of the most beautiful novels I’ve ever read. When I say beautiful, I mean both inside and out because have you seen the cover? So gorgeous.