Review: Beautiful Creatures

Ｔｉｔｌｅ：Beautiful Creatures

Ａｕｔｈｏｒ：Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl

Ｓｅｒｉｅｓ：Book 1

Ｒａｔｉｎｇ：★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆

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.

✩ Lena was really stubborn and determined when she decided on something. She was also really sensitive and tended to be non-confrontational.

✩ Ethan was very protective of the people closest to him. He was stubborn as well and a bit of a coward in that he didn’t stand up for what he believed in until much later on.

❝ Mortals. I envy you. You think you can change things. Stop the universe. Undo what was done long before you came along. You are such beautiful creatures. ❞

I didn’t know much about this book coming into it other than it dealt with good vs bad witches. When the movie came out I was even more interested in reading the series because books tend to be pretty good to make it on the screen; however, this book actually ended up being a bit of a letdown. People seemed to really like this series and–in particular–the romance, but it didn’t wow me the way I thought it would. I still feel like I’m willing to push through another book or so, but first, let’s get into this review.

One factor that I enjoyed right away in this book was the small-town/Southern feel of the setting. I liked the world building in the sense that there was so much detail put into the community. You could sense how they were closed-minded and didn’t like outsiders, but you also saw the way their own people in town were held to high standards. It felt oppressive living under the scrutiny of the very opinionated women of the DAR.

Of course, Ethan is supposed to be different from the rest of the boys. He doesn’t agree with the things that are said or done by the people in town, but he doesn’t fight back against them either. That was why it was difficult for me to like him for a good while. He always seemed to jump at the chance to say he was different but he wasn’t willing to stand up to the status quo.

With Lena and the caster aspects, it felt like things were too… easy. Ethan accepted that Lena had powers almost immediately and he didn’t really question much. He didn’t even seem too worried about being around her family before he knew them well. It just didn’t seem like a realistic reaction to that situation. If someone told me they had powers I’d be asking a lot more questions and asking them to prove it.

And then when Lena and Ethan were trying to research their connection, the book, the curse–it felt like the story was dragging on and on without any real progress. Honestly, the plot of the story wasn’t even very clear until the end of the book. I felt like Lena and Ethan were on this quest to get answers and most of the book ended up focusing on their romantic relationship instead.

❝ The right thing and the easy thing are never the same. ❞

Speaking of romance, I really didn’t care much for it. Things developed pretty quickly between the main characters without there really being a reason for it. Ethan felt like he just threw himself at Lena because she was new, not because she was “different”. It felt like insta-love to me and I think that was due to their history with their ancestors. Honestly, it felt like they just used that as a crutch and excuse to justify their immediate attraction and it just didn’t feel organic so I didn’t care for it.

As far as the ending goes, however, I will say that it had an interesting twist. I liked the severity of the consequences for each of the choices Lena had (sorry if that’s confusing, but trying to avoid spoilers). Basically, Lena finally had to make a choice regarding her curse and either way she chose a lot of people were going to end up paying for it. It was dramatic and intense. But most of all I liked how Lena dealt with her choices. I’m really looking forward to seeing how she deals with the consequences and what happens next.

Overall, although this wasn’t the strong beginning I was looking for I’m curious enough to give the next book a chance. I’m hoping the plot moves faster in the next book and that the authors can still wow me with those plot twists.