Skip to main content

Beautiful Creatures

Beautiful Creatures is a YA supernatural contemporary novel, and the first in the Caster Chronicles series.

Yes, I know. You probably read this book years ago and have already finished the four book series.

I get it. I’m late to the game. But you have to admit there are a LOT of books out there – and even bibliophiles can’t always keep up.

Ethan Wate is counting the days until he can leave his tiny Southern town of Gatlin.

Full of closed-minded, eccentric people that all know each other too well and a multitude of girls that can’t hold his interest for even a few minutes once they start speaking have left him increasingly dissatisfied.

So when Lena Duchannes moves into town it’s like a breath of fresh air. She’s different. She’s been places. And, of course, she’s beautiful.

But she’s the niece of town recluse Macon Ravenwood – so she is automatically despised by a large population of the town.

Lena’s clothing choices and the odd occurrences, such as spontaneously shattering windows, happening while she’s about only adds to the hostile attitude toward her.

And yet, Ethan is fascinated with her. He finds himself, against the advice of everyone, befriending Lena.

Through that friendship comes an introduction to secrets and curses that he never knew lay underneath the veil of boredom in Gatlin.

Ethan and Lena may be bringing change to this never-changing Southern town…

I’d, of course, heard of Beautiful Creatures a lot. Then the movie came out – and though I know it did not do very well – the previews intrigued me. I liked the look of it. So, I bought myself a copy.

During the course of reading Beautiful Creatures, a lot was going on. My reading was interrupted more than usual. Yet I was continually interested in jumping back in.

There are many things I liked about Beautiful Creatures. I liked how Ethan is a decent, likable male narrator that doesn’t seem implausible. I liked his love of reading, his grief over his Mom, worry over his Dad, and his interest in more than a pretty face. I liked the way the secondary characters seemed to pop.

I liked the secluded, atmospheric tone of Gatlin – the way it was stifling, eerie, and compelling all at once. I liked Lena not being a typical YA heroine. I liked that she was dealing with her own demons. I liked that Ethan and Lena had a relationship that was built on time, talking, and support.

Unlike some others, I very much liked the slower (but not boring) pacing of Beautiful Creatures. It reminded me of the Twilight series, which did the same thing. And I was a fan of the Twilight series.

So, as you can see (without going into a lot of detail that will spoil the fun), I liked a lot about Beautiful Creatures. I just never felt like I LOVED it. I might be getting there, though.

I feel like there’s a lot of potential to this first novel. And now that I know there’s going to be a companion series this year I am eager to finish up the Caster Chronicles and find out if I’ll want to jump into the next set.

Overall, I felt Beautiful Creatures was a well-done, suspenseful, romantic, relatively original paranormal novel that I definitely want to read the sequels to.

If you, like most, have already read it. I’d be interested to hear your thoughts!!

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Author Q & A - Jan Eldredge Stops By!

Next Wednesday y'all will be getting my oh-so-humble opinion of Evangeline of the Bayou , the Summer 2018 Kids' Indie Next List selection! (That means it was picked via booksellers at independent bookstores countrywide.) Until then, I have a Q&A with the Louisiana born and raised author herself: Jan Eldredge! (Don't forget to come back next week for my review!!) A Conversation with JAN ELDRIDGE Author of Evangeline of the Bayou 1) The glossary in the back of the book is so helpful! Where did you learn about all these creatures? Which creature from the book is your favorite? I have a small, but growing, collection of books about mythical creatures around the world. If I couldn’t find what I was looking for there, I researched library books, online websites, and the occasional documentary. Something that really surprised me as I started learning more about mythical monsters was the number of different cultures that share very similar

First Step: Admit You Have a Problem

Hi fellow Bibliophiles! I have been rather neglectful to this blog... instead continuing to stay buried in a book as I have during the holidays. I'm hopeful that most of you have been doing this too and can easily accept my apology. Have I been reading? Um, yeah! (Translation: duh.) Just haven't been able to pull myself away long enough to actually WRITE about what I'm reading. Lol. But that's me, a bibliophile, an addict, an addict who's fallen off the wagon and fully embraced her love of reading - especially with all this free time to do so!!! I've also been watching awesome holiday movies, eating yummy, but bad-for-me, food and hanging out with the people I love best! You too? I hope! ;) Anyway, I will return with a new book review next week, most likely on Monday or Tuesday. Thanks for your patience and keep reading!!!

Promotion Celebration for Maximum Ride!!!

Do you love the series Maximum Ride ? How about James Patterson? Are you a huge fan of action-packed books? Well, I’m thrilled to bring to you an opportunity to stock up on some awesome reading!!! ENTER TO WIN A SET OF JAMES PATTERSON PAGETURNERS! MAXIMUM RIDE – IF SHE LIVES, THE WORLD LIVES, IT’S THAT SIMPLE. Read “MAX” - the newest book in the bestselling Maximum Ride series. On sale in paperback 09/01/09! Still reeling from their most recent adventure, Maximum Ride and the rest of the flock must head out to sea to uncover the secret behind a brand new series of disasters—fish are dying off the coast of Hawaii, hundreds of ships are being destroyed. As if that weren’t enough, they’re also being tracked by a criminal mastermind with, oh yeah, an army of mercenaries. Can the flock save themselves and the ocean, and the world, from utter destruction? Now for the rules : The Maximum Ride: Max Promotion is open to legal US residents who are at least 13 years of age as of August 24, 200