Summary (on Goodreads):
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.
I first heard about this series at Austin Teen Book Festival. I’d like to say I picked up the series then and there, but that’s not the case. I passed this series up the first chance. It wasn’t until I found up Zoey Deutch (who I had just watched and loved on a full season of Ringer) would be playing the mean girl in the movie adaption of the books. Oddly enough when I ordered the books online was right when the movie promotions were picking up. So, that helped get me excited. My only regret is that I didn’t buy the series when I first had the chance and didn’t get them signed by the authors.
Plot: The main romance plot of the book isn’t one that isn’t seen in a lot of books. Boy meets girl. Boy’s ex-girlfriend is mean to new girl. However, there’s a twist.The girl just happens to be part of a family of casters (don’t you dare call them witches) that on their 16th birthdays are either claimed for the darkness or the light. Let’s not forget about the locket, but if
you want to know about that, you’ll just have to read yourself.
Twist: I won’t spoil exactly what the twist are, but I will say that I love twist. I especially love twist that are throughout the entire novel.
Characters: I’m learning more and more that if the characters I’m reading (and even watching on TV/Movies) about aren’t strong characters, I’m most likely not going to like the book. Luckily, the characters in this book are all strong in their own way and then stronger together. It’s a perfect combo.
Relationships: My favorite non romantic relationship has to be with Lena and her Uncle Macon. He’s overprotective of her. She likes breaking the rules. It’s a very common scenario, but with a more supernatural element to it. I also love Amma and Ethan’s relationship and look forward to seeing how it pans out in the movies.
Romance: I’m not usually a fan of the main couple having some kind of mind connection before they even meet. I usually like them to have a friendship first then getting that connection. This has the best of both worlds. There’s a connection through dreams and there’s also a friendship (along with bantering) after they meet.
Creative way of writing: I really liked the writing these two authors did. One of the reasons being that I’m not used to reading a YA book entirely the boy’s point of view. All the books that I’ve read that have the guy’s point of view, usually have the girl’s point of view. I didn’t think this was going to work out, but very well did.
I loved how these two excellent writers managed to make this feel like it was just one person writing.
This book really took me by surprise in all the good ways. I cannot wait to watch the movie and read the books following this one.
5 out of 5 stars for Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl.
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