Publication date: December 1st, 2009
Published by: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Source: Bought
Rating: 4/5
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.
Beautiful Creatures is a haunting novel about witches,magical books, spells, talismans, Incubi, and...high school!
The first thing I think you should know about this book is that it's 560 pages long.Yes, 560! I usually don't have a problem with long books.However, Beautiful Creatures is mainly about supernatural romance so I thought "OK,so why so many pages?" I was afraid it was gonna drag and be boring.
It turned out I was wrong.And right.
When I turned the cover and read the first page I was overwhelmed with joy!A male lead, at last!!Everything is seen through Ethan's eyes and I felt it was a much needed brake after all the books that are written from a female POV.A brake from all the hysterics,paranoia and insecurities of teenage girls.Well, maybe Ethan saved me from all this, but Lena didn't.Although she is objectively a likable character, she doesn't act like it.What I mean is that she appears to be sad and angry throughout the whole book,with very few exceptions, which themselves ultimately lead to more anger and frustration.I know that it was all necessary and were used to justify all the rain and storms and whatnot, but I thought it was a little over the top.I mean, you would think that Ethan giving her all his unconditional love and caring so much for her would be enough to make her relax a bit, calm down occasionally. It wasn't,though.
All the other characters in BC I had no problem with, and I particularly liked Ridley,Macon and Marian.
The writing is imaginative and precise.You can see that the authors tried to keep it really simple and to the point and not wander off, endlessly describing the sun, the leaves, the sky, the moon.I am telling you, if had to suffer through that for 560 pages, I would have probably never finished the book!
I absolutely loved the atmosphere that Garcia and Stohl created through their words.I could just imagine myself living in the Ravenwood Manor or lying on Greenbrier field, it was amazing!I would have never imagined that I could like witches' stories so much before Beautiful Creatures!
All in all, Beautiful Creatures was a fun and enjoyable read.However, something that I can't quite point my finger at went wrong right in the middle.And then everything was OK again in the end.It was like someone dug a hole in the middle of a beautiful rosebush.I guess it's because its length and because, yes, it dragged a bit, and some scenes could definitely be avoided.But I wouldn't hesitate recommending this book, especially to younger readers!
I told you it was a good one!Though myself at times felt that Ethan's POV was not so unlike a girl's POV but maybe that's just me1
ReplyDeleteLol yeah, you're not wrong!I don't think there are a lot of sensitive, loving and caring 16 year old boys out there :)
ReplyDeleteBut that's fiction for you!
At least at my 16's boys were anything but sensitive....
ReplyDeleteWooohhhhooooo! I'm so happy i found another blog from Greece! I was feeling alone! Hahaha! Great job btw! And 100+ followers!^^ I have 50 but well..it's only one month alive! Anyway, i follow you!:) Checking out the International Book Tours as well:)
ReplyDeleteAnd we have the same name:P
Yiota @ http://splashofourworlds.blogspot.com/
P.S: I thought it was better to write in English
Hello there Yiota!!!(I should probably start writing my name like that too, it's way cooler :)
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad there are other greek bloggers out there, too!!!
You should check out IBT, we have some very,very cool tours coming up!
As for the followers, well you know, I have this blog for 7 months now so maybe that's one of the reasons.It's very hard at first, especially if you are an international blogger.
But be patient, don't quit and bloggers will start noticing your blog real soon.
I am extremely grateful for my followers and I love them all!
C U around :)
Ummm..i know probably is not the best place to ask that, but can you tell me about how much is the delivery of the book (for IBT) for us in Greece?
ReplyDeleteI would love to take part but i want to have an idea before sign up:)
-Thanks!