There were no surprises in GatlinCounty. We were pretty much the epicenter of the middle of nowhere. At least, that's what I thought. Turns out, I couldn't have been more wrong. There was a curse. There was a girl. And in the end, there was a grave.
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 intensely Southern and thoroughly Gothic in the grand old tradition of Gothic romatic novels.
As noted by previous reviewers, the novel takes a fairly leisurely path towards setting up the inevitable, predestined crisis. I find the leisureliness entirely in keeping with the intensely Southern ambiance. In a high humidity climate (either meteorologically or emotionally), what person with sense is going to rush? Instead, get acclimated ... stroll ... and soak in the atmosphere.
And Beautiful Creatures is a pleasure to stroll through, particularly since for me, its particular strength lies in the eccentric, quirky, sometimes secretive, and nearly always surprisingly powerful supporting characters representing a range of magical and quasi-magical traditions. The young lovers are appealing, but the authors really shine with characters like the Wate's housekeeper Amah, Lena's Uncle Macon, and Ethan's deliciously squirrely great-aunts.
Most of all, nobody who believes in the magic of libraries or archives, or genealogy should miss this book or its resident librarian, Marian Ashcroft. Fabulous is the word for this "Marian the Librarian," especially since (as she could tell you), the root of the word "fabulous" is the Latin word "fabula": and that means a story.
If you're a fan of southern gothic fiction, this book is for you. If you're a fan of paranormal fiction, this book is for you. Epic, sprawling and steeped in rich, southern atmosphere, Beautiful Creatures stands out as unique in a very crowded field- the characters nuanced and the text richly flavored. For once, it's not a brooding, distant boy as the object of a vanilla, malleable girl's affection. It's a romance that gets its kicks from the challenges that surround them, not the random power of the week. I loved this book, and I can't wait to share it!
At the comics, we've got Batman and Robin, from whom have been written lots of adventures. At sports, who does not remember Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen bringing home six NBA championships. At movies, John Travolta and Olivia Newton John revolved an entire generation with the musical Grease. And at the Young Adult literary division we've got Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl, who have joined their talents in a fascinating, impeccable and majestic way to create Beautiful Creatures.
The story begins with our main character and narrator Ethan sharing a glimpse about life at Gatlin (place where he lives and the story develops) and how wrong he will be at the end of such assumptions. Following this, we'll see how Ethan's dreams involving a mysterious girl began. This one day arrives a mysterious girl to Gatlin and Ethan's life turns 180 degrees. The story's a counter clock battle and it will be centered on why? and for what? Ethan has the capacity to see what's on his dreams between other abilities that we get to know further on the story. It's totally a rich and fascinating jigsaw puzzle; where the pieces will joining slowly to create an unforgettable journey for the reader; because Beautiful Creatures will constantly ignite the WAO factor on the reader. In terms of writing structure, world building and character developing, the book's worked in an impeccable way. In character developing terms, I'll say that even secondary characters take life of their own, to summarize that. Those who believe Beautiful Creatures is another romance with a supernatural touch are wrong. In my honest opinion, I'll say that behind a rich fantastic world full of amazing details exists a cute love story. Beautiful Creatures will take the reader on a fascinating tour through Ethan's eyes in a story where fantasy, mystery and love are forged in an outstanding way.
