TITLE: BEAUTIFUL CREATURES
SYNOPSIS: 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 centered around Ethan Wate. He lives is a small town, and can’t wait for the day he gets to leave. For Ethan, the first day of school is perfectly normal, almost the exact same as years previous, with almost the exact same teachers. It was normal until news spreads that there is a new girl. This shocks Ethan and his friends…why? Well, all the kids in their school has literally ALL, grown up together. Rarely does someone ever move TO their little town. When he first meet Lena, the new girl, he is captivated. He also later discovers that she is bearing a great secret, one that will not be a secret for long.
After reading the first chapter, all I could think of “What!” and Wow!”. I was thinking those things because it wasn’t until I started reading that I realized it was in Ethan’s point of view. It wasn’t until the end of chapter one, when it finally sunk in. For the first time in months, I was reading a book that was primarily narrated by a boy. When does that happen? Not often, if you read the books I read. Reading from Ethan’s point of view was refreshing, because truthfully, after reading the synopsis, I figured the book was going to be told from Lena’s perspective. I was pleasantly surprised.
I loved just about all the characters. I thought they were well developed and I got the chance to know them better throughout the story. The character I loved the most would have to be Amma, Ethan’s surrogate grandmother. She was a really entertaining character to read about. She was a combination of motherly, strict, and witty. She also provided some humor to ease some of the tensions that occur.
Ethan and Lena’s romance was hot and sweet at the same time. That’s all I can say.
As much as I enjoyed reading BEAUTIFUL CREATURES, I have to admit there were things I didn’t really like about it. Although I cherished that it was written from a guy’s perspective, I found myself wishing it was written in Lena’s point of view instead. I just thought that if they wrote from a girl’s perspective, they would have been able to capture the emotions the character went through. I found myself thinking at times, “What are you doing Ethan? Are you really a guy?”. Some of the things Ethan says, thinks, and feels, just seem incredible. And not in a really good way. I have a younger brother and go to a public school. None of the guys I know would behave the way Ethan sometimes did. Also, even though there were many aspects of the book that made it unique, it was still somewhat similar to all the other paranormal books out there. Regular human falls in love with a supernatural one…where have we heard, or more rather read, that before?
RATING: ICY
RECOMMENDATION: For fans of Gothic paranormal romance.
Beautiful Creatures is a book that I’ve almost bought probably 5 times in the last month. I want to read it, but I keep putting it down because there’s so many other awesome books that I also want to read.
I think I’m going to eventually read this, but it might be because it’s on the sale rack and not because it looks so pretty sitting on the shelf. Thanks for the review.
I like your plan, there are a bunch of other pretty, well written books out there that need to be read. Maybe borrow Beautiful Creatures from the library to see if you like it first?
Thanks for stopping by! I hope you found the review helpful. 🙂