BEAUTIFUL CREATURES

BEAUTIFUL CREATURES

By Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl

2009

Pages 563

From Inside Cover:

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, on secret could change everything.

My Thoughts:

This story is set in a small town in South Carolina where main character Ethan longs to be anywhere else besides Gatlin where things are the same day in and day out.

That all changes the day Lena shows up. Lena is as different as it gets. She dresses different, she drives a hearse, she lives out on a creepy old haunted plantation, and oh yeah- she's a witch.Ethan's life is about to change forever. Because no matter how hard he tries to stay away from Lena is is completely drawn to her.I loved that the story was told from Ethan's point of view-given that the story was about Lena and her family. AND it's a romance. It gave it an interesting, fresh twist.

This book is very southern-from the language to relationships. It's filled with history on the south and the civil war. It was so descriptive and full of details that at times I could literally picture myself in the dark, dank swamp or a smokey body riddled battlefield.

I found the story a great blend of mystery, magic and history.One of the issues I had with this book was the size-it's HUGE. It felt as though it could have been edited a little better and maybe split into two books rather than one gigantic book. At times certain conversations and situations felt repetitive. Again maybe a little better editing could have done the trick.

But overall it was a great story. The sequel Beautiful Darkness will pick up where this one left off. I'm anxious to see where Ethan and Lena's story goes.

This book is available for check out at the Salmon Public Library. I recommend it for reader 12 and up.