Book Review: Beautiful Creatures

Book: Beautiful Creatures (Beautiful Creatures book #1) by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

Edition: Paperback

Description:

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.



Rating: 5 stars

Review:

Growing up in the small town of Gatlin, South Carolina, where everyone knows everyone, Ethan Wate thought his life would never change. Despite his mundane life, something has been different for him, he keeps having this reoccurring haunting dream for months about a girl he's unable to save. But the weirdness continues when the girl from his dreams moves to town.

As the niece of the town's recluse Macon Ravenwood, the new girl Lena Duchannes would never receive any red carpet treatment once the students found out. She was immediately singled out and treated as a pariah. Ethan went against the norm and decided to befriend Lena instead of following along with the other students in shunning her.

There is something very mysterious about Lena and the more Ethan got to know her the stranger things become such as the realization that they could hear each other's thoughts. However, that was just the tip of the iceberg, he sees a side of Gatlin he didn't know existed and discovers Lena's connection to the supernatural. Lena's upcoming 16th birthday brings a decision that's out of her control and will change her life. As romance blooms between these two there are factors at play working against them and not just for their relationship.

The supernatural and romance collide in this ferociously magical story. Beautiful Creatures is one of those books that was fantastic across the board, it's dramatic, gothic and suspenseful while still blending in humor as Ethan mainly narrates this tale. There's also a sort of mystery element to the story and as it unfolds it centers around Lena and Ethan's ancestors as it connects to the overall story.

This was really good and now I wish I had the entire series because now I want to read the second book.