Beautiful Creatures Review

Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Pages:

Genre: Paranormal Romance

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.

             I was expecting a twilight-like book, but I was pleasantly surprised.  The characters seemed a lot more real, and the story plot was amazing!  The small town setting made it comic.
             Ethan was awesome.  I really liked him.  He was real and as stupid and reckless as any teenager in love, but still able to grow as a character.  The entire book was told from his point of view.  Sigh.  That was pretty unusual.  I think that is what sets this book apart from others.  As much as I'm not a fan of first person point of view the authors made it work. 
             Lena was the classic trouble teen.  She has this colorful personality that she keeps inside herself because she is afraid to let others in.  Pretty much how all loners are.  This was so realistic.  I could really connect with her.  But of course there is that other thing that is supposed to make the book interesting.  She has powers.  Lena didn't really go into detail with her powers.  That was more for the other characters in the novel.  This wasn't a bad thing at all because she was trying to keep it bottled up.  Very realistic.  Lena was my favorite character. 
            My other favorite character was Link.  Even though the authors didn't go into much detail with him he was still the likable best friend that is oblivious. 
           The storyline was excellent.  It was so developed I could tell that the authors really sat down and talked about it before they started writing.  Which more authors should do.  It developed at just the right pace...at the beginning.  It kind of slow towards the middle before picking up a bit for the climax.  But compared to crap books like Evermore it was very advanced. 
           I understand that this is there first book.  Even though not obvious I could tell there was room for improvement.  Character could use a little work too.  I really wish that Link would have been more detailed in the beginning.  I'm looking foreward to improvement in the sequel. 
          Theme:  Everyone in Eathan's town including the woman who raised him told him that getting involved with Lena was a bad thing, but by helping her and getting to know her.  He discovered that she was this amazing person so different from everyone he had ever met.  He also did what know one else was able to or willing to do, save her life.  Eathan knew that what he was doing was the right thing.  A bit over used theme, but so well done that all others were blew out of the water.  There were also several other themes.  Leave a comment of what else you think is in this book.

Characters: 9
Plot: 9
Suspence: 8
Theme: 8
Pace: 7
Mood: 9
Overall: 8.5- A well done paranormal romace