Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: December 1, 2009
Pages: 563
Source: Bought
Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars - Super Crazy Awesome!
Description (from Goodreads): 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.
In short: Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl is a well written and intriguing novel with wonderful characters and a perfectly laid out setting.
I loved this book so much but I'm having a hard time putting into words exactly what it is that I liked about it. Why is it that it's easier for me to write at length about a book I didn't like as much but when it comes to the ones I truly loved, I find I'm at a loss for words? Does this happen to anyone else? Well, I'm going to do my best to explain, anyway.
It was very long and drawn out, but the plot never dragged or felt boring, only engaging and near the end, very fast paced.
It throws tons of questions at the reader in the beginning, but it never felt confusing or frustrating, only intriguing and fascinating.
It has a male protagonist written by female authors, but Ethan never seemed inauthentic. Instead he was very well fleshed out and genuine.
The writing was very well done. The setting was perfectly described and laid out. The characters, both main and side, were brilliant and distinct.
I just loved it! What more can I say?
It was very long and drawn out, but the plot never dragged or felt boring, only engaging and near the end, very fast paced.
It throws tons of questions at the reader in the beginning, but it never felt confusing or frustrating, only intriguing and fascinating.
It has a male protagonist written by female authors, but Ethan never seemed inauthentic. Instead he was very well fleshed out and genuine.
The writing was very well done. The setting was perfectly described and laid out. The characters, both main and side, were brilliant and distinct.
I just loved it! What more can I say?
Other Reviews:
Stalk The Authors (not for serious):
This book is waiting on my book shelf to read for the 2011 book challenge i'm in. =D
ReplyDeleteI'm so excited to read it. (:
nice review.
I have trouble with positive reviews too. Negative reviews I can easily write what didn't work for me, but positive reviews are hard because my brain is just filled with "EEEEEEOMGAWESOME!!!" And that's just not very helpful. :)
ReplyDeleteYou described this one well. I'm glad to hear the plot wasn't boring. It's such a long book, so I was afraid it would be very slow moving.
@NerdyBookLover: Looking forward to reading your thoughts on it!
ReplyDelete@Small Review: I've read a few reviews that said they thought the plot dragged a bit but I loved every second!
I have this one in my TBR pile but have been putting it off because it's pretty thick. It's good to see though that you loved it too and that the plot doesn't drag.
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting my review! I appreciate that. I wonder what Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl have up their sleeves for the third book. I love their writing. It's so powerful.
ReplyDeleteI've had this book for a couple weeks now but I haven't read it yet. Now I think it's next in line. Thanks for the review!
ReplyDeleteHmm, I did like Beautiful Creatures, but not that much to be honest. xD I pretty much agreed with you with the sentence, "It was long and drawn out", but instead of not being bored by it, I was FREAKING bored by it. xP I think that there was a lot that could have been cut - at least 100 pages - and it would have still been a good book. But that's just me. :P Anyway, thanks for your review - it's great that you enjoyed it so much! I want to get my hands on Beautiful Darkness! :O
ReplyDeleteThanks for linking my review, Aylee! I'm so glad to hear you loved BC. I haven't read BD yet, but I hear it's just as good, if not better! Excellent review :)
ReplyDelete@A Canadian Girl: I feel almost like I should post a disclaimer saying FOR ME this book didn't drag. It seems like it did for a lot of other people.
ReplyDelete@Julie: Yes, I'm interested to see what plot they can pull together for books 2-4.
@Sara: Hope you like it!
@Kristina: Well, bad news for you then because from what I understand, Beautiful Darkness is even more slowly paced.
@Melissa: Good to know about BD!
ReplyDeleteYou are so right about having difficulty talking about why you loved a book so much. It's like, can you just type: "I love this book, I love this book, I love this book" on your blog post?
ReplyDeleteI saw this book in the bookstore yesterday and I didn't know it was so huge. I thought it would be like regular size books but it wasn't. Glad you loved the book so much. Nice review!
Brush Up On Your Reading
I'm in the minority when it comes to this book because I couldn't get through it. I'm one of the before mentioned people that thought it dragged. :-)
ReplyDeleteI like your review though. It is tough writing reviews for a book that you love.
I'll admit to I'm one that thought it kind of dragged to, but once I got over that fact I loved it to peices. Which makes you think I would hurry on and read BD, but I haven't yet it's still on my shelf. I did love that the POV was from a male though it's refreshing to see that. :) I know what you mean about being able to put in words how you feel. Mine always come out kinda nutty, and all over the place. *shrugs* Oh well. :)
ReplyDeleteGlad people agree with me that it's difficult writing reviews for books that you love.
ReplyDelete@Nina: It is quite large! I tend not to be turned off my long books though thankfully.
@Brooke: You know, I'm beginning to think I'm actually in the minority and you're the majority: most people seem to have thought it dragged.
@AngelicNytmare: I loved the male POV! So rare in YA. I love reading reviews that are all over the place sometimes! Often, you can really see the reviewers passion for the book then.
Hi here's my Goodreads account
ReplyDeleteBrush Up On Your Reading
I always have trouble writing reviews for the ones I loved as well, it's much harder to put into words what made you love it than it is to figure out what you didn't like about a read. I really enjoyed this one as well, and I liked that we had a male POV in YA, we don't get that very often! Nice review Aylee!
ReplyDeleteAylee,
ReplyDeleteI'm with you. I can rant forever about a book I didn't like, but for books I loved, I have a hard time expressing myself.
With BC, the one thing I marveled at was the character development of Ethan. Like you said, the authors drew out the story, but I was never bored because it was a deep inside look into exactly who Ethan is, and I fell in love with him.
In fact, I was so smitten with him that I struggled to like Lena. I didn't swoon over their romance because I didn't think she treated him right. *sighs*
Excellent review. I'm so glad you enjoyed the story. I love it and felt it was very authentic. I still haven't read book 2. I need to do that soon.
@Jenny: I loved the male POV, too!
ReplyDelete@Missie: I loved Ethan very much, too... and I can see what you meant about Lena. I didn't completely love her like I loved Ethan.
I'm so glad you liked it! I was completely fascinated by the flashbacks and I loved Ethan's character. I haven't read the second book yet, though.
ReplyDeleteYes, the flashbacks! Loved them.
ReplyDeleteGreat review, have seen this one round a few times and love the look of it!
ReplyDeleteI just can't decide if I want to read this or not. I've seen good and bad reviews, but ultimately the story just hasn't sucked me in yet. Maybe that's a sign. :)
ReplyDeleteDefinitely go with your gut :)
ReplyDeleteDude, didn't you just love Ethan? I can't wait to read the second book! I'm super excited to get my hands on it :)
ReplyDeleteI did! I loved him!
ReplyDelete