Review: Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

Title: Beautiful Creatures

Authors: Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

Published: December 2009

Hardback: 576 pages

Reading Level: YA

My copy: Received via trade on swaptree.com

My rating: 5 out of 5 wicked stars

Blurb:

There were no surprises in Gatlin County.
We were pretty much the epicenter of the middle of nowhere.
At least, that's what I thought.
Turns out, I couldn't have been more wrong.
There was a curse.
There was a girl.
And in the end, there was a grave.

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.

My thoughts...

I really enjoyed this book.  The fact that it was written from strictly the male point of view was totally refreshing.  I went into reading this book not really sure what paranormal aspect would be present...I love starting books that way, ha ha.  Our character, Ethan, is honestly a great guy...where was he when I was in high school?  He is just the guy that goes with the flow on everything until he meets Lena, who changes his perspective.  As they get to know each other, Ethan begans to care less what other thing and does more of what he wants to do.

The authors create a dark, gothic world where paranormal things happen but it is kept under cover from the rest of the town, for the most part anyway.  The side-characters really add life and excitement to this book: the caretaker Amma, the eccentric uncle Macon, best-friend Link, and the crazy cousin, Ridley.

This book was long but for me, it was an easy read.  I got wrapped up in the story and the plot and it made the book hard to put down at times.  It is definitely one of my favorite reads this year.