Review: Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl

Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl
Pub. Date: December 2009
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Format: Hardcover, 563pp
Age Range: Young Adult

Synopsis
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.

Review
Beautiful Creatures is a must read for 2009! I don’t know if I can express how much I love this book and give it its proper due in a few paragraphs. Beautiful Creatures is one of those books that you want to absorb every moment until it’s been engraved in your head. When I got down to the final pages I didn’t want the story to end because then I had to accept the inevitable – The Ending. WOW! The events that led up to the ending were heart wrenching.

I was so wrapped up in this book, I felt like I was living Ethan’s life. Everything about this book felt real to me. The dysfunctional family gatherings, the high school drama, the history of Gatlin and most importantly the characters themselves – I was awed with the authenticity of Beautiful Creatures.

Readers help authors by spreading the word and buying books but I want to take this moment to thank both Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl for writing a great book and I’m just happy to be able to share my thoughts with readers regarding the excellence of this novel. I can’t believe it took them 3 months to write the first draft but the finished product is one to behold indeed. I was thoroughly impressed with the detailed history of Gatlin and how it was merged with the Caster World along with the southern drawl and Latin language for the casts.

I could go on and on about everything that I loved about this book but instead I’ll keep it short by saying – Beautiful Creatures has everything you could possibly want in a novel. I asked both Kami and Margaret this question in an interview: “What comes to mind when you hear the words ‘the perfect story’?” To answer my question – the answer would be Beautiful Creatures.

I look forward to reading the next installment in this series.

Rating 5 out of 5 Stars