Book Review: Beautiful Creatures

Title: Beautiful Creatures

Authors: Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

Genre: fantasy

Reviewer: Ella

Review:

Beautiful Creatures was an excellent read--I enjoyed it far more than I expected.  Mostly fantasy themed, there was some nice romance mixed in.   The main character of the novel is a guy named Ethan Wate who lives in a small time of Gatlin County, South Carolina.  He is eager to escape the sleepy town and yearns for something more.  Lena Duchannes, another major character, seems to be his ticket out.

Lena recently moved into the town with her uncle, the infamous Macon Ravenwood, also known as the town's Boo Radley.  Soon after Lena moves in, bizarre things starts to happen, such as windows shattering   Naturally, the blame is placed on Lena who stands out like a sore thumb in a town set on traditions.  Ethan can't help but defend Lena and soon befriends her.  

Ethan's life is thrown into a spiral when he discovers that Lena comes from a family of (spell) castors and that she is cursed.  Together, the two of them have to uncover the mystery surrounding the family curse and attempt to break it before Lena's birthday (which is when the curse will turn her "dark".)

The plot was incredible and intricate.  The authors have woven together the elements found in a gothic novel into a present day setting.  Incredible character building and on-the-edge-of-your-seat tension building, mysteries and paranormal events were all well incorporated; they weren't carelessly thrown together.

One of my favorite quotes in the book is by Malcom:

"Mortals. I envy you. You think you can change things. Stop the universe. Undo what was done long before you came along. You are such beautiful creatures."

Isn't the simply a beautiful quote?

I would recommend this book to people of all ages as long as they can handle the many plot twists and depth.  This is the perfect book if you like fantasy and lots of description.  As long as you read and digest the writing instead of briefly skimming it, the book is actually quite an attention hooker.  I have exactly one word to sum up this book: "Wow."  I loved the characters, plot and setting.  I will not be forgetting this book for a long time.

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