Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

Synopsis (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.

I am reviewing this having only finished it 5 minutes ago and I have to say that this was a really addictive, really good book. There is one part of the ending that I do not like (which I won’t go into detail because it contains a fairly big spoiler).  I found the story to be fairly original, even if some of the themes are used a lot, and it was a story I really enjoyed.

What I liked about this book?

• I could relate to it very easily. Like Ethan I grew up in a small town and could relate to everything about small town life that came up in the book. I could also relate to Lena, in that I was pretty much an outcast for a lot of my schooling life and I know what it is like to face bullies and people who make you feel like an outcast.
• I really liked the characters. I liked the main characters, even if Lena did annoy me occasionally, although she probably did have a reasonable excuse for that. I liked how each character had so much depth to them, even Ridley who you think is a flirt and plain evil and then you find yourself feeling sorry for her. I liked how Sarafine was so delightfully evil, being so terrifying and manipulative. I loved Link and the comedic relief that he often provided. I also loved Macon, Amma and Marian. They were such interesting characters and I liked that they didn’t really fit into the Caster and Mortal moulds.
• I loved the powers that the Caster’s have. I thought that they were fairly original, like Lena controlling the weather and Gramma being able to take on the powers of other people. I liked seeing Lena’s powers develop, as well.
• I loved the fact that there was a Caster Library, although that Library isn’t open anywhere near enough!
• I liked that the main character is a male. As I have said in a previous post, there just isn’t enough books from a male’s perspective.
• I liked that the plot was fairly original, and twist and turned. There were a couple of great twists that I wasn’t expecting at all, and others that I probably wouldn’t have expected if my friend hadn’t given away some spoilers first.
• I also really liked the gothic, voodoo feel that was carried through the book, particularly shown through Amma.

What I didn’t like about the book?

• Not a lot really. I enjoyed most of it and didn’t really notice anything I didn’t like about the writing style. As I said earlier there was a part of the ending that I didn’t like, but that was more because of what happened to something than anything else and it wouldn’t be the same if it was different.

So I give this book 5/5 stars because it was such an addictive and enticing story!

Mel.

Up next: Review - Etiquette & Espionage by Gail Carriger