Beautiful Creatures: Review

Review:

In honor of today’s release of the final installment in the series, I decided to post my review of the first book. I honestly don’t know why I waited so long to read it, but I’m glad I finally did! A lot of you joined in the read-along discussion, so you know how I feel about the book already. As for the rest of you — get ready for a whole lot of gushing.

There’s something about a well-written, gothic tale that gets me every time. Throw in a little magic, a family curse and an added splash of small-town southern “charm” and it makes it even better. This had all of those things in spades.

Ethan Wate is ready to leave Gatlin. His mother is dead, and his father rarely leaves his office, leaving their made, Amma to raise him. He’s tired of everyone knowing everyone else’s business. He dreams of graduation and finally getting away. That is, until Lena Duchannes moves to town. This mysterious girl, he soon learns, is the niece of Macon Ravenwood, the town’s own “Boo Radley”. Naturally, everyone starts whispering about the new girl, and Ethan risks his popularity by befriending her.

Ethan soon realizes that he is tied to Lena in a mysterious way. He’s been having dreams of a girl, a dream that feels all too real, and Lena is that girl. Despite the insistence of their families, the two of them fall in love, but their love may be doomed. In just a few short months Lena will turn sixteen, and on the day of her birthday she will be claimed as either a dark or light caster — and if she goes dark, Ethan and everyone else in Gatlin could be in grave danger.

My synopsis really doesn’t do the book justice. There are so many layers to the story and the characters, it makes it hard to summarize, or even gush effectively.

I’ll start by saying that I loved Ethan, and loved the fact that the book is told from his perspective. Lena is even more engaging, and I hold a soft spot for both Amma and Macon. I think my favorite character is Ridley, Lena’s “dark” cousin who at first glance seems to be no more than a dark witch out to raise a little hell, but it’s apparent there is a little more to her than that.

The writing is awesome and it flows nicely. This is a huge book, but it didn’t feel that long to me. I loved how I was able to pick it up and be fully immersed in it. I could see everything so vividly. I loved it.

If you’re one of the few who haven’t started this series, I highly recommend you do. I’ve already finished Beautiful Darkness (review coming next week) and I’ll be reading the last two installments sometime soon.