Beautiful Creatures - Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

 

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.

Blurb taken from Goodreads.

*

This was one of those books that I'd known of for a long time. I knew absolutely nothing about the story, but I recognised the name and knew it had been enough of a big deal to have a film made out of it. However, by the time I came round to picking it up, I could see that nobody still talked about. For this reason, I knew it was probably a controversial one.

I was really hoping I would love it. I had all four books in the series sitting ready to devour, and I picked up Beautiful Creatures excitedly.

I have to say, I am disappointed. I liked the story and the fictional world it took place in. But there were just so many areas that were problematic. The characters were quite annoying, and there were too many different ideas thrown at the story that made it too overcomplicated. I can't face reading any more, which is a shame because a good editor could have done the series way more justice.

Rating: ✫✫✫ 

The Story

The concept of the story was exactly the kind that I would ordinarily love. It was a really interesting world of casters and magic, with a whole host of sub-plots that really added to the world. I liked learning about Lena and her family, and the idea of a claiming on their sixteenth birthday. 

The problem I had with it was that it was so long-winded and overcomplicated, so all of the really positive parts of the book faded into obscurity. I stopped being able to appreciate the intriguing story because it felt so drawn out. I felt for a lot of my time reading it that it really needed a great editor; somebody who could pick out all of the unnecessary twists and turns. It went on for a lot longer than it needed to, and felt repetitive in places. Not to mention that the ending was the epitome of anti-climatic. It felt like the whole plot had geared up to nothing.

I also thought the character development could have been a little stronger. There are a wide range of characters that we only really meet on a surface level. Given the length of the book and the amount of unnecessary content included in it, there was definitely the space for some further character development. And also, dare I say it, our beloved couple were whiny and annoying for an awful long time. I just couldn't muster the emotional connection that I normally do to a fictional couple. I really expected to feel more.

So far this reads like a pretty scathing review. Although I do mean it all, I did actually enjoy a lot of the book. I thought it was a really interesting concept that just sadly, fell flat. And I'm really disappointed, because it had so much potential.

The Verdict

This is a classic example of a book which had all the potential, and all the right ingredients, but that was let down. If the plot had been tightened to make it less drawn out and unnecessarily long-winded, and if the characters had seen more development, it could have been a really beautiful thing.

Oh, and definitely don't watch the film.