Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl

As I watched the last Twilight movie, I was riveted by a preview for an upcoming movie called Beautiful Creatures. When I returned home, I made sure to put a hold on the novel at the library that the movie is based on. A young adult romance with paranormal activity? Count me in.

Ethan Wate has lived in the small town of Gatlin South Carolina his entire life. “There are only two kinds of people in our town. ‘ The stupid and the stuck’ my father affectionately classified our neighbors.” Wate dreams of something different and of moving away from his small town. Especially after his mother died earlier in the year in a tragic car accident and his father has basically disappeared into the study since then to work on the great American novel. Ethan is lucky to have Amma, the woman who raised his father and him to keep him in line.

Ethan is unfortunately a sophomore in high school and still has years before he will leave his small town. Things soon change when new girl Lena Duchannes starts at his school. She is dark haired, doesn’t dress “right,” and loves to read, all items that put her in the cross hairs of the bleached blonde popular cheerleaders. But the item that really puts a mark on Lena’s back is that she is the niece of Macon Ravenwood, the town’s “Boo Radley” and lives with him in his old and presumed haunted mansion. Ethan immediately connects with Lena and strangely realizes she is the girl that has inhabited his dreams all summer. Even stranger, Ethan and Lena can communicate with each other in their thoughts.

With the town against them, Ethan soon learns that Lena has a secret that will shape her on her sixteenth birthday. Ethan also discovers the hidden layers, lies, and secrets to Gaitlin that make his small town anything but boring.

I really enjoyed this book and literally couldn’t put it down. It looks like a large book, but being a young adult novel, it was a very fast read. I found the story line to be very interesting and original, but I really loved all of the characters and the setting. The southern setting was intriguing and each character seemed to have a hidden back story just waiting to be let loose. I can’t say more as I don’t want to ruin the plot, but I look forward to reading the next book in this series and to watching the movie. Any other fans or haters of this series want to share their thoughts?

Book Source: The Kewaunee Public Library