Beautiful Creatures (Caster Chronicles #1)by Kami Garcia, Margaret Stohl
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Synopsis:
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. WhenLena 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.
Review:
**Unfortunately, I won’t be finishing this series. What I liked and tolerated in the first book, ended up rubbing me the wrong way in BD.***
This book was slow and steady, just like when you pour honey out of a jar. You want it to be faster, but if you change the properties of it then it just won’t have the same effect. No matter how much the slow pace is a nuisance, for people like me, it is so worth it! It’s sweet, satisfying and leaves you so happy. Ethan is one of the reasons for that. He was one of the sweetest boys I have ever read about. He’s not my type, but his attitude and morals are nothing but enjoyable and just adds to the pleasant feel of Beautiful Creatures. Honestly, I’m shocked. In the beginning, I couldn’t see myself continuing this series. But then I found myself sucked in and falling for Ethan and the world he lives in. By the time I got to the end of the book, it was no surprise that I cried as much as I did. I fell for this book, and I fell for it hard.
So that was my secret, all there was to tell. I was sixteen years old, I was falling in love with a girl who didn’t exist, and I was slowly losing my mind.
I went into this book not remembering anything about the blurb that I had read years ago. To be honest, I thought it had something to do with dragons. That’s how clueless I was. Luckily, I was pleasantly surprised. We start out the book being introduced to Ethan. He has these recurring dreams that are vividly real. So real that he wakes up with mud under his fingernails, just like in the dreams. They have become something that he has learned to accept and live with. Except that he is haunted by the female that is in the dreams. He is completely intoxicated by her and yet he hasn’t even met her. He’s a pretty typical boy besides the dreams – plays basketball, has a good group of friends and goes through life always hoping that he’ll eventually find someone that actually gets him. His home life is a little depressing. His dad has become a recluse since his mom passed away and the home keeper, Amma, is now the one that raises him. I loved Amma! She was sassy and fun! Ethan seems to have a lot of female influence in his life. Between Amma, his funny Great Aunt’s and learning a little about how his mother was, I finally started to understand where his feminine personality comes from. It bugged me a little in the beginning, but once I started to realize that it fits with his lifestyle, surroundings and his role models it started to make more sense. Ethan is honorable, loyal, softhearted, smart and even though he wasn’t a bad boy, I still found myself falling for him.
She looked up at me, and the whole world disappeared. Like there was just us, like there would always be just us, and we didn’t need magic for that. It was sort of happy and sad, all at the same time. I couldn’t be around her without feeling things, without feeling everything.
Lena Duchannes arrives in town with huge strikes against her. She doesn’t wear cool clothes, she isn’t tan, and she’s the niece of the shut-in that lives in the creepy mansion. Lena was a tough cookie to connect with sometimes, but I really enjoyed her. She was driven, courageous, spunky and tried her hardest to be the best that she could be. And when sweet Ethan meets spunky Lena you just knew that their relationship was one that you would be rooting and hoping for. Watching them throughout the book was like watching your first love re-bloom. Their relationship evolved gently, sometimes awkwardly and was so innocent. No matter how dark the world got around them they had this pureness between the two of them that was just perfectly beautiful.
I never loved you any more than I do, right this second. And I’ll never love you any less than I do, right this second.
I enjoyed this book way more than I thought I would. Even though I prefer something that is fast paced and has a bad boy as one of the main characters, I still liked this book. The slow pace became mesmerizing and Ethan’s sweet boy attitude made me fall for him and his relationship with Lena even more. I can’t wait to start the next book to continue figuring out what’s going on and what’s going to happen with everyone!
Great review! I loved your comparison of it to honey. I’ve read the entire series and the first book following Riley, and while certain things did drive me crazy overall, like honey, I enjoyed them.
Thank you! I love food and music so one or the other is always reminding me of a book I’m reading. See, I loved Riley and always wanted there to be more scenes including her. I’m hoping to read that book someday. So happy to hear you enjoyed those books!