Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl (Caster Chronicles #1)

• Title: Beautiful Creatures
• Authors: Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl
• My Rating: 3.5/5 Stars
• Format: Paperback

 

I first heard about Beautiful Creatures from the movie preview, I'm pretty sure. When I saw the preview, I was thinking 'Oh yeah, that looks really cool! I'll have to read the book!' So, obviously, I did read it! I thought it would be a neat book to read because it's about a curse and other things like that.

 

Beautiful Creatures is about a boy, Ethan Wate, and a girl, Lena Duchannes. Ethan keeps seeing Lena in his dreams, but he doesn't realize that it's her until he meets her one day at school. Lena has a secret that she can't tell anyone; she has powers. Ethan is determined to figure it out. Ethan feels this connection with Lena and all he really wants to do is get to know her.

 

The two of them start hanging out, but are told by family and friends that it's not a good idea. Of course, they ignore the warnings because they're falling in love with each other. Lena finally reveals her secret to Ethan, and Ethan is totally fine with it. The two of them are happy together up until Lena's sixteenth birthday. On her sixteenth birthday, Lena will be chosen by either the dark or the light. She hopes to be chosen by the light, but signs of darkness are showing in her more and more everyday.

 

When Lena's birthday arrives, it's absolute chaos. I don't want to give any spoilers, so I'm not going to say anything besides that.

 

I will admit, this book was extremely boring at the beginning. Once you get towards the end of the middle, it starts picking up. One thing in this book that I really didn't like were the flashbacks. I know that they were essential to the story, but they were way too detailed and they bored me. Every time I saw a flashback coming, I was thinking 'Oh great. Should I stop reading here and come back to it later?'

 

The characters in this book were not my favorite. The main characters, Ethan and Lena, were just alright. I feel like they could've had more depth to them and they kind of bored me. I would say that my favorite character was Ethan's best friend, Link, because he made me laugh. Other than him, the rest of the characters were just average.

 

I wouldn't say that this book was extraordinary, but it was enjoyable once it started picking up. I gave Beautiful Creatures 3.5/5 stars because it was great when it picked up, and even during the boring parts it kept me a little bit interested. I'm in no rush to read the next books in the series, but I do have them sitting on my bookshelf. I honestly don't know when I'll get to them, just because this one wasn't the greatest. Maybe they get better as they go?

 

Favorite quote: "You're so full of crap, you could pass for a toilet."

 

Do I recommend this book? Sure, if you think it seems interesting. If you're hesitant about it, I would say don't waste your time.

 

Okay, can I just talk about the movie for a second? Let me just say that the movie was a waste of 2 hours. It was seriously the worst movie I think I have ever seen. It was nothing like the book, the acting was horrible, Ethan's accent got on my last nerve, and it was just a terrible movie. I was so excited to get it in the mail from Netflix, but as soon as I started watching it I was extremely disappointed. If you're reading this book because you want to watch the movie, just stick to the book. The movie is not worth watching. It's 2 hours of your life that you'll never get back.