By: Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Published on December, 2009
563 pages
BOOK 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. 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.
Beautiful Creatures is just released in Indonesia cinema and I'm thinking to write a review about the book that I actually had read last month.
We have Ethan Wate as the male protagonist and this book uses his point of view. Kind of different, isn't it? Usually writers use female point of view because it's so much easier. Because female are more sensitive and have more thoughts in their minds. This is one of many other things that I love from Beautiful Creatures. It gives a different touch. We can see things from guy point of view. How he sees girls, how he needs to keep his feeling for himself because guys don't talk about it. It's really interesting, I really love it.
The story sets in South Carolina. I love how both the writers write the dialogue between the characters in South Carolina accent, making this book feel more real. Although, I need to admit when I read it, I got a little bit confuse sometimes.
There's also a bullying issue in this book. The writers had succeeded for making me to put all my sympathy to Lena Duchannes. I kept reading this book because I really wanted to know what was going to happen next to Lena. I wanted to make sure she was okay. I know guys, she's fictional but it doesn't mean I can't have sympathy for the character.
Unlikely 'Shatter Me' (I know it's not relevant to compare this book with it), the love story between Ethan and Lena isn't forced. It develops as the story goes. It's not like any other teen romance. It's not Twilight. Ethan and Lena start as friend, hanging out together, saving each other ass and then as the time goes by they just fall in love for each other. I guess this book can make me think that perhaps everything in this book is not fictional at all because it feels kind of real.
The concept of this book isn't new. But thank goodness it's about witch and not Nephilim! Too much Paranormal Romance use Nephilim as it characters.
So, Caster. It's a new thing. Witch is not a polite way to call Lena Duchannes. They prefer the term 'Caster'. They take 'Witch' and 'Wizard' as an insult. Their power somehow is interesting especially Lena because she's a Natural.
The claimed part is also interesting, although I hate how the series are all about the claiming thing.
The pacing is really slow. I guess the writers want everything to be in detail and I don't like that kind of book. But this book is worth reading. The writing is great. The story is okay. Sure, I got bored in some parts. But still, this book worth 4 out of 5 stars. I can't wait to read the next book, Beautiful Darkness.
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