Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

So I know everyone is scrambling to get Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl read before the movie hits theaters on the 13th of February! And I am no exception haha :)

I love reading the books before I see the movie! 

From Goodreads:

 

"There were no surprises in Gatlin County.
We were pretty much the epicenter of the middle of nowhere.
At least, that's what I thought.
Turns out, I couldn't have been more wrong.
There was a curse.
There was a girl.
And in the end, there was a grave.
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."

My Thoughts:

This book was full of surprises, captivating moments, and a love that can only be found in great books!

I found this book to be unique, with some strong supporting characters, and enthralling main characters, that I found myself enjoying it from beginning until end.

I've read a few reviews where people have mentioned they found the beginning to be slow, but personally I believe some series need that slower beginning.  All the greats have! Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone focused on Harry's stay still at the Dursley's for about 4 LONG chapters!  Twilight introduced Bella, and Edward and her didn't even meet until about 3, and they didn't talk until about Chapter 4 or 5!  Those were pretty long chapters too!

I personally think Beautiful Creatures ran at a smooth pace that allowed the readers to get a true feeling of the characters, the beginning of the story, and slowing introduced them to what was ahead.

I was pleasantly surprised to find out the entire book in the point of view of the male main character, Ethan.  I assumed it would be in Lena point of view.  But I like hearing Ethan's perspective.  However, I do believe Lena's perspective on Beautiful Creatures would make an entire book in itself!

There was one thing that sort of bothered me, but I couldn't understand why.  I couldn't cry during this one.  Usually I am a HUGE baby when reading a book!  In some of the reviews I read, people mentioned how they were bawling their eyes out at the end, so I thought that same thing was going to happen to me!

So my overall rating:

I truly enjoyed this one!  Thought it was a great introduction, and I am 100% looking forward to reading book 2-4!  I've got Beautiful Darkness (#2), sitting on my shelf, so luckily I don't have to wait too long! :)

Highly recommend this one!

The reason why I didn't give it 5 Bookies, is because 5 goes to those that I could easily reread at the same moment I finish them, and with Beautiful Creatures I'm not so sure if I'll be rereading it anytime soon (and by "Soon" I mean in the few years!).  Also my lack of emotion threw me off a bit.

However, I seriously still highly recommend it, especially to supernatural lovers.  It mentioned the Civil War quite a bit, because it is such a huge part of Gatlin's history.  I loved Lena and Ethan, they were such dynamic characters, especially Lena!

So definitely read it before seeing the movie!!

My review of the movie will go up as soon as I see it! :)

The Romance Bookie :)