Beautiful Creatures

Author: Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl
Goodreads Rating: 3.78
Pages: 563
Format: Nook Book

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.

I'll be honest that I'm not quite sure where to start on this one. I wasn't blown away by this book like everyone insisted that I would be. I got into it easy enough even if a book told from a guy's perspective is difficult, but it had a mildly interesting concept. Past that, I'm not sure what else to say about this book. I felt that it was very well written, but it didn't make a lasting impression at all.

For starters, this book was pretty instalovey. I get that Ethan is supposed to be different from all the other guys with this deep thoughts and wounded soul, but he really wasn't all that different. I didn't fall in love with him the way that other characters make you fall in love with them. I wasn't rooting for him and Lena to make a go of being crazy kids and being together. 

So what kept me reading? I wanted to know what side she was going to chose. I wanted to know if she was going to be good or bad. The most exciting part of the book was following the end with the whole show down. I was intrigued by the lore that went into creating this world. It was all very interesting, but in the end, it didn't lead me to care more for this book.

I thought that a lot of the background characters were the best. I adored Ridley and how evil she was, and Macon was a show stealer. But I couldn't find it in my heart to care much more for Ethan and Lena. I sort of cared for the story that dated back to the Civil War, but that was such a small part of the book that it was almost unfortunate that we couldn't see more of that.

AS a side note, I tried to watch the movie and couldn't even get into that. I was either too exhausted from my vacation, or it was just not that good. I think I'll give it one more chance to see if the movie is better, but I didn't love the actors (and hadn't gotten far enough for Emmy yet).

The Courts Decision: