I first heard about "Beautiful Creatures" last year at some point, when word first got out that they would be turning the series into a movie. My sister-in-law was practically jumping up and down telling us, she was THAT excited.
She and I share a love of reading, though our tastes don't normally run along the same genres. I can't remember exactly what she said about it, but I think the words "YA novel" were in there somewhere, which is why I never decided to pick it up.
The movie previews were where I really started paying attention. Did you see it? Watch the clip:
Pretty cool, right? So, after completely falling in love with the movie and NEEDING TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENED NEXT (gah!) I asked my SIL if I could borrow her book.
WHEW! Talk about blown away. I'll first preface by saying that this is a young adult novel. For those of you who don't know what this means, think Twilight teenage angst, in high school, with all the (melo)drama you can and do not want to remember from your past. It's all there. The popular girls, picking on the one who is "different," the relationship between a girl and a boy that is so heartbreakingly full of yearning/infatuation/treacherous people who want to see them torn apart (aka, the adults who love them and care for them).... you get it. It's all of that, plus a little more.
The "little more" is the actual plot here: the battle between good and evil, the fight over one's soul, and the people who will lie and betray the ones they love to reach their goal. This is what made me want to review this book. This, and the message in the books in Ethan's mother's library: CLAIM YOURSELF.
For me, this novel is about the choices that we all make during our formative years that turn us into the adults that we will become. Ethan Wate, whose voice carries us through the novel, explains how the town of Gatlin is stuck in a perpetual state of repetitiveness, from the reenactment of the Civil War every single year, the DAR ladies who have young women who turn into the next generation of the DAR, to the same two dress stores, the same ice floating in the same sweet tea, the same, the same, the same. And he can't wait to get out and go to college, somewhere new, and escape the "hamster wheel" that is Gatlin. That is, until Lena Duchannes moves into the Old Ravenwood Plantation to live with her uncle, Macon Ravenwood, also known as "Old Man Ravenwood," the town shut-in, and turns Ethan's world completely upside down.
Lena is a Caster (or witch, for all of you "muggles" out there) and on her 16th birthday, she will discover whether she is Light or Dark. For her, this is a crucial turning point in her life: nothing in her world is bigger than the moment where she finds out if she is a good witch or a bad witch, because everything in her life will change. According to her Uncle Macon, "...you won't feel remorse, because you won't be yourself. The person you are now will be dead. ...Within a few months, your heart will be so dark, (Ethan) won't mean anything to you." When the novel first starts, Lena has 156 days until her birthday. Which means she has 156 days to break a curse with a situation eerily similar to the one in which she finds herself: in love with a mortal who, at the end of the story, dies because of her. And she'll do anything to bring him back, including using the most powerful Caster book there is, The Book of Moons.
There's also the mystery of Ethan. Who is he, really? It's the same thing we asked ourselves about Bella in Twilight. We know there's something different about him, something more than we're seeing, but the answer to that question is not in the first book.
I really liked this book, and I'm okay with the differences in the endings between the book and the movie. I really enjoyed both and I'm looking forward to continuing the series in print and on the silver screen. If you're a Twilight fan, enjoy stories that take place in the Southern part of the country (think voodoo/dropping "g's"), this might be a book you'd enjoy! I'm a Harry Potter fan and as I was reading, I couldn't stop thinking about The Great Battle between good and evil and what a remarkable and compelling storyline it can create in a book. If I had enough time I'd totally draft an argument for the similarities and differences between the two series, and how one individual can play a pivotal role in the fate of the world.
This book is about a lot of things: the love of family, sacrifice, choosing to be who you want to be and not sitting passively by and just letting your fate be decided for you. It's shaping up to be a great series, and if you're looking for something new to start you should check it out!
STATS:
Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl
http://www.amazon.com/Beautiful-Creatures-ebook/dp/B008CJ23A6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1374264074&sr=8-1&keywords=beautiful+creatures
Received 4.3 out of 5 stars (by 3,370 Amazon users [WOW!])
Kindle edition sells for $5.69 and Marshalls is selling a hard copy of the book for $5 (I saw it yesterday, haha). You can also borrow it from your local library for free, even the Kindle edition (see my Kindle Paperwhite blog for more info on downloading from your local library).
Have a great weekend!
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