“History was a bitch sometimes. You couldn’t change where you were from. But still, you didn’t have to stay there.” – Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl, Beautiful Creatures
Synopsis : Ethan Wate is haunted by dreams of a girl he’s never met. When Lena Duchannes moves into his small southern town of Gatlin County, Ethan is inexplicably drawn to her. And he is determined to uncover the strange connection between them, even if it means uncovering the one secret that could change everything.
I’ve only read one paranormal romance, Twilight, and have a “hate-like but still kind of annoyed” relationship with. Since then I decided to ward off teen paranormal romance
However, after reading about how many teen paranormal romances were being turned into films I decided I had to see what the big deal was.
On a whim, I picked up Beautiful Creatures (for Kindle) because I liked the cover.
I knew nothing about the book when I started it, so I was thrown for a loop when I discovered our narrator was male. The novel takes place in small southern town of Gaitlin, South Carolina. The book takes many cues from the Gothic tradition (yeah, English minor !). It has everything; mazes, destitute landscapes, ruins and ancestry all set to a modern beat.
Sixteen-year-old Ethan Wate’s narrative is flawless. He has the right amount of snark, charming and touching dialogue. Lena Duchannes, the mysterious new girl in town is constantly struggling between dwelling in nightmares and attempting to live. The interweaving of classic literature was a nice touch to the novel and blended nicely, but maybe become a little to ad nauseam.
While the romance takes center stage, this isn’t just a story about unrequited love and attractive people, Stohl and Garcia use the paranormal genre to discuss teenage issues like bullying, peer pressure and conformity.
My biggest fear with this novel is that it is too often compared to Twilight and True Blood, it’s literally on the back of the book. This novel is good enough to stand on its own and frankly offers a more whole and complex story than the first Twilight book.
Overall, I found the story to unfold nicely. There are so many interesting characters and conflicts, but is it enough to carry over for an entire series ?

1/2 of the blogging duo at Books and Sensibility, I have been blogging about and reviewing books since 2011. I read any and every genre, here on the blog I mostly review Fantasy, Adult Fiction, and Young Adult with a focus on audiobooks.