Witchy Poo

'Beautiful Creatures'
By Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl


Format: Hardback
Published: Little Brown; Dec. 2009
Pages: 576


Synopsis: Ethan Wate is struggling to hide his apathy for his high school "in" crowd in small town Gatlin, South Carolina, until he meets the determinedly "out" Lena Duchannes, the girl of his dreams (literally--she has been in his nightmares for months). What follows is a smart, modern fantasy--a tale of star-crossed lovers and a dark, dangerous secret. 'Beautiful Creatures' is a delicious southern Gothic that charms you from the first page, drawing you into a dark world of magic and mystery until you emerge gasping and blinking, wondering what happened to the last few hours (and how many more you're willing to give up). To tell too much of the plot would spoil the thrill of discovery, and believe me, you will want to uncover the secrets of this richly imagined dark fantasy on your own.


My Take: I picked up this book because of blogger recommendations the Internet over. I, as a general rule before I started blogging, hadn't read a young adult (or YA book as it's commonly referred to now) since I, well, was a young adult so I didn't really understand why so many adults were reading them. Weren't the books sprinkled with after-school type messages for youth? I don't need that anymore. I made it through adolesence and I don't really want to look back! But every once in a while reviews and synopsis, and honestly, really really beautiful covers just draw me in too much and I have to pick it up to see what all the fuss is about...and I loved it!

'Beautiful Creatures' was told from the point of view of Ethan, a 15 year old boy stuck in the small town of Gatlin, South Carolina. I know, I know, who, as an adult female wants to read a book from the point of view of a teenage boy? Oh that's right, everyone has read 'Harry Potter' so moving on! He's sweet, he's recently lost his mother and he wants to get the heck out of this boring small town. Who, as a teenager, doesn't think where they are from is boring? Then a cool drink of water by the name of Lena rolls into town and shakes things up! She doesn't want to shake things up though, she wants to be normal but she can't be because she is a 'Caster' which is this books term for the witchy kind.

So from there comes the wild and wonderful tale of mystery and gothicness that these two get swept up in because Ethan and Lena fall in love, but can they be together? And what happens when you try to keep teenagers apart? Heart wrenching emotion, that's what! And when there is a witch involved believe me, things can get messy! But believe me, this story will suck you in from the get go and have you turning the pages to have you finding out who else from this seemingly innocent small town in involved in all of the witchcraft. I loved it, and you just might too.

Since it is for young adults, I feel I should note, that while there is a romance, there is only smooching and nothing more. I gave this to my 15 year old cousin for her birthday and don't feel bad about it.

Also, I had to check out the authors' website because I wanted to find out what the numbers on the chapter headings meant because they had no rhyme or reason to me but I couldn't find the answer - anyone else know what they meant?

There is a sequel to this book coming out this fall called 'Beautiful Darkness' and you better believe I'll be reading that too!

(This book was a gift)