Beautiful Creatures by Kami GarciaMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
I decided to get myself a copy of this series due to the hype and the release of the movie (which I have not watched yet).
Lena Duchannes is a very powerful witch, and character that I wanted to strangle! I am very sorry, but I found her extremely annoying and whiny! Her "woe is me" attitude grated on my nerves! I think that she has a lot of growing up to do. I hope she does, in the remaining books in the series. Granted, she's only 15 (going on 16), but still...!
Ethan Wate, on the other hand, was an extremely interesting character. I liked him very much. He is a human thrust into a supernatural world. I loved his almost laid back attitude about finding out that there are witches living in the vicinity. He has a wonderful sense of humour, and I love the camaraderie between him and his best friend, Link. I did feel sorry about his relationship (or lack of one) with his father.
This story is told from Ethan's point of view, and is a riveting read. I struggled to put it down, and can understand why it is so popular. However, there were points in the story where I was wishing that it would hurry up. The pace was a bit erratic in my opinion. One moment it would flow wonderfully; the next, it would screech to a slow crawl, only to pick up speed again.
I actually downloaded this as an audio book to begin with, but I found that I didn't like to listen to it in short bursts, especially when going to and from work on public transport. I wanted to keep listening to it, but alas I had to work! I did enjoy the narrator's voice, and he kept me hooked! So, I also purchased this in print for my Kindle. I could then read along with the narrator if I wanted to. This reminded me of the books I used to get as a young girl, which came with an audio tape (showing my age here! :P).
It would be interesting to now watch the movie, to see what they kept, what they changed or missed out. I did want to watch the movie when it first came out, but due to unforeseen circumstances I was unable to. All in all, this was a fascinating story, full of a rich history of the South in America, re-enactment battles, love, witches, destiny and danger! If it wasn't for my dislike of Lena's character, and the erratic flow, I would have given this a solid 5*'s.
Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl seem to make a great writing team. I am now looking forward to reading the next book in the series! I just hope the erratic flow is smoothed out.
I recommend this book if you love YA or Paranormal Romances, or are fans of The Twilight Saga. - Lynn Worton
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