Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl (Reading In Progress)

Synopsis:
There were no surprises in GatlinCounty.

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.

My Review:
A southern gothic tale with a twist. Being born, raised, and still living in the south I was very interested to see how two women from California would depict southern culture and still make it fresh and interesting for young adult readers. The plot was original and unique mixing elements of the paranormal with small town southern life. When I was reading the southern dialect I could hear these characters so well it was like I was listening to my family and friends talk (I can say this because I hear these people talk everyday). I also liked that this present day story paralleled a similar story that took place during the Civil War.

One thing that surprised me was that the story was told from a guy’s perspective and in first-person no less. That was refreshing since there are SO many YA novels from a girl’s perspective and I think it is about time to give the boys a chance. With that said, I did not completely believe that the authors’ captured what a real guy would say and how they think. I realize it was necessary to describe the location and atmosphere in detail (which I am happy they did) because the author’s wanted you to smell the magnolia trees in a sense. If that were the case then they might had been better off telling this story from Lena’s perspective. But I think the story had to be told from Ethan’s point of view and I liked him as a character and I think his relationship with Lena felt genuine.

I have to say I think the pacing and the length was what it needed to be because there are way too many YA novels that rush having you feel like something is missing or incomplete. It fit the character of the story slowly building the relationship between Lena and Ethan the way I think relationships build in reality but not slow to bore you to death. I was not on the edge of my seat the entire time but I wanted to keep reading to find out what happens next.

The book was satisfying, a fun read, and enjoyable. I cannot wait for the second book, Beautiful Darkness, and find out where the story takes these two characters!