•- -♥- -♥- -♥- -♥- -♥- -♥- -♥- -•

Bloody Bookaholic's Commandment:

Thou Shall Read Till Thy Eyes Bleed

Monday 30 November 2009

Review: Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia & M Stohl


Title: Beautiful Creatures
Series: I Think is Beautiful Creatures.
Book #: 1st
Author: Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl
Pages: 576
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Reading Level: Young Adult
Rating:

"No Alarms, and No Surprises."
- Radiohead


There were no surprises in Gatlin County.

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.

Taschima:

As one of the most expected YA books of 2009, Beautiful Creatures has created high expectations. And after reading it, I gotta say, it excels.

Ethan Wate comes from a little town, raised in the same little town, and his greatest desire if to G-E-T O-U-T. He can't understand his father's desire to stay, or for in fact his mother's. When she was alive anyways. Since then his father is non existent. Besides this, his life is completely normal. He is part of the in-crowd, and much like them. Until the dreams start. Or most likely the nightmares. He fights for his and some girl's life on this dream, but she always slips away. And the only thing he knows about this girl is that she smells of Lemons and Rosemary, and that without much sane reason he loves her.

This book is wow. I felt like Kami and Margarate took YA by the Y and the A, completely turned it upside down and did a work of art while they were at it. By now I expect the female point of view, the mysterious bad boy, and some kind of supernatural excuse to keep them apart. Oh boy, not such thing with this one.

Of course there is a girl, a boy, and maybe a curse, but you get it with a spin that makes you love the story even more. First off the POV is a MALE'S POV. That was shocking enough. I heard this book had some kind of romance in it, so a male POV in the story took me by surprise. It's completely refreshing.

And while there is certainly some romance in this book the authors managed to not make it the main point of the story, while making it the main point of the story. Ugh, and it's REAL. You can feel everything they are feeling; you understand why they are feeling it. It's not just hormones, you can call this love. They fight, they scream, but still they have a connection. Oh and a big plus, they don't say the L word as soon as in other YA novels. It is there, they know it, they just don't feel the need to BRAG about it.

Now the curse. The plot line was extremely interesting. They use a little bit of everything, magic (black and white), historical facts (some real and some invented of course), secrets, mysteries, riddles... They pulled the same old rabbit out of the hat, but instead of a old normal white rabbit you get one that has all the colors of the rainbow.

All the characters added something to the story. Ethan is the believer; he never gives up. Lina is the girl who has gone through so much, she just can't help but be a little cynical/negative about her whole destiny. They balance each other out. Oh and the other characters... well if you like dark humor they were some sort of comic release, at least for me. Marco (Lina's uncle) had me laughing a number of times. Again, you have to have a weird sense of humor.

Kami and Margaret managed to turn something ordinary into something extraordinary. From old to new. From boring to I-have-spent-over-4-hours-on-this-book-'till-I-finished-it. And I am not even kidding. You know how we sometimes over use the phrase 'keeps you at the edge of your seat'? Damn, I am going to try to invent a new phrase, but for now this is exactly what this book did for me. And I'm sure if you give it a try, one way or the other, it will work for you too.

*Tomorrow in celebration of Beautiful Creature's release I will have an interview with Kami Garcia and M Stohl. Be here and be punctual hahahaha ^^

52 comments:

  1. Looking forward to the interview with Kami and Margaret. I loved Beautiful Creatures.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I can't wait for this book! I'm going tomorrow to buy my own copy. After reading your review, I want to read it even more now!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I just love it when books live up the the expectations that i have for them.
    Thanks for such an informative review! :-) I realyl can't WAIT to read it!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thank you so much for the wonderful review!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Great review! I can't wait for the interview tomorrow. :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Great review! I want to know more about this curse... and I can't wait for the interview! :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. I just ordered this book today. Can't wait to read it!

    ReplyDelete
  8. OOh! I can't wait. Male POV?? That's great! Awesome review!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Good review. I really enjoyed BC too!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Great Review!

    I can't wait to read this book!

    ReplyDelete
  11. ooooo Male POV that should be interesting..

    ReplyDelete
  12. I loved this book so much! I can't wait until the second ones comes out =D.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Great Review! Sounds really good!:)

    http://fantasysink.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  14. It was just one of those books where you really felt satisfied. It was long, but it was so necessary.. I hope the rest of the series is as hefty.

    ReplyDelete
  15. I also really enjoyed the darker elemnts of the book. I also agree that there was not much romance but honestly the book was great with out it!

    Nice review! Great Rating!

    Black Disaster Fairy

    literarydaydreams.blogspot.com
    literarydaydreams@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  16. I love your review! LOL Beautiful creatures is one of my favorite books! I cannot wait for Beautiful Darkness!

    ReplyDelete
  17. Good Review. This book is bumped to the top of my TBR list. I can't believe I haven't read it yet.

    ReplyDelete
  18. I have heard so many wonderful things about this book that I can't wait to read it. Thank you for the great review. I must read this book.

    seriousreader at live dot com

    ReplyDelete
  19. This was a great book! I loved it and can't wait for more. I loved the gothic feel and the love story.

    Brandi from Blkosiner’s Book Blog

    ReplyDelete
  20. I've been wanting to buy this series for the past month. It is great that you are offering the books in a giveaway. Please enter me, I'm a follower!

    apk1princess@live.com

    ReplyDelete
  21. Thanks for the review. This looks like something I would enjoy.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Great starter!!! Nice review - loved this book!!!

    ReplyDelete
  23. This book is one of my favorites. I agree with what you said in your review. I'm looking forward to reading the sequel!

    ReplyDelete
  24. I loved this book! Great review :) I can't wait to read Beautiful Darkness

    ReplyDelete
  25. It's always nice to discover ana uthor who can come up with a new twist.

    ReplyDelete
  26. I have heard so many great reviews of this book and that's it -- I am adding it to my TBR pile and also am entering your contest for them, so I don't have to buy them myself, but hey if I don't win, I am still adding them to my TBR shelf : )
    contestmom AT hotmail DOT com

    ReplyDelete
  27. And while there is certainly some romance in this book the authors managed to not make it the main point of the story, while making it the main point of the story.

    My thoughts exactly! They had a good balance.

    I loved this book, I can't wait for BD <3

    ReplyDelete
  28. I loved Beautiful Creatures! Loved your review!

    ReplyDelete
  29. Hi,
    I haven't heard of this book before but it's definitely one I will now check out and I love books that continue on...

    :)

    ReplyDelete
  30. Hi..
    Forgot my email...
    :)

    baby_blackroze@yahoo.com

    ReplyDelete
  31. i've been wanting to read this book for a while now.

    great review!

    ReplyDelete
  32. Wow, what a fantastic, complimentary review! I was not sure about this book but now I definitely want to read it!!!

    ReplyDelete
  33. Great Review!:) I thougt the book was okay but it was a little to slow paced. I hope Beautiful Darkness makes it up for me.

    tirachii@yahoo.com

    ReplyDelete
  34. I agree with you, there are not many male POV's for books with romance in them.
    I really feel like you enjoyed the book, I had my conservations over this book, but you definitely sparked my interest.

    ReplyDelete
  35. Okay so I remember all the blog publicity when this book was coming out but I had no idea that the story was THIS FREAKEN AWESOME! Seriously, a male POV?! I only expect those on special occasions of some of the most popular books. But man, Beautiful Creatures sounds awesome. I love the whole romance thing going on and it being so believable. Thank you so much for this great review! I'm super excited to read this now! :D

    ReplyDelete
  36. While I enjoyed this book I remember not loving that it was told from Ethan's POV. I wasn't convinced that the voice portrayed that of a teenaged boy.

    While I still want to read Beautiful Darkness it won't be with as much excitement as it was with Beautiful Creatures.

    ReplyDelete
  37. I've heard a lot of good about this book, so it's now definitely on my wishlist.

    ReplyDelete
  38. I love this book! I have to admit that it was pretty slow at the beginning but the ending... just wow! It's a great start to a series and I can't wait to read Beautiful Darkness!

    ReplyDelete
  39. I've heard grat things about this book, and your review was great. I really want to read it.

    ReplyDelete
  40. from a male pov? what a neat idea - now i really want to read this!

    k_sunshine1977 at yahoo dot com

    ReplyDelete
  41. I just love the premise of these books. I can't wait to read them! I've heard it starts off slow but it's well worth a read.

    ReplyDelete
  42. Great review. I am really looking forward to reading this and Beautiful Darkness.

    ReplyDelete
  43. sounds like an amazing book! perfect fit for an amazing contest!

    lexi_kellington@yahoo.com

    ReplyDelete
  44. Cool review! I just ordered Besutiful Creatures, so I'm really excited to read it.

    ReplyDelete
  45. I STILL haven't read this one! But with all of the excited reviews like your review, I sure want to!

    ReplyDelete
  46. A male POV? Me thinks that would be a nice change of pace!
    I've become a little disenchanted with the YA paranormal scene on account of everything being so very similar. I hope YA authors really are starting to think outside the box or I might have to fins a new favorite subgenre.

    ReplyDelete
  47. I know this book was really long, but I did the same thing as you and finished it in one sitting it was that good. I can't wait to finally be able to find out what happens in Beautiful Creatures.

    ReplyDelete
  48. I enjoyed BC and am looking forward to BD!

    ReplyDelete
  49. Great review. I read an excerpt of this book, and I especially loved Amma (is that how you spell her name)! She was so sharp and sassy, a truly memorable character.

    sbhome[at]aol[dot]com

    ReplyDelete
  50. I need to get this one read so that I'll be ready for the next one as soon as it's out!!!!

    Emily ebdye1(at)gmail(dot)com

    ReplyDelete
  51. I want to read these books so bad. They sound like really good reads.

    ReplyDelete

Read your opinion, I want. Leave a comment, you shall.

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...