Beautiful Creatures (Caster Chronicles, #1) in Once Upon a Twilight blog

Nov 15, 2010 Jennifer rated it really liked it

I've wanted to read this series for a long time. And with the movie coming out I knew I wanted to read it before seeing the movie.

I enjoyed the book. The narrator is Ethan. The book takes place in a small town in the South called Gatlin.

A new girl, Lena comes to town. The people in the town hate newcomers. So they are pretty mean to her. But Ethan likes her.

There is a magical element to the book. Lena and her family have powers. I especially enjoyed her uncle Macon (and can't wait to see how he ...more

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Aug 26, 2010 Lauren Hammond rated it really liked it

Actually this book took me completely by surprise. When I read the inside of the cover I was under the impression that the book was going to be narrated by Lena Duchannes.It was actually narrated by the main male character Ethan Wate. What I like best about this twisted, backward, tale of young love, is that for once we get to see a love blossom from a males point of view. I found that refreshing.

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Oct 11, 2010 Hannah rated it it was amazing

Ok, you know me, I always start my reviews off with rambling on and on about the cover. So, guess what?? Your going to ramble on and on about the cover. Gee, you guys can read my mind. . .Just kidding =) Anyways, the cover is gorgeous. I couldn't figure out what the background was and finally realized(after numbing my brain with possibilities) that it was a tree! Dumb moment for me! I think they did a really good job on the cover of it :) But, I asked some of my family which cover they liked bet ...more

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Nov 22, 2010 Jolene rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: contests, re-read-for-series, my-books-for-jenna-to-read

I couldn't believe how thick this book was when I picked it up. Regardless of the length, I really liked the story. There was a lot happening in this book and it kept me enthralled. Trying to figure out what Lena was and what was happening to her. I loved watching Lena and Ethan find their way to eachother and how they were pulled together through their shared dreams and being able to talk to eachother in their minds. It was a really cute love story that was kind of buried underneath. The myster ...more

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Nov 23, 2010 Jennifer Monzon rated it really liked it

Shelves: read-in-2010

Beautiful Creatures will definitely be on my top five of favorite books. I LOVE the fact that it's written from a males point of view and that you can follow it with ease as it was well written. The plot and the descriptions of the lifestyles these characters portrayed kept me well entertained. I found the historical views interesting. Not only did this book keep me on the edge of my seat wondering what happens next, it made me angry, fall in love, laugh and cry. The love between Lena and Ethan ...more

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Aug 23, 2010 Amber rated it really liked it

Shelves: books-i-own, reviews

Beautiful Creatures is a delightfully Southern Gothic read that is intensely romantic and hard to put down. I didn't expect to write that a book told solely in a male's point of view would be romantic but by the end, I was a complete believer. With a setting that oozes mood and charm, a cast of finely tuned and wildly interesting characters and a plot that keeps plenty of twists in its pages, it is one hard book to put down.

I've read other reviews that have had a real problem with the main chara Beautiful Creatures is a delightfully Southern Gothic read that is intensely romantic and hard to put down. I didn't expect to write that a book told solely in a male's point of view would be romantic but by the end, I was a complete believer. With a setting that oozes mood and charm, a cast of finely tuned and wildly interesting characters and a plot that keeps plenty of twists in its pages, it is one hard book to put down.

I've read other reviews that have had a real problem with the main character Ethan. They state that he just isn't believable because of how crazy he is for Lena, how polite he is to grown ups, how interested he is in what Lena wears and how he spends his Saturdays helping out with his trio of crazy old Aunts. I can understand this point of view, I just don't agree with it. Boys don't have to just like sports and not notice what a girl is wearing. They come in a variety of flavors and I loved that Ethan was so varied. He was a pretty good basketball player though he wasn't in love with the game but he also liked to read classic books. Yeah, he noticed what Lena was wearing sometimes but he also realized that she dressed to match her mood. I think that these things made him special and allowed girls to relate to him as easily as men. So I had no problems with him. He was from the South and he was bred to be a well mannered Southern boy who respects his elders and says "ma'am".

I thought Lena was just as good of a character though I did have a few problems with her. I understood that she'd been bullied her entire life but a lot of the time, she got mad or upset and I had NO clue why, I was just as baffled as Ethan. I just had a hard time understanding her motivations. I did love all of her corky characteristics though. I thought her necklace full of junk and the way she loved to play with the clouds was brilliant.

The authors did an awesome job really making Gatlin seem like a character in the book. It felt alive and breathing to me. Sometimes it was way too small with its one stop shop and how everybody knew everyone else's business but then we'd get a little chapter about the scenery and I'd be blown away but just how beautiful and mysterious it was. It really was the perfect setting to add mood to the book. I could picture all the hanging moss and Ravenwood as if I drove past it every single day. All of the Southern food and customs really helped bring it to life. How everyone knew their family tree, referred to the Civil War as the War of Northern Aggression and were more interested in how the North was unfair than what really happened in history. I felt like I lived there with Ethan.

That's why finding out about Lena and her families' power felt so magical. People often criticism Twilight for being long and showing mundane things about Bella's life but without knowing those, we wouldn't fully appreciate how amazing and magical The Cullen's existence was. This goes the same for the setting in Beautiful Creatures. We saw the Gatlin Ethan grew up in and felt as it shattered away into something all together magical when he met Lena. We saw that right below the streets and houses was a vast Caster library. We saw that Ravenwood may look like a dump but that it's really enchanted. And we were just as enchanted with everything else as Ethan.

The entire Casters system was pretty neat. I read a lot of paranormal so it wasn't completely unique but it was fun. What made it really special and stand out for me was the curse on Lena's family. You get no say whether you go Light or Dark. The power just takes you on your sixteenth birthday. I loved the idea that one day, someone could be as sweet as pie and the next they went black. It made for such an interesting concept and it was for that reason I kept reading so intently.

I think the plot was really well done. I wasn't expecting the ending AT ALL so that really shocked me. What I was expecting was a re-incarnation story. With all the flashback to the past, I was sure that was the way this book was going and I kind of wish it was. The flashbacks were revealed to be important but I'm not sure they were important enough to warrant so much intention. Having it be a re-incarnation story would have really made those flashbacks vital. This is just a personal preference though. I liked how the past and present and even the future never felt too far away. They all sort of blended into one thing. For me, that is a lot like the South so it was perfect.

I was also really impressed that this novel was written by two authors. I can't tell where one started and the other took off. Their voices blended perfectly to create Ethan and I never noticed the writing getting too different. I thought I might and I really did try but it never got to that. I will say that I did think this novel could have been cut down. There were places that really drug for me. I know it's nice to know that they spent a lot of time looking for answers but right before it got to Lena's birthday, I almost lost interest. I felt it could have been trimmed there and a few other places to help with pacing but by the time I got to the end, that didn't really matter for me.

Beautiful Creatures really does weave the magic the South offers into one hell of a debut. Blending the past, present and future into the novel really creates a sense that anything can happen and the sweet romance between Ethan and Lena is guaranteed to make you smile. Dripping with charm and chills around every page, Beautiful Creatures is one book you won't mind if it "ma'am"'s you! ...more

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