Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

Food to eat while reading: Rosemary Lemon Roasted Chicken


Read the synopsis here.

Beautiful Creatures is all about setting. I love the southern backdrop. I’ve never been to the South so I don’t know if Garcia and Stohl are true to the culture, but I love how the authors immersed me in the town of Gatlin, South Carolina. Gatlin is its own character in the book. Ravenwood manor is romantic and mysterious and who wouldn’t love to have a library like Uncle Macon’s?

The writing feels natural and moves along at a nice pace. I wanted to keep reading and spent more than a few late nights with the book. The story is deliciously unpredictable and I eagerly anticipated how Ethan and Lena were connected and what would happen to them.

A wide array of characters people Beautiful Creatures—from Amma, the voo-doo housekeeper and dream consuming Macon, to persuasive and sexy Ridley and the normal, loyal Link.

The powerful use of senses drew me in. The smell of lemons and rosemary, a haunting melody, and Lena’s necklace all made me feel as if I were actually there.

I love historical fiction and though this is probably not classified as such, I eagerly absorbed the civil war flashbacks and the links between the generations.

Though I am not generally a fan of a teen male protagonist, Garcia and Stohl pulled it off nicely, perhaps because we were inside of Lena’s head so frequently. The use of telepathy in a love story was a nice touch.

The verdict: Prepare to be taken away to a time and setting you’ve never experienced. Beautiful Creatures immerses you in the deep South and casts a story you won’t soon forget.

Purchase: Beautiful Creatures
Genre: YA
Publisher: December 1st 2009 by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Where I got the book: library