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Saturday 27 February 2010

Review - Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl


Publisher: Penguin

Publication date: 4 February 2010

Pages: 626

Beautiful Creatures is a modern, magical love story. The book has been bigged up by publishers and Twi-hards alike as "the next Twilight saga" . I must admit I was sceptical another author could develop the Twilight appeal in a fresh context, and with the dreamy prose that Meyer is loved for. However I have been converted along with I expect most of the female population aged 14+.

There are five things I love about this book:
1. The book is written from a male perspective, which is refreshing in the supernatural genre. Ethan is just an ordinary lad, frustrated with a small town life in the deep south. He finds himself in extraordinary circumstances and situations that are sometimes more than he can handle, for his love 'Caster' Lena.
2. The deep south setting and historical input are very well researched and linked with the fictional content of the book. The public judgement of Lena and the inclusion of To Kill a Mocking Bird (and other classic works and quotes) are examples of this.
3. The personalities of the characters of Amma and Macon, their clear differences and despite this coming together to support the young couple.
4. Ethan and his best friend Link's childhood relationship, is played out in a realistic manner and I felt like I knew Link, even though he is not a main character. It was good to see some lighthearted, funny scenes played out instead of a continual tense, building drama.
5. I didn't once know what was coming next. I was very shocked, and moved by the ending.

There was only one bug bear that I did have throughout the book which was the sixteen moons song, it was a little predictable and I felt the author's could have been more creative. Having said that I really think Beautiful Creatures saga will be a prime target for film studios filling the gap left by Twilight.

I will definitely be recommending this book to young people.

9/10

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