Beautiful Creatures Review

I’ll admit I’m not coming to this blind as I read the sequel series first (I know, I know but Link and Ridley’s prologue for Dangerous Creatures was so much more intriguing to me than this one) and I saw the film adaptation when it first came out which is why I read said sequel series and um. . kinda skimmed these.

Well now, I’m starting a true read and I must Garcia and Stohl really know how to craft a world.

While this is a fantasy, I felt it began more like a novel full of magic realism befitting how Ethan, our protagonist, says Gatlin’s denizans still hold some respect for its superstitions that seeps into the culture alongside Bible-thumping and Civil War re-enactments. That magical realism only increases as the book goes on with a hint of Southern Gothic horror when it comes to the Ravenwoods.

Ethan is somewhat of an outsider. His parents are professors, liberal and his mom was a particular thorne in the side of DAR (Daughters of the Revolution) alongside her best friend, Marian the Librarian. Gatlin doesn’t hold much love for books and hoity toity intellectual people. But his mom has been gone for months now in a fatal car accident and his father, a Gatlin lifer whom was the only reason the town begrudgingly accepted Ethan and Lila has become a recluse.

Befitting his inherited love of reading, he wants to get out of this small-town where nothing happens. He wants to travel for real instead of transporting through stories and can’t wait for when his two years are up and he can graduate. He can’t imagine anything worse than being born, staying and dying in Gatlin like everyone else in this town. For in Gatlin nothing ever changes.

Until it does. Ethan’s regular routine with the same jokes, same basketball team, same scoldings from his beloved Amma all change when the new girl comes to town. Lena Ducheness, the niece of Gatlin’s own Boo Radley, Macon Ravenwood, of the haunted Ravenwood plantation,.

As you can imagine, she’s a novelty and she reads and doesn’t believe in the small-minded superiority the DAR believes in themselves. He falls hard but maybe it was fated to be that way as it turns out his new love is the girl from his nightmares, a girl who can shift clouds and create hurricanes. She’s a Caster and her family is cursed.

As I said, the book fits a magical realism vibe as Ethan notices the strange happenings around Lena but doesn’t freak out about it. Simply accepts the happenings as they go on. Just as his special prediliction for knowing the endings of things. Except he doesn’t know how his love story with Lena will end as her family tree is Claimed to become entirely Light or entirely Dark when they turn the child turns sixteen. Of course, being teenagers they’re determined to stop the curse so they can be together and it all begins with a locket that gives them visions of the past when they touch it. A fact that Ethan totally accepts even though its his first conscious brush with the supernatural.

Like I said, magical realism.

Garcia and Stohl expertly leaves clues and unveil revalations as the story goes on that kept me engage. I was eagerly anticipating each flashback that revealed the tragic ending of the star-crossed Genevive Duchaness and Ethan Carter Wate during the Civil War. I held my breath as Ethan crossed the swamp-land at night to fall Amma as she secretly met with Macon to converse with the Greats. I could imagine the haunting Sixteen Moons melody as it plays on loop.

But it’s not all supernatural castings as the curse unraveling is not the only obstacle in Ethan and Lena’s path to happiness.

Ethan makes it clear from the beginning that Gatlin has a stereotypical small-town mindset and if the class’ reading of To Kill a Mockingbird is any indication, history only repeats itself. Gatlin doesn’t like outsiders especially weird outsiders like Lena. Peititions, cruel pranks, shunning and attempted expulsion are all the tools in their arsenal to get Lena out of town.

It adds a slightly less engaging social-emotional aspect to the story alongside its supernatural fare but I felt it was a bit too on the nose with its To Kill a Mockingbird small-town prejudice themes right down to having a “trial” for Lena’s expulsion. Though I must say that trial was a delight with Macon charmingly bringing the whole town to its knees with just his sly tongue and all-seeing, seeing eye “dog.”

Though I must admit the small-town prejudice thread did make an hard-hitting epiphany for Ethan as he realizes that for all his feelings like an outsider, he is still considered “one of them”. He can’t change that they still call him one of their own as much as he wants to distance himself from their prejudice. Just like Lena can’t stop the Claiming that’s coming for her.

Anyway, from all this writing, you might be able to tell that I like Ethan. I fond him to be engaging with his determination to leave his small town, the remenenats of grief he’s still trying to navigate alongside the painful distance he can’t quite breach with his father. He had a dry sense of obsevation while being very self aware which I just admire in a character in general. Plus his love for his small circle is strong and deep and his emotions lept off the page for me. Also the scenes with his great Aunts got a big laugh out of me especially when he’s forced to dig holes for a nut-berry cocktail mix (it makes sense in context).

Lena on the other hand. . . .

She hit all the fantasy cliches. She’s a “chosen one” character being one of the most powerful casters in her family but doesn’t know how to control her powers and their full extent (not that there are many willing to tell her). She’s an orphan and doesn’t know about her parents (also a big family secret). She’s very knowledgable, writes moody poetry about her upcoming Claiming and plays viola like an expert. As I said above, despite all these attributes, she’s an outcast yet desperately wants to be normal.

I get what they were going for as Lena’s desire for being a normal girl despite her unusual status is supposed to be relatable as she’s never had a chance for normalcy what with the secrets and being shunted from relative to relative. But she fell flat. Like I said, she’s a cliche and while Ethan and Lena did have some sweet moments, she was mainly concerned with her Claiming and thus freaked out, moped, gave up, tried to break up and freeze out Ethan, constant “You don’t understand, we can’t be together” etc. etc. Also we’re seeing it from Ethan’s biased view so all those moments of her humor, sweetness, their deep talks were mainly told not shown. And because she’s so desperately wants t be normal she stays in a bad situation at school despite the danger that she can’t control her powers (which get amped up when she’s upset so VERY VERY BAD IDEA to stay at a place where people actively hate you) and thus leads to bad decisions that could be avoided. At least when Ethan’s actions moved the plot forward without robbing him of a backbone and common sense.

However, Lena did have a redeemingg quality in that the love between her Uncle Macon was deep and heartfelt just like Ethan’s relationship with Amma. Both characters I enjoyed for plot purposes and their charm and no nonsense natures respectively. I was already predisposed to enjoy Link and Ridley’s scenes thanks to their duology and our big villain of the piece, Mrs. Lincoln. . . well I won’t spoil it anything. But as a small-town dictactor she packs quite a punch.

So yeah, I quite enjoy this beginning to the Caster world with its lush imagery and small town politics alongside supernatural battles for surpremacy. The authors make full use of the genre tropes while keeping it fresh with small pop culture references like Marian the Librarian (Music Man fans might immediately understand why I immediately think of the song), Jessica Rabbit quotes and the plea to stop clubbing with baby seals (my English professor loved those posters). I’m eager to see what comes next with the Seventeen Moons and the next grand Southern saga of the Ravenwoods.