Reading up a storm

Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl

Ethan Wate lives in small town Gatlin, South Carolina. He can’t wait to graduate from high school and leave Gatlin, he doesn’t want to become one of the “stuck” people.

Not much happens in Gatlin until Ethan begins to be haunted by a girl in his dreams. A dream of a girl falling whom he couldn’t catch. Then a new girl, Lena, moves to town. She’s niece of the creepy town shut-in. She’s definitely not like the rest of the girls in Gatlin. She drives a hearse.

Ethan is drawn to Lena and he’s not sure why. Lena has powers and secrets of a curse that has haunted her family for generations. Lena and Ethan become friends and later realize they are more connected than they ever imagined.

The authors have wisely used the South and it’s superstitions as a strong character in this book. While they could have delved deeply into the traditional superstitions of the South, they incorporate it so well in this book that it adds so much to the atmosphere of the book.

With so many supernatural books out and some people suffering from vampire fatique, this is a refreshing book that will satisfy those looking for supernatural fiction but not vampires.

The first 3/4 of the book really had me gripped but the last 1/4 seemed to lose a bit of steam. I think because I knew what would happen in the end. It was still a very entertaining and satisfying book. I’ll definitely be recommending it to teens.