Review : Beautiful Creatures ( The Caster Chronicles #1 )

Beautiful Creatures ( The Caster Chronicles #1 )

Author: Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl

Publication date: Dec 1st, 2009
Published by: Little Brown Books
Genre: YA Paranormal Romance
Formats: E-book

Lena Duchannes is unlike anyone the small Southern town of Gatlin has ever seen, and she's struggling to conceal her power, and a curse that has haunted her family for generations. But even within the overgrown gardens, murky swamps and crumbling graveyards of the forgotten South, a secret cannot stay hidden forever.

Ethan Wate, who has been counting the months until he can escape from Gatlin, is haunted by dreams of a beautiful girl he has never met. When Lena moves into the town's oldest and most infamous plantation, Ethan is inexplicably drawn to her and determined to uncover the connection between them.

In a town with no surprises, one secret could change everything.

April read for Young Adult Blogger Book Club. #YABBC 

Gosh that was something. I'm still confused about whether I like this one or not. 

It took me too long to read this one. A month.. An effing month! Everytime I put this book down, I never felt the urge to pick it up and get on with it. And I had to force myself really since I had to post a review. Which is actually really sad, because I genuinely liked the idea and everything.

I thought I would hate this one, but though it did nothing to make me go "Oh, give me more!" , it wasn't really all that bad either. I actually liked it, towards the END.  

Anywhoo, let's put down some likes and dislikes now.

What I liked :

 ·       The idea behind Casters, magic and the like.

       I loved that bit! The different kinds of casters, light and dark, all of that shebang. And I'm glad we weren't flooded with all these different kinds of creatures. Basic divisions- Light and Dark, Mortal and Caster. Ofcourse there's the Lilum and all the different powers in the Lena's family. But it was soo much more better than the romance could ever be!

And that Library! Enough said I think.

 ·       Macon Ravenwood

      I was waiting for this guy to show up. And he proved to be worth the wait. Which was long for me since I kept keeping the book down and took way too long to pick it up again.  He was my favorite character in here, and what happens to characters I like? It'll be a spoiler so I better shut it.

 ·       Male POV ! & Ethan Wate ( To a certain degree )

       Ethan's point of view was great. I think this was why I even managed to get towards the second half of the book.

 ·       Boo! And Ridley too.

     Okay the dog didn't do much indivisually. But I liked him. And I know he should be mentioned along with Macon, but I had to mention him separately.
And Ridley. God I loved that bitch. Lena's sickly sweet and dark dark cousin. They got that character down pat..

What I most certainly did NOT :

 ·       The Romance

     I'm not saying I don't like romance. Ofcourse I do! But this was just too much maybe? Too many soppy moments. And what was that scene in Greenbier where they behaved like a human see-saw? ( Will mention the line in the last point. ) I just wish we could find out more about Lena's family and ancestry and magic and maybe even more about Genevieve (Lena's great times four, grandmother).

 ·       Ethan and his dad

     *Sigh* What was going on with Ethan and his dad!? I wish we were told more about him really. I understand him becoming a shut-in because of losing his wife. But I never thought a woman like Amma would let him stay locked up in that room of his for an indefinite period of time. 

Amma was great. The parent Ethan needed and had. So what was his dad doing there anyway? Waste of space I tell you.

 ·       Connection with the characters

     *Sigh again* I didn't feel anything for anyone of them. Nil. Nada. Zilch. Not when Ethan's dad planned on jumping off, nor when the whole town went against a singular, sort-of defenceless 15 year old girl, nor during that "incident" with Macon Ravenwood towards the end. I liked him, very much so. But did I feel a twinge of sadness? Nope. I was pretty neutral really, as I was for pretty much all of the book.

 ·       Better writing? I'm not sure

     I'm not really sure what went wrong. There was the brilliant magic and creatures and characters and parts that made you want to join in. But I just couldn't get invested. Something was off and I'm still not sure what.

And that scene in Greenbier. 

“As I lay down, she sat up, I sat up, she laid down, I laid down. Awkward.”

I'm sorry. What just happened? I would've laughed at this but I didn't. I just sat and stared at the bit of text wondering what I was going to encounter further in.

            So all in all a good read? Umm..... Yes to a certain extent. The imagination of the authors and the magic, flashbacks etc was really good, and I absolutely enjoyed those bits. I can see the appeal of the many who liked this book. I think... But sadly I just failed to connect.

Will I be reading the sequel. Maybe.

 Rating: 3 Quills

quill design: QioDen