Claudia Corneyea- Contributing Writer
After watching the film adaptation of Beautiful Creatures, I thought it had potential to be an amazing novel. For the first time, the movie was as good, in fact, better than, the novel.
This story is about a 16-year-old boy named Ethan who lives in the small town of Gatlin, South Carolina. Ethan lives with his father who he never sees and a housekeeper named Amma. Ethan spends most of his time reading in his room, so he is smarter than the average 16-year-old. His dialogue seemed unnatural for a boy of his age.
Another thing I did not like about this book was the unrealistic way Ethan becomes obsessed with the new girl, Lena. She drives a hearse and lives in a creepy, abandoned house with her peculiar uncle. Strange things happen when Lena is around, such as windows shattering.
I also did not enjoy that everything happens so fast. Ethan has dreams about Lena and she has dreams about him. The two fall in love exceptionally quickly. Lena and Ethan are overly absorbed in their relationship, after only knowing each other for a short time.
We learn that Lena is from a family where every girl is a witch who turns either good or evil on their 16th birthday. Lena’s cousin was the last girl to turn and she turned bad. She controls males and is a powerful character. Lena is scared that she will become like her cousin and won’t be able to be with Ethan.
We have all seen this kind of love story before, so let me just tell you the basic overview of this book: a 16-year-old boy falls in love with the girl of his dreams and it turns out that she and her family are witches. They have to deal with high school and a Civil War reenactment project. Lena is afraid of being evil and Ethan is learning about the past of his town and his mother. It has potential to be a really unique story, but the writing doesn’t allow it to be. The characters are horribly written. They have unrealistic personalities and are self-centered.
The witch background is the best part. It’s the only reason I finished the book. The authors created a really unique supernatural story, but it was covered with a typical love story that was more intense than necessary.
This book earns a 5 out of 10, only because of the supernatural element. Against everything a book reader would ever say, watch the movie if you really want to know the story. The book will disappoint you with its whiny love story and horrible ending.
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