Beautiful Creatures

This could have been a decent YA novel. It had premise: witches, male narrator, mysterious girl, and fated love, all of this set in the south. Interesting premise, awful execution.

The story is set in Gatlin, South Carolina. I must admit I was expecting a little bit of southern glamour a la Midnight in the garden of good and evil. But this town, I never did get a feel for it...it was just bland. Could have been Forks (especially with all that rain) with a few characters still stuck in the Civil War era.

Ethan, the protagonist and narrator, was unbelievable as a human being let alone a teenage boy. Now, I realize that writing the opposite gender is difficult but Ethan is just a mess of inconsistent behavior. He's got no personality and no redeeming traits. He's not brave (stuff just happens to him), he's not kind. He's just as shallow and judgmental as all the other Gatlin residents but somehow thinks he's better than the rest of them. It could have worked if he was written to be an anti-hero or if he changed during the course of the book. He wasn't and he didn't. He yearns for something more (seriously, I could believe a fifty year old woman saying this after a series of unfulfilling relationships...not a high schooler). He gets pissed off when his depressed father tries to commit suicide...seriously. Again, it could have worked if the authors had dug a little deep into his character.

The rest of the cast was just as bland. There's was the evil blonde, tanned, slutty cheerleader. For once, I'd like to see a pale brunette cheerleader. Amma could have been interesting - the whole voodoo aspect - but her constant word spelling just got annoying. Let's not forget the whole “I know something you don't but you're not ready to hear it yet...” That is a stupid plot device. It's a lazy plot device. There are many ways of letting the reader know something is up without straight out telling. Lena was as petty and bland as the rest.

Maybe it's just me but I like my protagonists to triumph by being better and not by stooping as low as the villains. Macon gets the town to back off by spilling all their dirty secrets, the librarian consistently shows off the uneducated masses by throwing random quotes out (apparently the authors must have stumbled upon brainyquotes.com). A character that uses her intellect only to humiliate other characters is not likeable. And I won't even get into the Winter Formal scene which was a total rip-off of Carrie (a weak one at that) and where our main characters flee after humiliating the cheerleaders and feeling pretty damn good about leaving a crowd about to be fried to death. No. Just no. I know I was supposed to cheer for these protagonists...but I just couldn't. They were just awful petty people.

As for the romance...I'm still looking for it. I like romance. I like cheesy and fluffy. That's why I read these books and that's why I hate insta-love. I want to watch the characters fall in love. I want to experience it with them. I want them to meet, to talk, to interact, to gets into situations where they have to work to together. I want them to slowly realize that they're falling in-love. Even if it's destined love or what not, I still want a believable love story. I don't know why Ethan loves Lena and visa versa...really I don't. I'm told they're in love on page 5.

The magic system is a convoluted mess. For most of the book, there are just witches...and then without warning comes the INFO-DUMP of DOOM. Several pages of sirens, catalysts, naturals, illusionists, shifters, sybils, and palimpsest...yea...palimpsest. Oh and Kelting!

“What's Kelting?...the way we're able to communicate with each other no matter where we are.” P273.

like, felt like, seemed like, kinda like, looked like, probably like

“I didn't know what I was feeling, but whatever it was, Lena was feeling the opposite.” p.244

“Charlotte was one thing no self-respecting cheerleader should ever be, a little chunky.” p.54