Synopsis: 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. -Goodreads
Discussion (no spoilers): I still hadn’t picked up Beautiful Creatures by the time I heard it was being made into a movie. Honestly, it was barely on my radar as paranormal romance isn’t really my thing. Still, it was a YA title being made into my movie, and I wanted to do my part to tell Hollywood that YES, this is something I want to see. So, to prepare myself, I bought the book. I figured I’d review it before going to see the movie. Didn’t get around to it.
But I did enjoy the book. It was a little long winded, but the story was pretty good. I really enjoyed reading a fairly typical teen romance book from the male perspective. For once, it was the girl who was all dark, twisty, and mysterious and that’s something I can get behind. I’ll probably pick up book two eventually, as I’ve heard that this first book is mostly setup for the rest of the series, so I’m curious to see what happens.
I was significantly less impressed with the movie. Don’t get me wrong, it was decent and I didn’t hate it. But I never hate anything (seriously… why did I ever think I’d make a good reviewer). I agreed with which parts of the book were cut for the movie, but it still felt a little long for my taste and not much really happened. Can you say that about the book too? Maybe. But the book gives you a deeper look into the characters, so it’s well worth it.
Overall, I love that three YA titles were made into movies for 2013 and I will absolutely be watching both City of Bones and Catching Fire, but Beautiful Creatures failed to impress.
You can read my review of the movie on Geek Speak Magazine.
I mean, don’t get me wrong, I get it. Any artist or performer knows how much it hurts to put yourself out there and be rejected, but hard as it may be to believe, a little rejection is actually a good thing. Sure, in some cases, if the reviewer is well liked, there may be people who don’t try you book because a reviewer gave it a bad review, but it doesn’t happen that often. And even if it does, that is a very narrow-minded person to begin with. The only time you are likely to see a true drop in interest due to reviews is if your book is receiving A LOT of negative reviews, and in that case, the problem isn’t with the reviewers—much as you might like to think it is.
Sometimes, a few dares can change lives…
