Beautiful Creatures

Beautiful Creatures, Book 1

By: Kami Garcia, Margaret Stohl

Narrated by: Kevin T. Collins

Length: 17 hrs and 33 mins

Publisher's summary

The first book in the instant New York Times best-selling gothic fantasy series; a modern paranormal romance set against the gothic backdrop of an isolated southern town.

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.

Download the accompanying reference guide.

©2009 Kami Garcia (P)2009 Hachette

Beautiful Creatures, Beautiful Book!

If you could sum up Beautiful Creatures in three words, what would they be?

Witches. Southern history.

What did you like best about this story?

I absolutely loved the flashbacks of the civil war and the love story intertwined with the two main characters. I love history and couldn't get enough of it.

Have you listened to any of Kevin T. Collins’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I have only listened to this performance of Kevin T. Collins, but I believe that he did an amazing job. It really made me believe he was all of the characters that he did. I would definitely listen to another one of his audible books.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I wanted to, but it was way too long. I did finish it very quickly. I listened to it for hours at a time.

Any additional comments?

I saw the movie first and loved it which made me always wanted to read the book. I am so glad that I got the chance to listen to this audible book. Now I want to listen to the next book in the series.

A good book for the fall

A good choice if your looking for an easy, witchy book for October. Only real criticism is the random sound effects...could have done without that.

love this story

I love these books. i wish they would have continued making the movies for this series. way better than the twilight books in my opinion. highly recommend.

The Narrator Is SO GOOD!

Loved reading this series, loved the movie and now I live listening to it. The narration is AMAZING!!

Not for me. Was just a bit too young for my taste.

I suppose I am not a good source for a review. I wanted to read this book because the movie was coming out. But this was just to young for my taste even though I have read several YA books I didn't care for this one. Sorry no help here.

refreshingly unique

Beautiful Creatures was unlike any other book I've read. It had so many twists, turns, and surprises that it was impossible to guess anything right. Just when I think i've figured something out I get thrown a curve. And that is so refreshing. It's mind boggling in the best way. YA fantasy stories don't usually take place in the South, but this book was spot on. The audiobook was amazing. It was performed unlike any other audiobook I've heard. It comes complete with rain sounds, singing, & much more.

One of My Favorite Audiobook Performances

Would you listen to Beautiful Creatures again? Why?

I absolutely would, if only for the amazing performance by Collins. The story is pretty good,but Collins' reading adds so much character to this story set in the South.

Have you listened to any of Kevin T. Collins’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No I haven't, but I will be searching for them. He's fantastic.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No, and that brings me to the one real problem I had with this book: it's just too long. It is over 17 hours long, but there's probably only 12 hours of story here.

Any additional comments?

I enjoyed this book from beginning to end and I can't wait to read the sequels. The combination of great characters, an intriguing setting, and a perfect reader performance let this book be far better than it has any right to be.

Only moderately enjoyable

This is normally the type of book I like, romance, mystery and a southern setting, but I don't plan to listen to the next one in the series. I thought this book tried to capitalize on the success of Twilight but I could not feel any passion in the romance in this book as I could so strongly in Twilight. The narrator's voice was pleasant. The story is told from Ethan's point of view and some of his observations were very funny and made me laugh.

Overwrought

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

In the end, there was so much repetition of angst that it was hard to take the story seriously. This book needed some serious editing. It was also shallow in its depiction of Southern small town life. We know that Ama is black, yet there are no other black characters in the novel to flesh out the DAR coterie. It also seems as though the big reveal at the end doesn't make sense. Why wouldn't her Uncle Macon want to educate Lena about what lies in front of her? There are interesting ideas here, but in the end, it's far too angsty to be compelling. The world building also needs some work.

Has Beautiful Creatures turned you off from other books in this genre?

Yes. I am done with anything smacking of Twilight for a while. I should have known better, but I thought the gothic element would be a nice twist. Not so much.

An amazing love story full of magic!

Most supernatural love themed books are from a womans point of view it was nice to finally see it through a guys point of view. Such a good story full of love, magic, and southern hospitality.