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

Adequate for Adults

This book has all of the key components to a good YA novel. There's outcast girl & boy who find they're soul mates; an overly protective African-American caregiver; humorous secretive uncle and a paranormal twist. I didn't love this story and found some of the characters to be irritating stereotypes (the mean girls at school). Overall, it was a decent attempt, but could have been better. While I enjoyed the story, I won't listen to the next in the series.

Paranormal teen romance from the boy's P-O-V

This story is told from the young man's point of view, which I found very refreshing!

Things start off very slowly, so it took me a while to get into it. I wasn't completely sold on the multiple playings of the "16 Moons" song early on, but everything came together by the end. That's not the only audio effect -- during storms, you'll hear the rain, flashbacks have an echo, and fire crackles. They did a good job with the sound effects! There's a strong sense of place and descriptive detail throughout, but I'll agree with an another reviewer that the repeated digs against the things that were "always true" about small towns got a little pedantic. But then, don't most kids talk about getting away from the places they grew up, regardless of where that was?

Anyway, I really enjoyed this book. I think my favorite part was getting to know all the excellent characters. Ethan and Lena were fine, but it was the supporting cast who really made the book for me! Everyone has a past, and everyone has a secret -- including the town itself, really. While the "boy meets girl and one of them has magical powers" story has been told before, this one has it's own flavor.

Parents, the language stays pretty clean, and the romantic situations never become too adult. There are bad guys with bad intentions, but the violence isn't gory or graphic.

Good story, great narrator!

Any additional comments?

Kevin T. Collins was the perfect narrator for this book. I ended up purchasing every audiobook in the series and they're all really good. Cant wait to see the movie!

Casters, incubus, and keepers equal drama

What made the experience of listening to Beautiful Creatures the most enjoyable?

The sound effects mixed with the suspense o the story was great

What did you like best about this story?

I liked the ever evolving story plot. It kept me intrigued

What about Kevin T. Collins’s performance did you like?

His inflection in his voice, in conjunction with the different accents was great. He brought the characters to like.

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

Yes

Young Adult

I enjoyed Beautiful Creatures. It was definitely a teen romance book. But nevertheless very enjoyable.

It's the performance that makes this special

The story itself is good. It's above average for YA; above average for urban fantasy; above average for a love story. The characters are well developed. The setting is well developed. The story is well told. Its one fault is it goes on a bit long. But it's the performance that makes this audiobook stand out. That's saying something because it includes the things that usually make me cringe: music, sound effects and multiple readers. But Kevin Collins does an amazing job as Ethan as well as nearly every other character. The one exception is that of Lena. He does a marvelous job of portraying her but unfortunately the voice he uses is nearly the same as Ethan without the accent. Since a lot of time is spent with the two talking to each other you need to pay attention or risk having to figure out who's talking. Normally this isn't too difficult based on the context but occasionally I had to rewind. The music is a song written specifically for this production from the song in the story and adds greatly to the atmosphere. My biggest complaint with sound effects are that they can drown out the narrator but that is never the case with this book. They also add to the ambiance without trying to take over for a lacking performance. Even the section where it switches to another reader is done perfectly. Normally switching readers, especially when switching from a man to a woman as in this case, I find jarring. The reader they chose to compliment Kevin does exactly that; compliment him. Her voice and style are very similar to what he used so it flowed smoothly. This is one of those rare books that I highly recommend as better to listen to than to read.

A different approach!!!

This book was ok. The book held my attention the story was ok and I like the length of the book I felt as if I got my money's worth or my credit worth at least. I hate it when the book is to short you feel like your are getting ripped off for the amount of money you pay. The only thing that puts me off is the song. If I never hear that song again it will be too soon. It's an enjoyable listen you can give it a try.

LOVED IT!!!!

What did you love best about Beautiful Creatures?

A new imaginative world, a new twist that increases as the series goes on...

Who was your favorite character and why?

Macon or Amma or Link

Strong Personalities

What does Kevin T. Collins bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Since I am from the south it would be something I could recreate very easily but I could see that for someone not from the south his southern accent really helps set the scene.

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

At first it was a little slow but once it got going....Yes.

Any additional comments?

I loved this book... I am already almost done with book 2... can't wait to start book 3.

Good story

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

Better than expected

What did you like best about this story?

You get Ethan's point of view. He is on the outside of "caster" world and you see what he is going through when he realizes his boring town isn't that boring.

Which character – as performed by Kevin T. Collins – was your favorite?

Ridley and Link

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

The winter dance was a scene from Carrie. Wet gooey snow instead of blood and Ridley making them mean kids pay by ruining the dance was funny and Macon dying was sad.

Any additional comments?

I couldn't hear the narrator during the dreams. His voice was too low. The background noise was louder than the narrator. My friend has the book, I read Ethan's dreams.

Loved this book

What did you love best about Beautiful Creatures?

No blatant sex, no cursing every other word

What other book might you compare Beautiful Creatures to and why?

Twilight Series, because they both have a good love story without blatant sex and the f word every other word

What does Kevin T. Collins bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Takes me there in my mind, reading doesn't do that for me

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

would have liked to but not enough time in my life for this

Any additional comments?

cannot wait to read the other books