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

Interesting

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Sure - fantasy is fun - and this one is a bit more original than others.

Loved this book, did not want to put it down.

I starting listening and I was intrigued from the beginning. If you like supernatural/fantisy genre, you will like this book. What I like the most was the historial background of the deep south. It is a great story of young love and trust between two teenagers. The charature Ethan, is a great example of a person doing the right thing and not the popular one. And, Lena, is a great example of standing up for herself. I loved most of the charatures in this book, they were very intriging.

The narrater, Kevin T. Collins, did a great job in distinguesing the different charatures from one another. I really enjoyed this audio and I invision it as a movie before I knew it was going to be one. Now I what to see the movie.

Not just for young adults!

I'm 35 and I loved it! Give it a try if you want something easy to listen to.

Absolutely Fantastic Book!

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

The story line is very complex yet easy to follow. The Character are GREAT!

What was one of the most memorable moments of Beautiful Creatures?

When they are transporting the book and the end of the book

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

Ethan

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

Both Laugh and cry at times

Any additional comments?

If you read this book ..... DO NOT WATCH THE MOVIE I walked out the movie was so far off from the book it was sad.

Excellent Read/Narrative

I absolutely loved the movie so I just had to read it and I am happy I chose an audible book. He did Terrific! sometimes I played it back just to hear a particular scene again. Well written and I can see it all along the way.

Second Time - Still a Good Read/Listen!

I read the paperback a few years ago and loved it. Caught this title on sale, along with the next few books so I bought them. The listen was just as good as the traditional read, if not better because I could listen and drive.

Other reviewers complained about music being distracting. The music only lasts for a minute or so at a time, so no worries there.

Great YA read. Witches, you love, a narrow minded small town, and a curse. WONDERFUL!

Excellent performance!

Kevin Collins did such a wonderful job performing this story. Definitely made it a fun listen

Not bad

I listened to this book because my daughter is reading it. I picked it up and was drawn in pretty quickly.

I enjoyed the perspective of Ethan, who has been "going along" his whole life with his small town community, though he doesn't quite feel like he belongs. The story mostly kept me engaged, until the gothic aspect became too over the top. At that point, I just got through it, more than enjoyed it. But I'm not the target audience, so I can't complain so much about that.

I will say that I tried to read another Young Adult book that my daughter is reading, and couldn't get past the first chapter, due to bad writing. I liked the writing here, again, until it became too melodramatic toward the end.

The reader was very good, though I am starting to identify a new pet peeve... if the narrative is first person, then the accent shouldn't change dramatically between the narration and his speaking voice. (Southern accent when he speaks, but not when he narrates in first person) This is about the third book in which I've noticed this trend, which I find distracting.

Great Story!

Would you listen to Beautiful Creatures again? Why?

I would, if I was to see the film or start the second book to refresh my memory. But the first time was so good that I wouldn't need a second time. Perhaps the second time I would read the book rather than listen to it to perhaps get a different perspective.

What did you like best about this story?

I loved the character development, the two main characters are flawed but you feel deeply for them, even the characters that are "evil" have personalities and characterisitcs that can be identified with.

Any additional comments?

The only reason the performance received a 4/5 was because of the unnecessarily long musical pauses when the lead character would dream, they were seriously like a minute long. I understand that it was meant to be dramatic but I kept thinking something was wrong with my headphones or music player.

magic and forbidden love, told from the human

What did you love best about Beautiful Creatures?

that this story centers around a young male character who is mortal and without magical powers who falls in love with a Caster girl

What was one of the most memorable moments of Beautiful Creatures?

Amma's fried chicken and buttermilk pie, I could just taste her cooking

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

he does great voices, i felt like I was part of the story

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

I loved the audio recordings it adds so much more to the feeling of the tale. Their is music and sound effects at times that really make it feel 4 dimensional in your mind