Sixteen moons: A review of Beautiful Creatures

I hardly ever start reading a book without first having some idea of what it is about. More often than not, the book’s cover and title do a good job of that, and if they don’t, the blurb at the back definitely will, and these factors determine whether or not I buy a book. That wasn’t the case for Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl (first book of the Caster Chronicles). I’ve been seeing this book around but I didn’t pick it up because I couldn’t figure out what it was about. It was always shelved beside the other vampire young adult (YA) romance books, and I wasn’t in the mood to read another Twilight. The cover was beautiful, like its title, but neither told me what those "creatures" were. The blurb wasn’t enticing either – it still sounded too much like the other supernatural YA romances out there. I only picked it up when I heard that a sequel was coming (with an equally beautiful cover) and when I saw that almost all of the book blogs I followed were excited about it. I decided to see what all the fuss was about.

Beautiful Creatures is narrated by Ethan Wate, who hails from Gatlin, a small Southern town where everyone knows everyone. His mom’s death caused his father to become a recluse who left him under the care of their superstitious housekeeper, Amma. Unknown to Amma, Ethan had been having strange dreams about a girl he had never met, dreams which left physical evidence even when he woke up – dirt on his bed, water around him, and even a song on his iPod. When Lena Duchannes moves into town, Ethan is inexplicably drawn to her, even when all his friends were ostracizing her. Despite Lena’s attempts to push him away, Ethan presses on, determined to find out the connection between him and Lena, and maybe help her blend in. But in the town of Gatlin, it’s never easy to fit in, especially if you have a secret as big as Lena’s.

Vague, I know, but after I finished reading the book, I understood why the book’s summary wasn't any more detailed: revealing any more would spoil the story. Beautiful Creatures has an excellent plot, one that even some of the most critical book bloggers praised. At first glance, the book seems like it’s the typical boy meets girl--with an added dose of superpowers--but it's much more than that. While the romance is an integral part of the story, it wasn’t there just for the sake of having the characters fall in love, as it connected Ethan and Lena to their pasts. Underneath the romance is an intricate web of details: the social groups and hierarchy of the town, the history of the curse that links Ethan and Lena, and most of all, the supernatural world that lies under the unsuspecting eyes of Gatlin residents. Aiding the plot significantly was the setting: Gatlin is a living, breathing setting that almost felt like another character – and perhaps it was. Garcia and Stohl definitely took time to build this small town, complete with histories, eccentricities and secrets. It was almost as if the residents of Gatlin (save for Ethan, Lena and her family) were one entity being represented by different personas, united in one purpose: to drive away anything that tries to shake things up.

Furthermore, despite its romance angle, this book strays away from the “Twilight syndrome” (coined by this reviewer) by not only focusing on the magic and love that binds the two main characters, but by involving everyone else around them. Don’t get me wrong: Ethan and Lena’s romance is swoon-worthy, even breathtaking at times, but it isn’t always about them; the story never lets us forget that there was a world bigger than the two of them. The supernatural aspect of the story was also impressively handled. I won’t spoil it, but I guarantee that there are no vampires, werewolves or angels in this story. As with the town of Gatlin, the authors built a supernatural world so real and original that it frustrates me a bit that I can find little information on it online. I echo the praises of other reviewers for Beautiful Creatures: I have never read anything like this before. The excellent plot and the world-building was accompanied by a dramatic climax and satisfying ending, leaving readers room to ponder about what could happen next, which the authors are set to reveal in the next book.

However, Beautiful Creatures does have its shortcomings, particularly in terms of characters. While I agree with other reviewers that this book had a good and quirky cast of characters, characterization felt a bit off--even for major characters. There are many criticisms among reviewers that focus on Ethan’s voice: for a 16-year-old guy, his thoughts about a hot girl seemed too pure, too lust-less. Other than a love for basketball and eating three servings of food, he also didn’t seem to have any "guy" characteristics--which might have been okay if he was being portrayed as being something other than a normal guy (before the events of the book)--and I think perhaps it is simply difficult for some writers to get inside the head of characters of a different gender. I do think Ethan’s voice needed a bit more work – there was a particular scene when the POV switched to Lena and I thought it was still Ethan narrating the story. Perhaps this lack of normal guy characteristics is a device to make Ethan seem different over the other male YA characters; but that kind of difference didn't seem to have any impact on Ethan's life at all, before Lena came around. In hindsight, I can’t help but compare Ethan to Meyer’s Bella Swan, who seemed to only start to live once Edward Cullen arrived. This particular flaw in characterization made it hard for me to connect with Ethan. Lena was more realistic, with her usual teenage angst--though given the curse she had to deal with, this was justifiable. However, since I was seeing things from Ethan’s eyes for most of the story, Lena's perspective also held me at arm’s length, keeping me from connecting with her as well. In the end, it just felt like I was one of the residents of Gatlin, invisibly rooting for them to prevail. While this isn’t necessarily bad, I think readers would appreciate a more solid connection with the characters.

The characters that were done well were the supporting characters, especially the adults. Grownups are hardly seen in supernatural YA stories--more often than not, they’re always busy with work, estranged or just not in the picture. In Beautiful Creatures, the grown-ups played important roles that drove the plot forward. Everyone’s favorite character (myself included) is Macon Ravenwood, Lena’s mysterious, dark yet loving uncle and Gatlin’s own version of Boo Radley (from To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee). The presence of the adults gave a good contrast over the typical youth angst, and their choice to withhold information from Ethan and Lena was an important point in the plot. The grown ups in this novel show us that sometimes, even the best intentions lead to bad outcomes, but what’s important is you do the right thing when it’s needed the most.

Beautiful Creatures is a unique, engrossing and long read. It’s not perfect, but I think it has a lot of potential and it deserved its hype. Expectations are high for its sequel, Beautiful Darkness, out in October this year. I hope it will live up to those expectations, for I will definitely pick it up as soon as it comes out--no more waiting to see what it is about.

Beautiful Creatures is available in hardbound (P755) and paperback (P399) in all major bookstores nationwide.

[Image source: Goodreads. Copyright holder/s maintain appropriate rights.]

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