Beautiful Creatures (Beautiful Creatures Series #1)

by Kami Garcia, Stohl Margaret, Kevin T. Collins (Read by)

Overview

There were no surprises in Gatlin County.
We were pretty much the epicenter of the middle of nowhere.
At least, that's what I thought.
Turns out, I couldn't have been more wrong.
There was a curse.
There was a girl.
And in the end, there was a grave.

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781607884279
Publisher:	Hachette Audio
Publication date:	12/28/2009
Series:	Beautiful Creatures Series , #1
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 7.30(h) x 1.00(d)
Age Range:	12 - 17 Years

About the Author

Kami Garcia is the #1 New York Times bestselling coauthor of Beautiful Creatures and the Legion series. Kami lives in Maryland with her family and her dogs, Spike and Oz, named after characters from Buffy the Vampire Slayer.



Margaret Stohl is a lifelong science fiction fan, former video game designer, and #1 New York Times bestselling coauthor of Beautiful Creatures, Cat vs. Robot, Life of Captain Marvel, and more. She lives in Los Angeles, California, with her family.

Editorial Reviews

Gr 7 Up—Ethan Wate, a high school sophomore, plans to escape his small Southern town as soon as he can. Life has been difficult since his mother died; his father, a writer, has withdrawn into his study. Then Lena Duchannes arrives, and this strange new girl is the very one who has been occupying his dreams. She and her kin are Casters, beings who have supernatural powers. Getting to know her exposes Ethan to time travel, mortal danger, and love. The teens can hardly bear to be apart, but Lena's 16th birthday, when she will be Claimed for dark or light, is only 6 months away. To save her, they fight supernatural powers and the prejudice of closed-minded people. Yet, good and evil are not clearly delineated, nor are they necessarily at odds. In the Gothic tradition of Anne Rice, the authors evoke a dark, supernatural world in a seemingly simple town obsessed with Civil War reenactments and deeply loyal to its Confederate past. The intensity of Ethan and Lena's need to be together is palpable, the detailed descriptions create a vivid, authentic world, and the allure of this story is the power of love. The satisfying conclusion is sure to lead directly into a sequel. Give this to fans of Stephenie Meyer's Twilight (Little, Brown, 2005) or HBO's "True Blood" series and they will devour all 600-plus pages of this teen Gothic romance.—Amy J. Chow, The Brearley School, New York City

School Library Journal

This smart, textured and romantic Southern Gothic takes place in Gatlin, S.C., where cheerleaders and the basketball team run the high school and the Daughters of the American Revolution and Civil War re-enactors run the town. Ethan Lawson Wate, raised by his authoritative and spiritually inclined housekeeper Amma in the months since his mother's death, can't wait to leave Gatlin's predictable monotony. Then Stonewall Jackson High's first new student in years, headstrong, vulnerable and expressive Lena Duchannes, shows up driving her reclusive uncle's hearse, and Ethan recognizes her from his dreams. Compelled to explore his connection to the new girl, Ethan learns that Lena's family are magic Casters and that Lena's supernatural fate will be chosen for her when she turns 16. Community outrage, emotional tension and Lena and Ethan's doomed search for a way around her uncertain destiny build to a boil in the expansive but tightly plotted march toward Lena's 16th birthday. Ethan's wry narrative voice will resonate with readers of John Green as well as the hordes of supernatural-romance fans looking for the next book to sink their teeth into. (Paranormal romance. 12 & up)

Kirkus Reviews

Praise for Beautiful Creatures:
An Instant New York Times Bestseller
An Indie Next List Selection
A William Morris YA Debut Award Finalist
A New York Public Library "Book for the Teen Age"

"Gorgeously crafted, atmospheric, and original. I devoured it." - Melissa Marr, NYT bestselling author of Wicked Lovely

"A lush Southern gothic." - Holly Black, NYT bestselling author of Tithe: A Modern Faerie Tale

"A hauntingly delicious dark fantasy." - Cassandra Clare, NYT bestselling author of City of Bones

"A potent mix of the gothic, the mythic, and the magical...With original characters, complex world building, and crackling prose, this is masterful storytelling." - Deborah Harkness, #1 New York Times bestselling author of A Discovery of Witches on the Beautiful Creatures novels



"Like a thick, hot Carolina summer, this story seeps into you until it's all you can think about." - Carrie Ryan, NYT bestselling author of The Forest of Hands and Teeth


"This book has it all...Who could ask for more? A sequel? Please!" - VOYA

"In the Gothic tradition of Anne Rice, the authors evoke a dark, supernatural world...Give this to fans of Stephenie Meyer's Twilight or HBO's "True Blood" series." - School Library Journal

"[Readers] will be swept up by the haunting and detailed atmosphere, the conventions and strictures of Southern life, and a compelling and dimensional mythology." - Publishers Weekly

"Smart, textured and romantic." - KirkusReviews

From the Publisher

Narrator Kevin Collins is eminently likable as Ethan Wate, a teenager trying to navigate the loss of his mom and emotional distance of his dad, the intriguing new girl at school, and the increasingly mysterious goings-on in his small Southern town. Even better, Collins is just as convincing as the town's cast of characters, including love interest Lena, caretaker Amma, best friend Link, high-school mean girls, and the imposing ladies of the DAR. Occasional sound effects, which are used mainly to distinguish dream sequences or flashbacks, distract from the narrative instead of enhancing it. But listeners will be charmed by the setting and story elements—call it Southern gothic meets contemporary witchcraft—and by Collins’s skill with all of it. J.M.D. 2011 Audies Winner, SYNC 2015 © AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine

MARCH 2010 - AudioFile