Reviews with content warning for Death of parent - Beautiful Creatures

3 ⭐ CW: Death of a parent, Civil War referred to as "War of Northern Aggression", fatphobia, bullying, burning plantation homes with people inside, violence, death of a pet

Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl was part of a series my cousin sent me second hand. I enjoyed the premise of this novel, but it definitely could have been better.

We follow Ethan Wate, a local jock in Gatlin, NC, where nothing ever changes, until the niece of owner of Ravenwood Manor moves to town, things change quickly. So we have a love story between a Caster and Mortal. Lena Duchannes doesn't fit the Gatlin mold, and in turn is bullied and tormented. Even the parents get involved in scheming a way to get her kicked out of school.

The magic in this was interesting. I love the concept of the Kitchen in Ravenwood being an entity on its own. It was cool to learn about the different abilities every Caster has. We learn that on the 16th birthday, Casters are claimed as Light or Dark, only Lena's family doesn't get that choice. Ultimately this is a book about choosing and making your own fate. We also get love as strength in the face of evil.

Even I did for the most part enjoy this book, it did have its problems. For example, in a book based in a Southern town that has old plantation homes, and still says the "war between the states", and not once was slavery mentioned. On top of that we have a token person of color who is used as a the magical and wise plot device, and she is described as looking "exotic" (ick). There is also a ton of fatphobia in this book. I know it came out in 2009, but damn, it was unnecessary.

I will probably try the next book to see if it improves enough for me to want to finish the series. If not, I may dnf it.

Content Warnings

carys_ene's review against another edition

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adventurous funny mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

Content Warnings

memorable's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I don't know how to feel about the book. It has parts of it, that I really liked, but overall, it was just really slow and then everything happens on the last 100 pages. I just looked for the sequel and saw that there are actually three of them and a spinoff. I guess I'm just not gonna read those. Maybe I'm just to grownup for another love despite all odds YA novel. As it was published in 2009, I guess it's another one of those books being written and published then, because everyone loved it then. We have moved on now.

Content Warnings

brookey8888's review against another edition

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adventurous funny mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

3.5 or 3.75
I changed this from a 4 to a 3.

This is pretty good, but it’s so long for no reason and it’s kind of really boring at times. The concept is good. I don’t care about the love story like I found them so boring. Ethan is funny at times. My favorite part of this is honestly the side characters and the small town vibes. I think it’s time for me to finally part with owning this.

Content Warnings

sifwithagun's review against another edition

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dark mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

1.0

Content Warnings

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