Beautiful Creatures (Beautiful Creatures Series #1)

by Kami Garcia, Margaret Stohl Narrated by Kevin T. Collins

Overview

The first book in the instant NYT bestselling 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.

Editorial Reviews

MARCH 2010 - AudioFile

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

Kirkus Reviews

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)

From the Publisher

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

MARCH 2010 - AudioFile

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

Product Details

BN ID:	2940170148264
Publisher:	Hachette Audio
Publication date:	12/01/2009
Series:	Beautiful Creatures Series , #1
Edition description:	Unabridged
Age Range:	12 - 17 Years

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