Beautiful Creatures (a Novel Review)
Here's the thing - I watched the film version of this about a month ago. Why? I like the adult cast and really had nothing else going on. The film was. . .okay. Though, I must admit that I didn't really get it. I mean I understood the plot. . .but, it felt like things were rushed and a great deal of the plot was missing. There were some interesting ideas with the Casters and the other mythology, and I wanted to know more. (Especially as a lot of people I know adore this series.) So, I picked up the novel. And, I'm still disappointed.
The Good:
- I get the feeling that the side characters like Link and Ridley and the rest of Lena's family could be really interesting characters - if they had half a chance. That's not a major 'good', but at least I know the writers could write somewhat good characters.
- The ideas of the Casters and other mythology was intriguing. It's certainly something that isn't as cliched and overused as other things *coughvampirescough* in other YA/New Adult novels. This is actually something that really bothered me: you had good ideas. Why couldn't you explore it more? Why did it all have to hang on a teenage romance?
The Bad:
- Have either of these authors ever lived in the South? I mean small town South? Because I have. And I'm insulted. Every character (even Ethan, because he's rather stuck up about being different and educated and he reads novels. Seriously, they make a huge deal out of the fact that he reads novels and is smart. Apparently no one else in the town reads. ..?) is a bad Southern stereotype. They are: overly religious, dislike outsiders, snobs, have a plantation every three feet, no one ever leaves the small town, call the Civil War by different names, I could go on. The students at the school, like Emily and Ethan's teammates, are all horrible people. And their parents are just as bad; they turn on Lena because of her background. They have no proof that she's a bad seed or causing any harm to anyone, but they want to kick her out of school and run her out of town. Why? Don't these 40+ year old people have better things to do than worry about a teenage girl. The window broke in English class - she did it! (Okay, she did, but the average person wouldn't go straight to thinking a teen made a window burst.)
- This book needs an editor. It was 563 pages and about 200 of those pages could have been cut. The book had me for about 100 pages, than it was dull and repetitive for about 50 pages, than interesting for about 30, than boring and repetitive and drawn out for the next 300 pages or so. Finally, it got somewhat good, but not good enough to keep me totally interested.
- The whole novel is told from Ethan's POV. For me, that was a mistake; a big mistake. Not because he was badly written - I've read worse. No, it was because he was confused and didn't know what was going on half the time. And Lena's family and issues seemed way more readable than Ethan's issues. I wanted to know about other characters and everything really focused on Ethan, his issues, his friendships, and his romance with Lena. You've got a whole world to explore and you put your novel in the hands of a sixteen year old boy? Whatever happened to third person narratives?
The Cliched:
- A supernatural romance. Okay. But, this time the supernatural is the girl! Was that unique in 2009/2010? Because it feels dated now. Especially when the supernatural girl, Lena, is a bit of a wet blanket. Now that she doesn't have reasons to be, but she could have been more likable; fresh. All these characters start to seem the same after awhile: "I'm all powerful and I don't want to be. Love Interest, stay away from me. Wait! I love you." - says every supernatural character in these stories. Lena is the same way. It's trying.
- Ethan/Lena may not be as annoying as some other YA/New Adult supernatural couples, but they still fall in fight and fall in love rather quickly. And once they are in love, it takes over nearly every part of their lives. They date for maybe six months and they love each other and would die for one another. Yeah, they are 15/16. . .I get that. But...with all the shit that is going on in Lena's life, you'd think it would be less intense. (Maybe I'm just getting too old for this? Than again. . .there are lots of other well done YA/New Adult romances.)
Final Thoughts:
The back of the novel says this is a story for Twilight and True Blood fans. I cannot stand the Twilight novels and True Blood is campy fun. So, I should be in the middle of this, right? Well, no. This is a novel that suffers from stereotypes and cliches. It's a novel that could have built a fascinating and unique world of magic, but chose to go in another direction. I know this is a series, but I honestly cannot begin to think what would be so important as to write three more 500+ page novels.
Beautiful Creatures isn't a horrible novel. It's just a novel that suffers from YA cliches, bad Southern stereotypes, long drawn out bits of story, and a somewhat dull narrator. I honestly don't even understand hows its marketed audience of 12-17 year olds like it, when there are much better series out there.
A solid 2/5. Borrow it if you must read it.
The Good:
- I get the feeling that the side characters like Link and Ridley and the rest of Lena's family could be really interesting characters - if they had half a chance. That's not a major 'good', but at least I know the writers could write somewhat good characters.
- The ideas of the Casters and other mythology was intriguing. It's certainly something that isn't as cliched and overused as other things *coughvampirescough* in other YA/New Adult novels. This is actually something that really bothered me: you had good ideas. Why couldn't you explore it more? Why did it all have to hang on a teenage romance?
The Bad:
- Have either of these authors ever lived in the South? I mean small town South? Because I have. And I'm insulted. Every character (even Ethan, because he's rather stuck up about being different and educated and he reads novels. Seriously, they make a huge deal out of the fact that he reads novels and is smart. Apparently no one else in the town reads. ..?) is a bad Southern stereotype. They are: overly religious, dislike outsiders, snobs, have a plantation every three feet, no one ever leaves the small town, call the Civil War by different names, I could go on. The students at the school, like Emily and Ethan's teammates, are all horrible people. And their parents are just as bad; they turn on Lena because of her background. They have no proof that she's a bad seed or causing any harm to anyone, but they want to kick her out of school and run her out of town. Why? Don't these 40+ year old people have better things to do than worry about a teenage girl. The window broke in English class - she did it! (Okay, she did, but the average person wouldn't go straight to thinking a teen made a window burst.)
- This book needs an editor. It was 563 pages and about 200 of those pages could have been cut. The book had me for about 100 pages, than it was dull and repetitive for about 50 pages, than interesting for about 30, than boring and repetitive and drawn out for the next 300 pages or so. Finally, it got somewhat good, but not good enough to keep me totally interested.
- The whole novel is told from Ethan's POV. For me, that was a mistake; a big mistake. Not because he was badly written - I've read worse. No, it was because he was confused and didn't know what was going on half the time. And Lena's family and issues seemed way more readable than Ethan's issues. I wanted to know about other characters and everything really focused on Ethan, his issues, his friendships, and his romance with Lena. You've got a whole world to explore and you put your novel in the hands of a sixteen year old boy? Whatever happened to third person narratives?
The Cliched:
- A supernatural romance. Okay. But, this time the supernatural is the girl! Was that unique in 2009/2010? Because it feels dated now. Especially when the supernatural girl, Lena, is a bit of a wet blanket. Now that she doesn't have reasons to be, but she could have been more likable; fresh. All these characters start to seem the same after awhile: "I'm all powerful and I don't want to be. Love Interest, stay away from me. Wait! I love you." - says every supernatural character in these stories. Lena is the same way. It's trying.
- Ethan/Lena may not be as annoying as some other YA/New Adult supernatural couples, but they still fall in fight and fall in love rather quickly. And once they are in love, it takes over nearly every part of their lives. They date for maybe six months and they love each other and would die for one another. Yeah, they are 15/16. . .I get that. But...with all the shit that is going on in Lena's life, you'd think it would be less intense. (Maybe I'm just getting too old for this? Than again. . .there are lots of other well done YA/New Adult romances.)
Final Thoughts:
The back of the novel says this is a story for Twilight and True Blood fans. I cannot stand the Twilight novels and True Blood is campy fun. So, I should be in the middle of this, right? Well, no. This is a novel that suffers from stereotypes and cliches. It's a novel that could have built a fascinating and unique world of magic, but chose to go in another direction. I know this is a series, but I honestly cannot begin to think what would be so important as to write three more 500+ page novels.
Beautiful Creatures isn't a horrible novel. It's just a novel that suffers from YA cliches, bad Southern stereotypes, long drawn out bits of story, and a somewhat dull narrator. I honestly don't even understand hows its marketed audience of 12-17 year olds like it, when there are much better series out there.
A solid 2/5. Borrow it if you must read it.