PENGUIN Beautiful Creatures (Book 1)

Loved the book. It's one of my favourites. The books has been tampered with a little. But after all It's a good purchase.

It was along time since I bought this product and I totally forgot about it.Thank you very much

J'ai acheté les 4 bouquin et je les ai relu au moins 3 fois.J'ai vu le film sur le 1er livre et croyez moi vous aller adoré le livre, le film n'est pas mal mais le livre est tout simplement 50x mieux.Je le recommande pour toute personne qui aime les histoires de sorcières, les mondes fantastiques tout simplement

So, as many of you know, I'm someone who always likes to read the book before seeing the film. I picked up Beautiful Creatures the book about a week ago because I wanted to read it before I saw the film. To my surprise, it was...let's call it unconventional. First of all, the book is 563 pages long. No way my publishing company would have been cool with that! Not that I'm complaining. It was 563 pages of awesomeness, but I was kind of surprised at the length. Secondly, the narrator is a guy. Now, I keep hearing people talk about how most readers are women and therefore most readers (at least in YA) prefer a female narrator. Now, I don't necessarily share that sentiment, but I do sort of understand it. That said, some of the best YA books I've read in the past year have included male narrators. Just sayin'.Moving on.This book was great! Despite the length, it was a quick read because the writing flowed so well. Ethan Wate is a typical teenage boy who is bored with small town life and can't wait to get out of his home town and go off to see the world through college. He's smart, reads a lot (so I tend to like him) and has a typical teenage boy attitude about things. In short, he's hilarious. The one wrinkle in his life is that his mother passed away roughly a year before and since then his father has sunk into a deep depression. Luckily, he still has a housekeeper/guardian/butt kicker at home to both love and keep him in line. One of the things I loved about this story was his relationship to Amma. She's helped raise him and always been there, so he's unfailingly loyal to her. It was refreshing to read about.Lena is a pretty good heroine as well. I think some people might find her less than a strong heroine. Nothing near as bad as a certain teenaged, vampire-loving heroine, but not the strongest female lead either. But, just as Bela never bothered me because--let's face it--she's a teenager, and having been an insecure teen myself, I have a hard time judging others for it, Lena didn't bother me. She was frightened by what was happening to her, just as any human being would be, and the way her emotions lashed out with breaking glass and tornadoes more than compensated for her vulnerability.I especially loved the supporting characters in the story. They gave it so much spice! I've already mentioned Amma, but Marion the Librarian was an immediate favorite of mine (she likes awesome quotes too) and Uncle Macon was an enigma wrapped in an educated European gentleman. I wish we'd have been able to see more of him.And then there was Ethan's best friend, Link. He was hysterical! He always had something awesome to say, while still exercising best friend loyalties. I found myself smiling whenever he showed up because I knew the scene was about to get more colorful. Loved him!So Ethan meets and is drawn to Lena, who is a Caster (pretty much a witch) but there's a whole complicated bit about whether her powers will be claimed for good or evil, who her family really is, and whether or not she has a choice in her own future. Add in tons of drama, an eccentric family, a gossipy small town, and plenty of teenaged angst, and you have a pretty great story.If I had any complaints, it would be that the ending was so fast-paced, had so much action (if you can complain about that) that I wish that maybe at some point it could have slowed down and had just a little more explanation. But it was a minor thing. At no point did I feel confused. I just wanted some things clarified. Maybe I'm slow on the uptake. It left me wanting just enough to be excited to read book 2.Anyway, overall this is a fantastic read! It's full of fun characters, intense plots, and pretty sweet good-vs.-evil show downs. Want to do me a favor? Go out and read this book! Then email so we can discuss! 'Cause, you know, it was awesome! :D

Ethan Wate lives in Gatlin, South Carolina and is counting the days until he can leave town. Gatlin is like most small towns - boring, predictable and totally lacking in surprises - that is until Lena Duchannes arrives in town. From the moment she moves in with her uncle (the town shut-in) in his massive supposedly haunted mansion Lena stands out. Ethan is inexplicably drawn to Lena, but he is about to discover she is hiding things from him - not just secrets, but mysterious powers and inescapable curses as well.I'd seen this book everywhere, hyped to the point of excess so I decided to get it from the library as the last couple of overly hyped books I've read failed to meet my expectations. The first thing I must say about the book is that it has the worst beginning of any book I've read recently. I knew the book was written in first person present tense and from the perspective of the guy, but nothing prepared me for the yawn fest the book begins with. It got to the stage two chapters in that I stopped and checked in with friends who loved the book, and they encouraged me to continue. I'm really grateful they did because as soon as our two lead characters cross paths things begin to get interesting, and the plot picks up pace.The prose is lyrical and descriptive, and the plot well thoughtout with lots of twists and turns. I ended up really enjoying the male narrator as it's unusual and added a new dimension. I really like both Ethan and Lena, and found their romance to be well developed and beautifully written. The plot develops gradually, and once the leads have met the pace picks up with revelations and plot developments coming quickly.The supporting characters are also really well developed - especially Ethan's housekeeper/adoptive grandmother Amma who helps Ethan stay grounded despite the revelations caused by his relationship with Lena. I also really liked Ethan's best friend Link whose attempts at rock megastardom always seem just a little outside of his grasp. Lena's relatives are also great and once introduced really help to show Lena's world in a whole new light.At well over 500 pages, this is not a light read but I encourage anyone put off by the length to give it a try. The authors have managed to create an incredibly detailed and fleshed out world, and Gatlin really seems to come to life on the page. The ending is clever and unexpected, and I can't wait to see where the series goes next.All in all, I really enjoyed this and am looking forward to reading .Plot: 9/10Characters: 10/10Ending: 10/10Enjoyment: 8/10Cover: 10/10Overall: 47/50