The twenty-fifth book I read in 2014 was Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl. I finished this book on 4/11/14. This is the first book in the Beautiful Creatures series by these authors. I rated this book 4.5 stars out of a scale of 5. This book tells the story of Ethan Wate and Lena Duchannes, star-crossed lovers who are cursed from the start.

Lena is a Caster (fancy word for witch pretty much) who falls in love with Ethan, a Mortal. Ethan has been dreaming about Lena for months before he even met her, dark nightmares where Ethan tries to pull Lena from the Darkness. But every time he wakes up and can’t seem to remember how the dream ends, whether he saves her or not. After Ethan finally meets the girl from his dreams, he discovers that she’s been dreaming of him too. Not only that, but they can communicate through “Kelting,” where they talk to each other basically telepathically. The big issue is that Lena is coming up on her 16th birthday, when she will be Claimed for either the Dark or the Light, whatever is in her true nature. Ethan and Lena have visions of their ancestors, Ethan Wate (from Civil Ware era) and Genevieve Duchannes, who were also in love many years ago. Lena and Ethan learn of their tragic ending and the curse that fell on the Duchannes family after Genevieve used Dark Magic to try and save Ethan’s life.

Lena’s Uncle Macon Ravenwood will do whatever it takes to keep her safe. And as dangerous as loving Ethan is for Lena, it also seems to protect her in some way. The connection between them is unexplainable in the Caster world. And as their story plays out, Macon will sacrifice whatever it takes to push Lena towards being Claimed for the Light. Macon is a Dark Caster but he has chosen to be Light for Lena, even though it weakens him daily. Lena discovers though that Macon has been lying to her for her entire life by telling her that her mother is dead. Her mother, Sarafine, is alive and well. The Darkest Caster alive today, her mother will do anything to have Lena be Claimed for the Dark.

I really loved this book. I had seen the movie last year and its become one of my new favorite movies lately. So when I found out it was based on a series of books, I couldn’t wait to read them. There were many differences between the book and the movie (as there usually are) but I thought the book was riveting and all the extra intricacies in the book only made the story that much better. Was a great read!

Link to authors’ website: http://beautifulcreaturesauthors.com/

Link to Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Beautiful-Creatures-Kami-Garcia/dp/0316077038/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1397308531&sr=8-1&keywords=beautiful+creatures