Showing posts with label Beautiful Creatures. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Beautiful Creatures. Show all posts

22 Dec 2014

Young Adult Series That I Will Never Finish

Wicked Lovely by Melissar Marr


I can’t say I hated Wicked Lovely, but I really did not love it. An even bigger turn off was the fact that the sequels were from a different point of view. If you know me, you’ll know that I hate when a series changes point of view. Especially when you’ve finally stuck with one character for a whole book and felt like you really connected with them only to discover that they won’t be in the next book. And I know that it’s the authors plan and it must work in the whole grand scheme of things, but give me a break, you just made me love a character and you are ripping them right out from underneath me.

Books Read in the series: 1

Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

One of the things that turned me off from this series is the fact that the story is told from a character’s point of view who felt more like an observer to the main plot line, than actually being in it. I felt like he was always looking in to Lena’s life and the craziness that came with it. I mean there is nothing wrong with that. I guess I’m just used to having the main character be the one that things are happening to. It felt like I was looking through too many windows to see what was on the other side. The other side being the actual plot line and driving nature of the book. Ethan, if that is his name by memory, shouldn’t have been the main character. I felt helpless reading through his point of view. It made sense why I stopped reading this series. I didn’t want to be an observer.

Books Read in the series: 2

Matched by Allie Condie

Honestly,  I have never really understood the hype that went around this series. I thought the first book was okay but the majority of people said they really loved it. Then came the second book, which was horribly slow, and I think consisted of the characters walking across a desert for the majority of the book. Blah. Gah. Why? It wasn’t the worst, but it really wasn’t the best either. I got the last book the day it came out in hardback and then I just never ended up reading it. Will I ever read it? I want to say that I will because I am so close to finishing the series but I really don’t know if I will.

Books Read in the series: 2


House of Night by P.C. CAST and Kristin Cast

Ugh. I have so much bookish disappointment for this series. It was pretty much a waste of my life. That’s pretty harsh, I know. The series got to a point in which they were just milking the cow too long and I don’t know if it was for money or if the authors really just loved the story that much, but it exhausted me. I was so done with it. I am still done with it. I definitely know that I will never ever go back to this series. The first couple of books were bearable and then they started introducing new point of views with characters I couldn’t care less about. I heard a rumor somewhere that there will be 12 books in the series. I don’t know if it is true but that is ridiculous. Extremely ridiculous.

Books Read in the series: 8

3 Dec 2012

REVIEW: Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl



Title: Beautiful Creatures (Caster Chronicles #1)
Author: Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl
Publication Date: March 31st 2001
Publisher: Penguin
Format: Paperback
Pages: 563
Rating: 4/5
Blurb:
There were no surprises in Gatlin County.
At least, that's what I thought.
Turns out, I couldn't have been more wrong.

There was a curse.
There was a girl.
And in the end, there was a grave.


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.

Review:
I’ve been meaning to read this book for a long time now and with the movie due to be released February 14th 2013 (in Australia) I decided it was probably about time to get around to it. I’ve heard widely different views of this book- some people seem to think it is the worst thing ever written while others love it. I definitely lean towards the ‘loving it’ side.
At first, I wasn’t a big fan of having Ethan narrate the story as generally I tend to read books with female narrators or third person narration. However, I found that after I while it didn’t bother me nearly as much as I thought it would. I really came to like Ethan as a character, as well as Lena, Macon and Ridley. On top of this, I also enjoyed the flashback scenes with Genevieve and Ethan- they were absolutely amazing.
Another important aspect to me was how much the story flowed together despite having two authors. I personally couldn’t differentiate between the two maybe some of you were/are able to, but for me it all fit together like it was just one author.
One issue that I did have with the book is that there is a lot of focus on American history. I know for many Americans the division between the South and the North would hold a lot of importance, but as an Australian who has never learnt any American history whatsoever I found myself a bit confused through certain parts of the book. Obviously, this issue won’t be there for everyone but if you are like me, you will still be able to enjoy the story.
When the movie is released here in Australia, I will consider doing a movie to book adaption review sort of thing- hopefully that makes sense to you guys! Let us know if you’re excited for the movie!