Title: Beautiful Creatures
Author: Kami Garcia & Margareth Stohl
Narrator: Kevin T. Collins
Series: Caster Chronicles #1
Release Date: December 1st, 2009
Length: 17:23:40
Number of Pages: 563
Publisher: Hachette Audio (Little Brown)
Source: Bought
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.
I had the paperback version of this book in my TBR pile for a while, but I never got around to read it. After discovering the wonders of audiobooks, and hearing that the narrator for this book was great, I decided that it was probably the little push that I needed to read it.
When it comes to the audiobook itself, I’m a little on the fence. I did enjoy the narrator. He was great and did convey nicely the emotion of Ethan though the narration. I did like the effects we could hear during the narration. Yet, I had to give up on the audiobook after 2 hours, because it was simply too long for me. In a little less than two hours, we were only 50 pages into the book. I usually read around 100 pages per hours. Still, the narration really got me into the story, which was great. I ended up reading it in a couple of hours. Yet, the length was an important factor. This book is around 16 hour, which is simply too long for me, as good as the narrator can be. If you don’t mind spending 16 hours listening to a book, I would recommend it. If you’re like me and 16 hours is too much, I would look for the printed version.
The author thing about this audio book that annoyed me a little was how low the dream sequences were. I had trouble hearing what they were saying…
I ended up really liking the story, which I wasn’t so sure about at first. I wasn’t sure if I would like it, because I have to say Ethan was a little too feminine for my liking. All I could think about during certain scene was “What kind of guy reacts like that? That’s a girl reaction..” Yes, I did find that he had the kind of reaction I would have rather than the reaction the guys I know would have. I didn’t really like Lena at first, but she grew on me. At the end, I did end up liking her, just not loving her. I just didn’t feel like she was that strong, especially with her powers and knowledge. I would have liked her to be a little more in control of herself.
Overall, I enjoyed it. I didn’t love it as much as I had hoped, but I did enjoy it. I really like the world created by Kami Garcia and Margareth Stohl. It’s a book I would recommend, that’s for sure.
This is a book that I'd probably listen to before I'd read. I don't know why. Probably because I've had it the book in my classroom library and never picked up even tho I do want to read it. The audio book would help me get it "read"!
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean. It got me into this book enough for me to read it. I never felt motivated to read it, especially since it's over 500 pages. The audiobook gave it life, which made me want to pick it up.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if I could do audiobook... I don't even know if I could understand everything. It was a book I didn't know if it was for me, but finally it sounds nice. I will add it to my wishlist.
ReplyDelete