Ever felt “under the weather?” In the novel Beautiful Creatures, sixteen-year-old Lena Duchannes knows that feeling in its most literal form. As a Caster, a person with magical descent, she was blessed with special powers that allow her to control things with her mind that no normal “Mortal” is able to do. When she moved to the microscopic town of Gatlin, South Carolina, a deeply traditional southern town, she brought with her a storm of mysterious events and abnormal weather. Ethan Wate has lived in Gatlin all of his life and recently has been riddled with terribly real dreams about an entrancing girl he has never met falling and slipping through his muddy fingers; he wakes up with his forehead damp and dirt crusted under his nails. Aside from the bewildering dreams that keep him up all night, he has a very dull life and he wishes to leave Gatlin as soon as possible; in fact, he is counting down the days until he can leave this small town. Lena is counting down too, but for another pivotal day, her sixteenth birthday, when she will be Claimed by the Light or Darkness. And as they both near their deadlines, they become intertwined in the suspenseful plot of Beautiful Creatures.

Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl, the authors, came up with the idea of the book over lunch, each delving into her love of the supernatural and star-crossed lovers. Margaret was the creator of the plot-line while Kami, who wanted to write a book set in the South, where she had been raised, was in charge of the “when and where” of the book. Spending hours upon hours working together, the book evolved from simple ideas on a napkin to this enthralling book.

I thoroughly enjoyed Beautiful Creatures because of the tie to the supernatural and the well-written plot. I give it two big thumbs up and would recommend anyone interested in magic, ghostly apparitions, and hundred-year-old legends, to make Beautiful Creatures your next book to read!