Beautiful Creatures is the debut young-adult fantasy

Fantasy

Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...

 novel

Novel

A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....

 written by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl. It was published by Little, Brown

Little, Brown and Company

Little, Brown and Company is a publishing house established by Charles Coffin Little and his partner, James Brown. Since 2006 it has been a constituent unit of Hachette Book Group USA.-19th century:...

 on December 2009. Amazon.com

Amazon.com

Amazon.com, Inc. is a multinational electronic commerce company headquartered in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the world's largest online retailer. Amazon has separate websites for the following countries: United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Japan, and...

 named it one of the top ten books of 2009 and the top pick for best teen book. A sequel, Beautiful Darkness

Beautiful Darkness (novel)

Beautiful Darkness is a young-adult fantasy novel written by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl. The second novel in the Caster Chronicles, it was published by Little, Brown on December, 2009...

, was released on October 12th, 2010.

Plot summary

Ethan Lawson Wate, the son of two writers, has been counting the months until he can escape the town of Gatlin, his home-town. He is haunted by dreams in which he is trying to save a beautiful girl he has never met and a mysteriously appearing song called 'Sixteen Moons' that appears on his iPod and then vanishes again. He is described as having brown hair and blue eyes and lives with his care taker and house keeper Amarie "Amma" Treadeau and his depressed father who has shut himself in his study since his wife's death. He trys to fit in and belongs to the school's basketball team. 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.

Lena Duchannes is unlike anyone the small southern town of Gatlin has ever seen. Lena has wavy black hair and large green eyes. She wears a necklace made of pieces of junk, her 'memories', such as a piece from the first soda can she ever had and carries around a tattered journal. She is gossiped about, picked on and neglected because of the fact that she is the niece of Macon Melchizedek Ravenwood (Otherwise known as Old Man Ravenwood), the town's shut in. Lena is 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.
When Ethan follows her home they both find a locket, which they find out to have been given to Genevieve Katherine Duchannes (Lena's ancestor) by Ethan Carter Wate (Ethan's ancestor). Interestingly, whenever Lena and Ethan touch the piece of jewellery, they see different visions. Each of the visions involve Genevieve and Ethan.
Ethan starts to notice that she writes numbers on the back of her hand, he soon finds out that she is counting down the days to her birthday when she will turn sixteen.

In a town with no surprises, one secret could change everything...

A film adaption of the book is in progress. Warner bros. will be making the movie and have hired Richard LaGravenese to write and direct.

Characters

• Ethan Lawson Wate - The main protagonist, Ethan is the son of two writers, and he has lived in Gatlin his entire life. He is considered somewhat popular, being Emily Asher's ex-boyfriend and a member of the basketball team, but he feels somewhat like an outcast. His one goal in life is to escape Gatlin forever and not become stuck there like many other of the small town's citizens. He enjoys reading everything from classic novels to comic books, but he doesn't let people know that. Ethan has three great aunts, Prudence Jane Stathan, Grace Ann Statham and Mercy Lynne Statham whom he visits every Saturday. He is the descendant of Ethan Carter Wate and son of Lila Evers and Mitchell Wate.

• Lena Duchannes - Another main protagonist, Lena is an outcast among Stonewall Jackson High when she first arrives in Gatlin. She is Macon Ravenwood's niece, which causes the other students to tease her. She and Ethan find that they both feel like outcasts, and they develop a close friendship, eventually falling in love. She enjoys writing poetry in a journal she carries with her. She is the descendant of Genevieve.

• Macon Melchizedek Ravenwood - in Lena's uncle. He has been a cast out in Gatlin his whole life. He is an Incubus, which is a "Dark" creature. Instead of feeding on blood-like his brother Hunting-he feeds of the dreams and memories of humans.

• Ridley Duchannes - Lena's cousin, they lived together and were like sisters until her sixteenth birthday when she left for the fear of going dark and Lena hasn't seen her since then. She is a dark caster, a Siren, she can make someone do anything as long as she's armed with a red lollipop. Link falls in love with her, and in the book she shows very little of the same feeling towards him.

• Wesley Jefferson "Link" Lincoln - Ethan's best friend. He is the son of Mrs. Lincoln. He falls in love with Ridley.

• Larkin Kent - Lena's cousin, and son of Delphine Duchannes and Barclay Kent. Larkin is an Illusionist. He can spell-cast and make anything look like something else. Larkin is known as a Light Caster but later on reveals himself as a Dark one.

• Ryan Duchannes - Lena's youngest cousin, and daughter of Delphine Duchannes and Barclay Kent. Ryan is discovered to be a Thaumaturge, considerably known as a healer or a performer of miracles.

• Delphine "Del" Duchannes - Lena's aunt, Barclay's wife and mother of Ridley, Reece, Ryan and Larkin. She is a Palimpsest and can read time. Delphine is a Light Caster.

• Barclay Kent - Lena's Uncle, Delphine's husband and father of Ridley, Reece, Larkin and Ryan. He is a Shifter and can morph things into other things for as longs as he likes. Barclay is a Light Caster.

• Hunting Phinehas Ravenwood - Macon's brother. He is a blood incubus, and at the end of the book you are led to believe that he is killed.

• Amarie "Amma" Treadeau- Ethan's nanny of some sorts. She reads tarot cards for the towns folk. She is a "Seer". And she makes charms and hides them around the house. She is somewhat superstitious. Ethan describes her as being old, that she took care of his father when he was a kid.

• Emily Asher - Ethan's ex-girlfriend and daughter of Mrs. Asher. She is best friends with Savannah Snow.

• Savannah Snow - Emily's best friend. She helps make life in Gatlin heck for Lena.

• Mrs. Lincoln - Link's mother, friends with Mrs. Asher and Mrs. Snow and member of the DAR. And it turns out that she had been possessed by Lena's mom.

• Mrs. Snow - Savannah's mother and member of the DAR.

• Prudence Jane Statham - Ethan's eldest great aunt and sister of Grace Ann and Mercy Lynne Statham.

• Grace Ann Statham - Ethan' second eldest great aunt and sister of Prudence Jane and Mercy Lynne Statham.

• Mercy Lynne Statham - Ethan's youngest great aunt and sister of Prudence Jane and Grace Ann Statham.

• Sarafine Duchannes - Lena's mother, also a dark Caster, considered the darkest caster alive. She supposedly killed Lena's father. She used to be a Natural, like Lena, until she went dark, then she turned into a Caticlist. Used to be Izabel Duchannes before her Claim.

• Genevieve Katherine Duchannes - Lena's Ancestor. She was a Dark Caster.

• Harlon James - Aunt Prudence's Yorkshire terrier, he was named after her late husband.

• Ethan Carter- Ethan's Ancestor.