Book Review: Beautiful Creatures

Beautiful Creatures
8.0 of 10
Written by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl
Buy the Hardcover Edition from Amazon
Buy the Kindle Edition from Amazon







Unless it's post-apocalyptic or dystopian, I normally avoid young adult novels. Not that I think they're bad but because -as a guy already in his late 20s- I can't stomach the ham & cheese type of writing and romance of this genre. That's why I'm still questioning my reasons of why I bought Beautiful Creatures, and even finished reading it, despite its Twilight-like synopsis. Was it because it's Amazon's #5 book of 2009? Or was it because the hopeless romantic in me was enthralled by the book's boy meets cool/weird girl story? I hate to admit it but it was probably the latter.

As I've mentioned earlier, the book is pretty much like Twilight, a supernatural teenage romance. Unlike Stephanie Meyer's "magnum opus", the parties involved in Beautiful Creatures are mortals and casters -wizards, not vampires. There's also a role reversal in the story -which I really like- since Ethan (the male) is the underpowered mortal protagonist and also the narrator, while Lena (the girl) is the caster. Ethan and Lena's relationship also have a spin of Romeo and Juliet into it, since both their guardians are trying to separate them from each other because of their differences.

Unfortunately, the whole Romeo and Juliet theme is the gag factor. Because when the star-crossed lovers are apart they get angsty and long for each other, and when they're together all they do is cuddle, kiss, hug and tickle, instead of trying to find a way to stop the inevitable "claiming" that will keep them apart forever. It's all cute sometimes but, since these scenes are prevalent throughout the book, which also drags the story down, I can only handle it so much. There's also no sex, or talk about it, which I find unbelievable since most of the characters in the book are running on teenage hormones.

But what kept me interested in this book is the southern gothic setting. The story is set in a small town called Gaitlin. It's pretty much a totalitarian town that is run by small-minded, book-burning type of people. In this town, conformity and ignorance runs high. If you read a book, you're an outcast. If you don't have blonde hair and orange-tanned skin, you're an outcast. While there's a Voldemort-esque villain in the story, the real antagonist here is the town itself. Since the townsfolk are the ones who are trying to burn the dark-haired, pale-faced Lena on the stake, keeping him apart from Ethan, who is one of their own.

The mystery that blankets the town and its plot is also a page turner in this book. Like I said, Gaitlin is a small town with small-minded people. It's the kind of boring town that you just want to leave behind. But as you read further, page by page, chapter by chapter, the town gets more interesting as its buried secrets -past, monsters, magic and underground libraries- creeps up into the surface. Uncovering the mysterious plot -especially the one that shroud Lena's "claiming" and Ethan's power- was also gracefully executed by the writers. They would tease you with events upon tiny events that will keep you hooked.

It's a no brainer that this book was aimed towards the fans of Twilight, especially young girls, which will put a lot of people off (at least, the people I know). But I have to applaud both writers for trying really hard to get away from Meyer's grasp by using other supernatural creatures like incubuses, ghosts and spirits, and by reversing the roles of the protagonists (a powered female and a mortal male). But if there's anything that makes this book worth a read is its southern gothic setting and totalitarian nature, giving it a bit of dystopian flavor and a step ahead from Twilight.

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Relapse

Rudyard Kipling once said "Four things greater than all things are: Women and Horses and Power and War." I don't have Women, Horses or Power. But I can always play WAR.

I actually thought I won't be coming back to this game. But after seeing my former guild move to a much more active server and then saw their recruitment video (watch it here). I just started to itch for some realm vs. realm action. So I remedied it by re-activating my account and had a lot of fun playing with guildmates last night. It's just sad that we have to leave Phoenix Throne.

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The Playlist #5

It was a quiet week for me, to sum it up. I started reading a new book and there was snow, a lot of snow. In fact, there was snow as much as I have music.

Anyways, here we go, my 5th playlist:

"Hanuman" by Rodrigo y Gabriela

A couple years ago, I met a guitarist at the hospital I work at. He was playing on his mother's bedside, ripping his nylon acoustic guitar with flamenco scales. His skill was just mesmerizing. Guiltily, however, he admitted to me that there's no money in Spanish guitar. So he left it and played rock instead. But after I heard Rodrigo y Gabriela, last Monday. I thought, maybe, that dude just gave up easily on his music.

"Decode" by Paramore

I'm currently reading the book Beautiful Creatures. At first, I thought it was another Twilight rip-off, riding on its hype wave. But as I read further, the story -that is clearly Twilight, Harry Potter, Romeo & Juliet, To Kill A Mockingbird (and even a bit of Star Wars) rolled into a really fat joint- opens up a wonderful new world. The girl in the story, Lena Duchannes, is also my new heroine. She's cute and edgy, strong and fragile, and her voice will probably sound like Hayley Williams of Paramore.

"Snow Blind" by Black Sabbath

Wednesday, a nasty huge storm whips across United States. Chicago, of course, was snowed in. I had work that day, and the drive back to home was nasty and slow. The roads where slippery and the blowing snow reduced driving visibility.

"A Small Victory" by Faith No More

A Faith No More song came up randomly while I was listening on my iPod. I realized that the audio quality of the song was really bad, even though I ripped the CD at 320 Kbps. But then I remembered that the CD I had isn't a remastered version since I bought it during the 90's, before the digital age. So I went to Amazon mp3 and bought the better versions. I know it sounds like I just wasted money. But we're talking about Faith No More here. They're one of my favorite bands and I spare no expenses when it comes to them.

"Wanderlust" by Baroness

So I found out about this band called Baroness a couple weeks ago and bought their Blue Record. I fell in love with it and then also bought their previous work, Red Album. Red Album, in my opinion, is even better than their Blue Record, which is also awesome. I'm now a member of their fan club.

"Glasshouse Tarot" by Sparta

Two months after I bought my iPod Touch, I'm now down to ripping my CDs of artists that starts with "S". Wiretap Scars by Sparta was the first CD I ripped. I love this album, it's one of my favorites. The guitar sounds in this album is just sonic bliss. The song "Glasshouse Tarot" is the best example of Sparta's sterling stringmanship in here. The intro, especially, is just wow. I could listen to it forever.

"1901" by Phoenix

There's a TV commercial by Cadillac and it has this really good music (see the TV ad here). I've been wondering what the song was, or who the artist was, for months now. Then I previewed Phoenix's songs at iTunes and found that it was actually their song. Phoenix is probably my most overlooked artists this year. I've seen their high ratings but I just ignored them. I was a fool. Now their latest album, Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, is on my Christmas wishlist.

Well, that's it. I wrote too much already. Now read, listen and enjoy.

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Holiday Wishlist

We finally drew names for our Secret Santa at work today. The rules were the same as last year -gifts should be no less than $10 and no more than $15. We also included a list of 10 things we wanted on our names, which was my suggestion from last year. I came up with it simply because it will make shopping a bit easier, not having to run around and guessing what my gift-receiver wants. Of course, it's also a chance to get what I want.

The list that I got have assorted items like make-up, fragrances, iTunes card and even an iPhone protection sleeves. I'm going to give her an iTunes card because it's the most easiest and I love giving music. As for me, I made an Amazon Wishlist (check it here) and forwarded the link to all who participated.

Anyways, here's my list

Music

• Geneva by Russian Circles
• Aim and Ignite by fun.
• 11:11 by Rodrigo Y Gabriela
• Signal Morning by Circulatory System
• Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix by Phoenix
  

Books/Comics

• Air vol. 1
• The Northlanders vol. 1
  
• Graceling
  
• Let the Great World Spin
  

Tech/Gadgetry

• iPod Touch Wall Charger

I'd be a happy man if I get any of these stuff. So, how about you, what's on your wishlist?

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