|
In the latest YA book from Little, Brown and Company, two teenagers find themselves supernaturally attracted to one another, but dark forces are gathering to keep them apart. No, this isn’t Twilight.
Beautiful Creatures is the latest supernaturally-themed YA romance for the post-Twilight set. Whereas some have shifted their focus to werewolves (Shiver) or turned to angels (Fallen) to appeal to aspiring Bellas, the main selling point of Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl’s debut novel is its setting in the American South and aspirations to the Southern Gothic milieu. Though not entirely successful in its Southern ambitions, Beautiful Creatures is a solid YA effort.
Ethan Wate dreams of fleeing Gatlin, the small North Carolina town which generations of his family have inhabited. He feels trapped by the good ol’ boy mentality of small town living and frets that nothing ever happens in Gatlin. With the arrival of mysterious outsider Lena Duchannes, however, Ethan finds himself caught up in a generations-old mystery.
Beautiful Creatures opens with a quote from Martin Luther King, Jr. and frequently references Harper Lee’s Southern Gothic classic To Kill a Mockingbird. Beyond these explicit nods to the South, a partially-formed voodoo subplot and a third act that develops against the backdrop of a dramatic Civil War reenactment, the novel only skirts the Southern tradition as opposed to anchoring itself in it. For example, when Ethan describes how the catty young girls at his high school systematically try to sabotage Lena, the effect is more Mean Girls than Southern debutante. It’s in these moments that the Southern milieu proves itself a façade rather than a foundation.
Race—the central facet of any Southern literary effort—is largely glossed over. There is no mention of race in relation to Ethan’s classmates, yet the treatment Lena suffers at the hands of the stereotypically wicked cheerleaders seems to have racial undertones. Much is made of Lena’s dark hair contrasting with the blond highlights of the other girls in school, and late in the book, Lena is brought in to face the school board to defend her right to go to school.
Not that race is entirely subverted in the novel; there are references to slavery and the interdependence of the master-slave dichotomy, but these explorations remain largely in the background. Ethan’s closest mother figure is Amma, his family’s housekeeper, who becomes entangled in the supernatural affairs, but her character isn’t really developed, leaving her as a placeholder within the novel.
Aspiring to the balmy, haunted atmosphere of the classic Southern Gothic, the mysterious elements of the plot are far more William Castle than William Faulkner. Lena lives with her uncle in a haunted mansion, and is explicitly compared to Boo Radley lurking in the shadows. Though compared to Harper Lee’s classic, the effect is more akin to Castle Dracula: Mysterious hallways disappear and reappear, the mansion redecorates itself, and the kitchen seems to have a mind of its own. Willing suspension of disbelief is par for the course when sitting down to a supernaturally-themed novel, but the mysterious goings-on are at times downright silly, occasionally dislocating the reader from the narrative.
Despite its missteps, Beautiful Creatures remains an entertaining book. The truth behind Lena and her family’s identity is obscured throughout most of the novel, leading to an engaging mystery story, and there’s enough truth in the angsty high school scenes to relate to. The descriptions of the ubiquitous dance have that magic mixture of teenage expectations and underwhelming reality: The magic of winter brought indoors... with cheap paper snowflakes hanging from fishing line. The escapades of Ethan’s best friend Link with Lena’s evil cousin Ridley are also an amusing diversion.
Had it not been for the forceful attempt to turn this into a Southern Gothic, Beautiful Creatures would be an assuredly delightful read for YA readers. As it stands, there are some shortcomings to navigate, but it remains a fun romp.
(February, 2010)
|
