Gah.
So, I will freely admit that I frequently give myself a break from the “healthy diet” of classics and other good books that I read through some fluffy YA fiction. It’s like the candy or dessert – hopefully, in small doses, it won’t rot my brain too much. They tend to be absorbing and even if they aren’t great, they can still be a nice brain-break.
(Confession: I did actually enjoy the full Twilight series, though I will never argue that it was good fiction. It was an engaging and fun series, but I also know I probably lost a few brain cells.)
Anyhow.
My friend gave me a couple of books a while back, and among them were Beautiful Darkness and Beautiful Chaos. I had never heard of them but the covers looks neat and since they came from a friend, I figured it would be worth a try. Then, realizing they were the second and third in a series, I realized that I needed to find Beautiful Creatures, which took some time. I’m not sure why I am explaining all of this except to say that perhaps I had built up the series in my mind because of the long time it took me to get the first one.
Big mistake.
I started reading Beautiful Creatures and, while I was interested in the mythology built by the authors (this is apparently a team effort), I was quickly bored with the characters. The narrator is supposed to be a sixteen year old boy but I came to think of him as a pathetic male version of Bella – overly interested in the strange paranormal female Edward who dresses in goth and keeps trying to warn what’s-his-name away for his own good, etc. Honestly, I even skipped ahead to try to find something to keep me reading and there was nothing.
I hate to quit on a book but I have also learned that life is too short to keep reading a book you hate; therefore, Beautiful Creatures (and the two sequels) are going to the used bookstore to help buy something I might actually like.
Query which includes a bit of a SPOILER:
If any of you happen to know why the boy character can communicate with the Caster telepathically, which apparently isn’t supposed to be a thing, let me know. I am curious to know if they answered that one. Just not curious enough to keep reading.