Beautiful. Dirty. Niche.

After finishing Beautiful Creature, I was in Barnes and Noble studying when I wanted to pick up Perks of Being a Wallflower, which of course was sold out. When that kind of shit happens, I get really pissed and do rash things. Call me melodramatic. So I bought the ebook and read the book and watched the movie in one night. Whoops.

The book was really good. I was warned that I might be too old for it at this point, but I think the problems that Charlie faces are pretty universal.  You know what they say “Life is like high school, but you have to pay utilities.”

It follows Charlie in first year of high school. He is beginning it just after his best and only friend killed himself. Along the way he makes friends and lovers and finds a way to survive it all. He has a pretty troubled past besides the best friend thing, but that’s a spoiler.

I love Charlie’s “voice” and point of view. The format of the book being told in letters was also interesting. It made you feel like you were the “friend” he was writing to. I love Patrick/”Nothing”, too; he’s so vivacious. Also, Bill was a great character. For a second, I had an ominous feeling that somehow he was going to be a weirdo teacher that rapes him or some shit; glad that didn’t happen.

All in all, I loved this book. I love Charlie. He is basically me in high school, except smarter. I definitely didn’t participate in high school. I mean, I danced and had some great friends, but I wasn’t the type that had plans every weekend night.  I had my first drink when I was 18 with my family. I still haven’t been high off of anything except life. And even now, most Saturday nights, I’m reading, ordering Domino’s for myself, and watching something on HBO. This book is making want to participate again, just in time for my 21st. 5/5 stars

It’s been a busy weekend. I finished 2 books. First being Beautiful Creatures. This novel tells the love story between a southern boy, Ethan, and a caster, Lena. It’s basically Twilight in reverse with better sentence structure. The plot follows Lena’s countdown to her birthday where she will be “claimed” for the dark or the light. She faces challenges from both within and outside of her magical world. Ethan, the protagonist, has his own struggles dealing with the loss of his mom and, later, the loss of his friends when he dates Lena, the town pariah.

It was an intriguing enough story. I liked Lena’s “quirky” caster family; they added a little color to the tale. The last third kind of dragged on, but I was ultimately happy with how it ended. I don’t know if I will be continuing with the series. Maybe in summer? 4/5 stars