I had high hopes for "Beautiful Creatures", but the book was quite a letdown. Way too long, with a climax that never really fulfilled the early set-up of the premise, and such an open-ended conclusion that you just know there's a sequel waiting to happen. Why can't YA writers seem to write complete novels any more? The two authors of "Beautiful Creatures" seem to have taken a page from the "Twilight" school of teen lit. Telling a 300-page story in 500+ pages? Check. Impossible love between a mortal and someone with supernatural power? Check? Mysterious families? Check. Small town where newness stands out like a sore thumb? Check. And just to let us know how very important and mysterious it all is, the authors are quite generous with their use of upper case letters to add emphasis: The female lead will be Claimed on her birthday, at which point she will embrace either Light or Dark and fulfill her destiny as a Caster. "Beautiful Creatures" seemed promising, but just never delivers more than a trite, light tale. That said, I'm sure the authors have legions of fans just salivating over the sequel. Count me out.