Beautiful Creatures
#6973.81 in the official ranking · full ranking
Books 4 books Status Complete 2009–2012 Reading commitment Medium Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl Last reviewed 2026-09-10
Overview
A four-book young-adult paranormal romance series set in the small fictional town of Gatlin, South Carolina. It follows Ethan Wate and Lena Duchannes, a "Caster" who faces a supernatural destiny that will claim her allegiance to either the light or the dark on her sixteenth birthday. The main series, written by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl, ran from Beautiful Creatures (2009) through Beautiful Redemption (2012) and is complete at four books; a two-book companion series, Dangerous Creatures, shifts focus to two supporting characters relocated to New York City. The original novel was adapted into a 2013 feature film starring Alden Ehrenreich and Alice Englert, which helped drive the books onto bestseller lists even though the film itself underperformed at the box office and did not lead to further screen adaptations of the sequels.
Romantasy, Urban fantasy · For YA
Core Canon: Reading Order (4 works) counts toward ranking
Beautiful Creatures Kami Garcia, Margaret Stohl
| Work | Year | Internal chron. | Canon | Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Beautiful Creatures | 2009 | 1 | core | 3.78 (626,000 ratings) |
 | Beautiful Darkness | 2010 | 2 | core | 3.84 (123,670 ratings) |
 | Beautiful Chaos | 2011 | 3 | core | 3.93 (89,948 ratings) |
 | Beautiful Redemption | 2012 | 4 | core | 3.92 (64,501 ratings) |
The main Ethan/Lena arc.
Library / Expanded (2 works)
Dangerous Creatures Kami Garcia, Margaret Stohl
| Work | Year | Internal chron. | Canon | Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Dangerous Creatures | 2014 | 1 | 3.84 (11,113 ratings) | |
 | Dangerous Deception | 2015 | 2 | 3.72 (3,986 ratings) |
Companion duology following supporting characters Ridley and Link in New York City.
Quick answers
- How many books are in Beautiful Creatures? Beautiful Creatures's Core Canon is 4 books, plus 2 more in the wider Library/Expanded material.
- What is the reading order for Beautiful Creatures? Publication order, starting with Beautiful Creatures. Full list and years in the Core Canon table above.
- Is Beautiful Creatures finished? Complete (2009–2012).
- How much reading does Beautiful Creatures take? Medium reading commitment (estimated from 4 Core Canon books).
- How is Beautiful Creatures ranked? #697 in this site's official ranking, based on 904,119 reader ratings across 4 Core Canon books. See the full ranking for how this is calculated.
Why is it ranked #697?
Ranked #697 in the official ranking.
- Average reader rating of 3.81 across 4 core books.
- Backed by 904k reader ratings.
- Less than 0.01 behind #696, The Dragon Waiting (a finer tie-break level decides the order).
- Below the top-10 average of 4.45.
Why explore this universe?
Rated · 4 books · Complete · 904k ratings · Ranks #697 overall
Good choice if you want a moderate-length romantasy universe that's already finished, so there's no wait for the next book.
Reading order
Publication order (4 Core Canon books)
- Beautiful Creatures (2009)
- Beautiful Darkness (2010)
- Beautiful Chaos (2011)
- Beautiful Redemption (2012)
Documented internal/story chronology is recorded for every Core Canon book here, and matches publication order exactly, with no divergence to show separately.
Awards (verified)
- William C. Morris Award, 2010: finalist: Beautiful Creatures; ALA/YALSA William C. Morris Award finalist, 2010, for the debut novel Beautiful Creatures.
You might also like
Suggestions computed from what Beautiful Creatures and each of these worlds have in common on record (subgenre, audience, shape, reading commitment and score), not a documented narrative connection.
- Kingdom of the Wicked Dark fantasy / Romantasy · Complete · Medium commitment · 3.92
- Ash Princess Epic fantasy / Romantasy · Complete · Medium commitment · 3.92
- Arkadien Urban fantasy · Complete · Medium commitment · 3.92
- The Frostblood Saga Romantasy · Complete · Medium commitment · 3.91
Official resources
Research details
Ranking metrics: weighted average 3.81 across 904,119 ratings on 4 Core Canon books. See Why is it ranked here? above for the full breakdown, or the full ranking.
How do we know this?
Admission: Admit Beautiful Creatures accepted 2026-09-10
Sources: (see source tier definitions)
Last reviewed: 2026-09-10
Rule: Core Canon is the 4-book Ethan/Lena arc (Beautiful Creatures through Beautiful Redemption); the 2-book Dangerous Creatures companion series, which follows different lead characters, is Library/Expanded.