Beautiful Creatures, the thrilling first book of the Caster Chronicles by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl, was brought to the big screen by Richard LaGravenese, director of other hit movies such as Freedom Writers and Water for Elephants. Beautiful Creatures hit the box office on February 14, 2013, bringing in fans of all ages and $21,772,000 worldwide, according to Boxofficemojo.com.

Both the book and movie follow Lena Duchannes’ life, and her battle between being claimed for the Light or the Dark. Both also follow her dangerous growing attraction with the narrator, Ethan Lawson Wate. In the film, Lena is portrayed by Alice Englert, and Ethan is played by Alden Ehrenreich.

However, there are many aspects that were not transferred from novel to film that affected the plot. For example, in the novel, Lena’s struggle between Light and Dark is a hard decision because if she turns Light all the Dark casters, also known as witches, will die, and vice versa. However, in the film, the Duchannes’ family has a curse that all the female casters will turn dark; to break the malicious curse the female has to kill a person she loves.

Also, Lena in the book drives a black hearse, opposed to the pale yellow Mercedes she drives in the movie version. Without the hearse, the film portrays her as a brighter person, when in the book she has a darker, more gothic personality. This is also seen in Ridley, Lena’s Siren cousin, who dressed in miniskirts and feminine attire in the novel, as opposed to the dark risqué fashion pieces she wears in the film.

On top of this, Lena and Ethan do not Kelt in the movie. Kelting is speaking through thoughts; without this, the movie takes away from their relationship and gives them less of an intimate connection. Furthermore, an important aspect from the novel missing from the movie is Lena’s necklace. Lena’s necklace has a vital part in the following book, Beautiful Darkness. This only leaves the question of how they will incorporate it into the next film, if there is one.

Over all the movie did leave out some important parts of the book, but that is expected with most films. Beautiful Creatures, the movie,  does a good job casting a spell on the audience, and I hope to see a sequel in the making soon.