Review: Beastly by Alex Flinn

“a must-read for fairy-tale fans.” (School Library Journal )
“Teens will race to see if the beast get his kiss, lifts the curse, and lives happily ever after.” (Kirkus Reviews)

“[An] engrossing tale that will have appeal for fans of fantasy and realistic fiction” -- VOYA. (Voice of Youth Advocates (VOYA) )
I am a beast.

A beast. Not quite wolf or bear, gorilla or dog but a horrible new creature who walks upright—a creature with fangs and claws and hair springing from every pore. I am a monster.


You think I'm talking fairy tales? No way. The place is New York City. The time is now. It's no deformity, no disease. And I'll stay this way forever—ruined—unless I can break the spell.

Yes, the spell, the one the witch in my English class cast on me. Why did she turn me into a beast who hides by day and prowls by night? I'll tell you. I'll tell you how I used to be Kyle Kingsbury, the guy you wished you were, with money, perfect looks, and the perfect life. And then, I'll tell you how I became perfectly . . . beastly. Amazon

I read this book about a week ago after finding it in the Young Adult section. This was one book that once I started I couldn't stop...and I pushed my summer reading back even further. *cough* I'm a sucker for good remakes of classics, this one was of Beauty and the Beast.

The plot was an obvious plot. A very gorgeous guy gets turned into a beast because he is ugly on the inside and the witch turned him ugly on the out. Then he has to find a girl who will love him for him, which turns out to be an average girl. Even with the obvious plot and ending, I did love the writing and the characters and emotion in the writing made me love the book.

Speaking of the characters...AH-mazing! Of course, the characters did make the whole book, even though they were somewhat predictable. Kyle was a good character but he got on my nerves when it came to him talking about looks. Even when he was a beast, looks were still everything to him. He did develop well in the book though, the progression of Kyle becoming a "Beauty" of his own was nice to see. To me, everyone cares about looks and Kyle did draw them out a lot but by the end of the book, they are still there but not in the wrong ways.

I loved Lindy in this story. She was a good natural girl...if that makes sense. Like any other girl, she was peeved and frightened at first. She is a great character for the book beacause she gives Kyle a wake up check. I certainly loved the parts where Kyle was obsessing with her because she wasn't warming up to him. And, I loved her during the part of the "dance" you all know in the classic story, but it's not the exact same "dance" with the yellow dress and all that.

I recommend this Young Adult and romance readers. It was an amazing read and I think other than Starcrossed, Beastly was one of my favorite summer reads. I give this book a four out of four for the great plot and writing, along with the amazing characters.

P.S. There will be a film adaption, I've seen the trailer. After reading the book, it doesn't look like the film will be ANYWHERE near as good as the book, so I recommend you guys read the book before you go see the movie. Before watching the trailer below, there are two key ideas in the book that obviously were overlooked in the movie: 1) Kyle is supposed to be a beast, with fur, claws, and all. and 2) Lindy is supposed to have red hair. Of course, I will go see the movie but after readnig the book, I think there will be a lot of "That wasn't in the book!" comments in my section.


Peace and Fangs,
Alisha