Beastly by Alex Flinn
pages: 304
released: May 2007
publisher: HarperTeen
cover love: ♥♥♥♥

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. (from Goodreads)

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON 5/18/2012 ON BOOKSLIKESTARS.NET

Review:

I’d been meaning to read Beastly for a long time and was trying to get to it before I saw the movie version but I failed. Now that I’ve read it, I’m glad I saw the movie first. If I had read the book prior to the movie, I would have turned it off after fifteen minutes. But more on that later…

Beastly, in short, is the retelling of one the most classic fairytales ever told, Beauty and the Beast. Kyle Kingsbury is a spoiled, selfish and narcissistic boy who crosses paths with the wrong bitch–I mean witch, Kendra, who turns him into a beast until he changes his cruel ways and finds someone who will love him for who is he and not what he looks like. He has two years to accomplish his task or its fangs and fur for good. He encounters a thief one night breaking into his house and makes a deal with him: bring him his daughter and he won’t turn him in to the cops. The thief complies and returns to Kyle’s house with his teenage daughter and Kyle’s former classmate, Lindy. Kyle must find a way to get Lindy to see past his freakish looks and fall in love with him before the curse’s deadline.

I didn’t love Beastly. It didn’t wow me, but it was still a good read. The story reminded me a lot of the Disney version many of us have loved over the years. Like the Disney version, Kyle is given a magic mirror to look into the lives of any one he wishes. There are roses…so many gorgeous roses! His housekeeper and tutor help him win Lindy’s affection. Lindy loves to read like Belle. But unlike the witch in the Disney movie, Kendra does have an active role in story. She’s actually rooting for Kyle to succeed. There’s more to it than that but I don’t want to give too much away.

Movie vs. Book

The movie really has little to do with the book, in my opinion. They change just about everything. I went into the book thinking that Kyle would look human with scars and ugly tattoos because that’s how they depict him in the movie but he looks just like a beast.

Other things that were different:

In the movie Lindy is a brunette. She’s supposed to be a redhead. Which would’ve been nice. I hardly see characters with red hair.

The housekeeper is Jamaican in the movie but in the book she’s Spanish. Not necessarily important but still…

In the book Kyle is much younger when he get the curse put on him. In the movie he’s older.

Kendra is way more gothic in the book than the Olsen twin.

The whole scenario where he meets Lindy’s dad is changed in the movie.

Lindy’s dad is more cruel in the book.

There’s no magic mirror in the movie.

Kendra has more back story in the book.

Kyle and Lindy have more of a connection in the book.

And the list goes on and on…

My advice is to read the book first.

All-in-all, I did enjoy Beastly but not as much as I hoped. But I think that’s just because I’m very familiar with this fairy tale. I’m definitely going to read Alex Flinn’s other fairytale retellings and see how that goes.

3