Monday 15 September 2014

Beastly

Beastly

Beastly by Alex Flinn is the modern day Beauty and the Beast.

I am 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 with 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  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.

The Breakdown:
1. Flinn pulls from several different tellings of Beauty and the Beast to develop her story for this book.  For the most part, she does a reasonably job at it.  I like that the story was told from Kyle/the beast's point of view rather than the beauty's.

2. My biggest problem with the book was that she broke up the different parts and did this chat room thing in between the parts.  For me, it made the flow of the book choppy. I think the book would have been much better without them.

3. Kyle is quite the piece of work at the beginning, but as the book progress, I could tell that he was seeing things very differently, and was becoming a better person.  Although, I have to admit that especially after seeing his dad and knowing what his mother did, made me wonder if they should not have been the ones punished for Kyle's attitude to towards. After all, we learn how to treat other people by watching out parents, so really this kid did not have a chance.

3. Lindy is not typically beauty.  She is not traditionally beautiful, nor does she have the doting father.  In fact, her father is kind of a scum bag, and gives her to Kyle so he can get his drugs back and not be arrested for his crimes. She is very smart, and sees past Kyle's appearance to get to know the person underneath,

4. I have to say, I think that they are a couple that never need each other more.  Both have pretty crappy parents, and it nice to see that they found each other for love and support.  Plus, there is Will, their blind tutor, that gives them the parental guidance that neither had before.

To Read or Not to Read:
Unless your really into retelling of fairy tales, I say skip it.

Currently Reading:
Die for Me
by Amy Plum

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