Beastly by Alex Flinn

Description:


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 a perfect life. And then, I’ll tell you how I became perfectly beastly.




My Review:

Beastly by Alex Flinn

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This creative retelling of the story of Beauty and the Beast was really good.  Ms. Flinn made sure to include a lot of classic elements to the story as well as adding in some new things that keep the story interesting and exciting. 

So, one of the keys that made this retelling so unique was that the story was told from the Beast’s (AKA Kyle) POV.  Most Beauty and the Beast retellings are from a 3^rd person or from the beauty’s POV.  I enjoyed this, just for the fact that it was interesting to see how Kyle’s character changed.  And it wasn’t just an immediate change either.  In the book, it was a 2 year process where he had to figure it out. 

Another key element that occurred was that Lindy (Beauty) didn’t change Kyle, which is a common theme to most Beauty and the Beast stories.  Instead, this story has Kyle deciding to change and him working towards succeeding in that goal.  I guess for me, this was more realistic.  I mean how many women have tried changing men and succeeded? 

Great points in the novel: 

• Lindy as a character was great.  She was strong, confident and loyal.  You couldn’t help but like her. 
• Kendra was not exactly what I would imagine an angry witch to be.  She seemed to be setting people up for failure when she casted a spell.  Though I do love her at the end, as everything begins to resolve.
• Kyle’s selfless wish for those who live with him and take care of him. This truly is the point where you can see that he is changing.

The only thing I didn’t like was how the story lagged in some places.  It wasn’t that it was boring, but rather, it was the flow of the story got hindered by overly describing things. 

Overall, I really enjoyed this book, and am looking forward to seeing what continuing story she might have in regards to this book.  I highly recommend this book.

Happy Reading!


Cana