Thursday, March 4, 2010

Beastly by Alex Flinn


Title: Beastly
Author: Alex Flinn
Published: In 2007 by HarperTeen

My Rating: 4 stars
Tags: YA | Romance | Fairytale Retelling
Includes: Brief Profanity

First Lines: I could feel everyone looking at me, but I was used to it. One thing my dad taught me early and often was to act like nothing moved me.



Kyle Kingsbury is arrogant, rude, and stuck up. His popularity at high school is solely based on his looks. So one day in English class, when he embarrasses a goth new student, he's in for a surprise. Later that night, Kendra, the freaky new student, turns out to be a witch in disguise and turns Kyle into a beast. Claws, fangs, hair, and all. She tells him that the only way to break the curse (and become a human again) is to have someone fall in love with him, and kiss him. Oh, and he has exactly two years before the spell is permanent. No pressure.

This was the first modern retelling of a fairytale that I've ever read, and I gotta say that I really enjoyed it. The entire novel was super predictable, but I had fun reading it along the way. I personally love the story of "Beauty and the Beast", and this book is very similar to that - except it's set in contemporary New York City. Kyle is such a conceited jerk the first few chapters into the story, and the author did a great job at making the reader despise him. The whole "lesson" of the book is obviously that inner beauty is what counts, not appearance.

I really loved seeing the symbolism of the roses, which appear throughout the whole novel. It makes me enjoy and understand the cover better now, and even the font (with the thorns) is an awesome effect. I'm also glad that the story was written in first person - it was insightful reading the mind of such an egotistical protagonist.

From page 38
"Second grade, you told Terry Fisher that the reason her head was lopsided was because her mother had slammed it in the car door. She cried for an hour. Do you think that's funny?" Yeah. Kind of.

There were interesting side plots in the book, such as between chapters when the author would write in AIM lingo. Kyle would go on the Unexpected Changes Chat Room, where he would talk with other people that were morphed into creatures - frogs, mermaids, etc. These were usually humorous, and I really enjoyed these sections of the story.

I think the ending was a little too over-the-top and fairytale-ish, but that's just my opinion. Linda, the girl who Kyle wants to fall in love with, is such an adored character; I really liked her.
Overall, this was an enjoyable book. It was predictable and down to the point, but yet still cute and a light, breezy read. I'll be reading more from this author.

Book Supplied by: Publisher for Review.

24 comments:

  1. I'm totally jealous that you got this book for review! I've been wanting to read it for ever!

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  2. I'm hoping to get this book for review from my library soon!

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  3. Its been a while since this one came out. It was the first book I ever reviewed! Glad you enjoyed it.

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  4. I really enjoyed this book especially since Beauty and the Beast is my favorite disney princess movie. Can't wait until the movie comes out.

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  5. I really loved this book. Too bad the movie looks really disappointing. :/

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  6. Can you picture Vanessa Hudgens as Linda? Ugh.
    Glad you liked the book.

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  7. Wow, I need to get this. It sounds great and I love Beauty and the Beast :)

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  8. Great review! I’ve been on the fence about reading this one. I’m glad to hear you liked it. The movie looks different so I wasn’t sure if I’d like this book or not. I’ll definitely give it a try.

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  9. I've seen this one around but never really gave it much attention. I like that the cover actually connects to the elements of the story. It really annoys me when I can't figure out how the cover and story are related!

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  10. The movie looks mediocre at best but hopefully the book is better. I've been kind of on the fence with this one since I also love Beauty and the Beast and I wouldn't want to read a book that ruins that fairytale for me.

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  11. This is the first review I read on Beastly. Your review was great! I loved Beauty and the Beast growing up. Maybe I should try this book. I adore the cover, looks brilliant! =)

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  12. I enjoyed this book too and I also liked the chat room scenes, I thought that was really clever. I agree that the ending is a little over the top, but I was happy with it.

    I know they are coming out with a movie of this soon so it will be interesting to see how it is.

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  13. I have this book in my TBR pile. I hope to get to it soon!
    I really enjoyed your review. It made me excited to start reading Beastly. Thanks!

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  14. Great review, Ashley! I love fairy tale adaptations. I really liked Beastly. The ending was a little over the top, but how else should it have been? The movie will be out soon, although I don't know that I want to see it. If you really like fairy tale like stories, you should check out East by Edith Pattou.

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  15. This was one of my favorite books, I really agree with your review! I think you put it exactly how I felt about it! (:(:

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  16. I have been wanting to read this book for a while now. I can't wait to see the movie! I like your honest review. Also liked how you put the first line of the book in the review.

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  17. I adore modern retellings of fairy tales. Ever since Ella Enchanted (I was in middle school), it's been on the top of my list as favorite sub-genres. : ) Beastly was no exception. I do agree, though, that the end was a little "much" but then, the beginning was as well (I know people are that mean, but still, really?)...

    The "chat" sections between were also fun... It made me hope a little that Alex Flinn would write about the other chatters.

    Great review.

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  18. Absolutely loved this book!! It was so clean too! And also being made into a movie! :)

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  19. Glad you enjoyed it =)
    While I understand why you think the end was too fairy-tale like, this book is afterall based on a fairy tale. This story has been told some many times before, it's kinda hard not to be predictable.
    I really enjoyed it, and I like the touch of modernity the author added to the story.

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  20. I've to admit that I didn't know anything about this book until after I watched the trailer of its movie adaptation (Which everyone knows is WAY different from the book). I was pleasantly surprise at how good the book turned out to be. This is the first fairy tale re-telling I've ever read, and I'm sure it won't be the last. A great one!

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  21. I've been wanting to read this book for ages.
    I love the idea of the modern, unique beauty and the beast.
    Great review!

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  22. I really enjoyed this book as well. I'm looking forward to the movie when it comes out but I'm certain it won't be as good as reading it (although Alex is very nice eye candy!)

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  23. ummmm...Alex the actor, not Alex Flinn the writer... :P

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  24. I really want to read this book! I've had it on my wishlist for months now. My library has it. The movie is coming out - are you going to see it? I definitely want to watch the movie but I need to read the book before I do. I've only read one fairy tale retelling and it didn't go so well. But I have high hopes for this one.

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Thanks, I love what you have to say!