Beastly

Author: Alex Flinn
Genre: Young Adult - Fantasy
Publication Date: October 1, 2007
Publisher: Harper Teen
Age Range: Young Adult
Pages:  304
Date Scoot Read: February 2011
Source: Audiobook

Scoot's Rating: 6- Good read with small flaws.

Synopsis (via Goodreads): I am a beast.  A beast! Not quite wolf or bear, gorilla or dog but a horrible new creature who walks upright. 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.

Scoot’s Review:
Beauty and the Beast is one of my favorite fairy tales. I pretty much wanted to be Belle after the Disney version of the story came out.  So obviously I was looking forward to reading a twist on the classic tale told from the Beast’s point of view.  Beastly is set in modern day New York and follows Kyle, a good looking but cruel teenager.  Kyle is not a nice guy and when it comes to objects or girls (basically the same things in his eyes) he gets what he wants when he wants it. But not everything is perfect for him; trying to get any form of attention from his celebrity father is practically impossible. Despite that Kyle continues to be a jerk until one night he crosses someone who fights back.  Kyle’s ‘dream’ life is turned upside down when he is cursed and turned into a Beast – a hairy one, with claws and fangs – and is given two years to find someone who can truly love him as the ‘Beast’ or he will be stuck that way forever.  Beastly was a fun read and I like the modern twists in the tale.  Kyle was a total brat at first and I enjoyed getting to see him slowly change and develop into a decent guy.  The story had enough character depth to keep it interesting, if not at times a little cheesy.  I liked Linda and felt like the romance between the “Beauty” and the “Beast” was realistic (in that fairy-tale way).  A light read that I recommend reading before watching the movie that comes out soon!

Random Movie Comments:  It looks like the movie is going to be very different from the book. The beast curse in the book involves lots of hair/claws/monstery-looks, in contrast to the movie beast curse which involves a bunch of tattoos and cracked skin.  Despite that, who can resist going to see the story live? Not me! I will be watching it.