Author: Alex Flinn
Published by: HarperTeen
Pages: 336
Source: Won
Format: Paperback
Rating: ★★★★
Summary from 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.
I love fairy tales. I used to watch the Disney adaptations continuously as a child and I still love to pull them out every now and then to relive the memories. I think the retelling of fairy tales by making them modern and livening them up a bit make for great reading. We already know the general gist of the story, but we have no idea what is going to happen in between....it's genius!
Kyle Kingsbury was a jerk! Wow I can't believe people like that exist. It's actually really sad to think about and maybe we need some more witches around to turn these arrogant, self-absorbed, hurtful people into Beasts. I'm glad Kyle was turned into a beast, because deep down he was a great guy; he just need a life-changing event to get there. I loved seeing the progression of his attitude towards himself and others. I felt I really got to know Kyle and a character and came to really care about what happened to him at the end.
I don't want to give too much away but one of my favorite things about the story was the chat room where other common fairy tales came to life. It was interesting matching their screen names and stories to which fairy tales they belonged to. Another thing I really enjoyed about this book was it's focus on literature and different books. It was interesting hearing the character's opinions about novels and their reactions to them.
Overall if you are a fan of Beauty and the Beast, pick up this novel. You won't be disappointed.
I have heard so many mixed things on this book, but I really want to read it. I also really want to see the movie but I feel like I should read the book first :)
ReplyDeleteThat's funny -- I really loved this book -- EXCEPT for the chat room scenes. I thought it really took away from the story. Great review!
ReplyDeleteI've seen the movie, but for some reason haven't been much interesting in picking up the book, but the chatroom part sounds fun. May have to look for this on at the library.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Lisa!
I love a good fairy tale retelling. Will have to give this a read. Thanks for the great review :)
ReplyDeleteI still need to see the movie... and read the book. I love Beauty and the Beast type of stories. *sigh*
ReplyDeleteI want to read this book AND see the movie. I agree with Erica, I think I'll read the book first. Great review!
ReplyDeleteI didn't want to see this movie, it was one of those I thought I could wait for until TV. But I didn't know there was a book. The book sounds so much more interesting. Now I feel I must read the book, then see the movie heheh. Great review!
ReplyDeleteLiz @ Fictional Candy
Now that I finshed the book I want to go out and see the movie. Maybe I will and then do a comparison post. What do you think?
ReplyDeleteThis book is really good so far. I've read most of it and it's awesome. The book though is also very confusing and sort of hard to follow. I learned to not pay attention to the numbers and just read the book. It's a REALLY good book though and everyone should read it!!
ReplyDelete