Beastly by Alex Flinn

Publisher's Summary: I am a beast.

A beast. You think I'm talking fairy tales? No way. The place is New York City. The time is now. 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.

My Take: I don’t really know what to say about this one other than, it was cute! Beauty and the Beast is my favorite Disney movie so I loved listening to this book. I didn’t grow EXTREMELY attached to it, but I’m glad I read it…well I’m actually glad I listened to the audio book.

I love how Alex Flinn vividly described what a big-time jerk Kyle was. You not only get to see how Kyle’s horrible actions affect others, but since this classic story is retold from Kyle’s POV, you also get to know what he’s thinking as well. And you learn that Kyle’s dad is an even bigger jerk than he is, so you also learn where it all came from.

I figured out pretty early on that it would be Lindy who breaks the Beastly spell, but I was still curious to find out HOW it was going to happen.

Beastly follows the primary story elements of Beauty And The Beast pretty closely. However, as I mentioned above, you now get to see the story from the guy’s (beast’s) POV this time, not from the girl’s (beauty’s) POV! And the rest of the story is also written for a more modern audience. The spell is cast on Kyle because Kyle asks an ugly witch to the prom to purposely humiliate her! Of course, he didn’t know she was a witch when he invited her to the prom…although (in his mind) he thought that he wouldn’t be surprised if she WERE a witch…IF witches really DID exist. So when he invites her to the prom, he already knows that he is going to humiliate her because he never REALLY intended to go with her to the prom! Well, yep, she really WAS a witch and since he DOES humiliate her, she casts a spell sentencing him to sprout beastly fur, claws and really sharp teeth. And his only chance of ever being returned to his former perfect looks is to fall in love with a girl who must love him back…and they must kiss!

Sounds cute right? It was!


Buy it here:
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Audio book reserved from the library.