Beastly by Alex Flinn

[legace]

Beastly is the tale of a self-obsessed teenaged boy, Kyle Kingsbury. Kyle is living THE life to live: he lives in a two story apartment in Manhattan; he gets all the girls; his dad a rich, famous news anchor; and he has the perfect exterior content blond hair, blue eyes, six-pack, etc.

Everyone at his elite private school, Tuttle, knows who he is and not to mess with him. All the girls wanted him and all the guys wanted to be him. And all of this will change, one night, when a witch casts a spell on him and turns him BEASTLY.

Flinn has written quite a few books with the theme of, as she calls them, "modern fairytale." I quite agree with this name for the genre that she alone has created. In Beastly, she highlights some of society's own hidden fears about love; such as, "Will I die alone because I am unattractive?"

She brings true love to light with beautiful, hilarious characters, and how all of us fear that little thing called beauty.

I have read this book several times as well as her other book, Cloaked, and I always take delight in that day when I have nothing more fun to do than curl up on my couch and read Beastly.

[Gravy]

I liked this book quite a bit.
Good review, thank you.

I love fairytale inspired stories and they're quite popular right now.

Here's a thread if you want any recommendations...
forums.onlinebookclub.org/viewtopic.php ... 95#p305850

[ALynnPowers]

I think I saw this movie but had no idea it was actually a book!
I also love stories that are modern fairy tales, or fairy tales remade.

[cnicholas]

This modern day fairytale was amazing. A spoiled rotten boy learns the price of his cruelty. In some ways it may be better then the original story line. In more detail you see Kyle "the beast" grow. Not just with his loving of Lindy "Belle" but also appreciating the people around, such as his made and tutor. He doesn't get to stay in his "castle" but has to move to a " gothic setting" in a brownstone instead of main NYC life. He learns to see the small beauty in the world through his flowers. You want Kyle to break his curse when he grows a heart. The only thing I don't agree with this story-line is the basic Stockholm syndrome scheme. Yes you can see they fall in love but he did basically kidnap her or was sold to him by her father for drugs. At least in the movie it made her father seem like he cared for her and wanted to protect her from drug dealers.

[ALynnPowers]

This modern day fairytale was amazing. A spoiled rotten boy learns the price of his cruelty. In some ways it may be better then the original story line. In more detail you see Kyle "the beast" grow. Not just with his loving of Lindy "Belle" but also appreciating the people around, such as his made and tutor. He doesn't get to stay in his "castle" but has to move to a " gothic setting" in a brownstone instead of main NYC life. He learns to see the small beauty in the world through his flowers. You want Kyle to break his curse when he grows a heart. The only thing I don't agree with this story-line is the basic Stockholm syndrome scheme. Yes you can see they fall in love but he did basically kidnap her or was sold to him by her father for drugs. At least in the movie it made her father seem like he cared for her and wanted to protect her from drug dealers.

The ultimate Stockholm syndrome story, for sure!!

[Laurasia]

What made me enjoy reading this book is seeing how Kyle dealt with his transformation. It was interesting to see how he coped with suddenly being turned into a beast both emotionally and in terms of his lifestyle.

[Sarah Clay]

I actually didn't enjoy this one like I thought I would. It was kind of cheesy in places, and I thought Kyle was extremely annoying.

[CapriceM]

I LOVE this book. I've read it time and time again, and it just never gets old. Beauty and the Beast is already my favorite Disney princess movie, and maybe I'm biased because of that. But I just love everything about this book, and I also love the movie. I don't think Alex Flinn could've done a better job. I really want to read his other books as well.

[HarneetB]

I read this book in high school after I saw the trailer of the movie and decided to give it a chance. I never expected to like it as much as I did. I felt that I could really connect with the characters. It helps us realize important lessons about beauty isn't always whats on the outside, inside it what is truly important. We should not judge people on the basis of looks. It was a cheesy book but I really enjoyed it and it was really cute. I honestly recommend to read

[Londera]

I love Alex Finn's modern day fairytale retellings. They always have unique twists and tie real life situations to fairy taled beautifully. I always pick up one of her books when I want something fun and lighthearted to read.

-- 24 Sep 2017, 22:50 --

Beastly was one of the first fairytale retellings I read. I loved the book and movie