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Beastly by Alex Flinn
The Blurb On The Back:
I am a beast.
A beast. Not quite wolf or gorilla or dog, but a horrible new creature with fangs, claws and hair springing from every pore. I am a walking monster.
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 – 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, the perfect girl, and the perfect life. And then, I’ll tell you how I became perfectly … beastly.
Good-looking and popular, Kyle Kingsbury’s dating the hottest girl at school and his newcaster father buys him whatever he wants. Kyle’s dad believes that looks are everything and encourages Kyle to treat people according to their appearance. When Kenda, an overweight goth girl, mocks Kyle for this superficial attitude he asks her to the prom in order to humiliate her. However his plan backfires when Kendra reveals that she’s really a witch and transforms him into a terrible and hideous beast. Now Kyle has 2 years to find a girl who loves him for who he is. If he fails to kiss his true love within that period, then he’ll remain a beast forever.
Locked away in a Brooklyn brownstone house with housekeeper Magda and a blind tutor called Will, Kyle despairs of ever finding someone who’ll love him. But one night a man breaks into the house and in return for his freedom promises Kyle his daughter Lindy and Kyle realises that the curse could be broken after all …
Alex Flinn’s YA update of Beauty and the Beast is a saccharine affair. Flinn’s thoroughly researched the story and the result is a familiar plot of transformation and redemption, which will please traditionalists. However for me Flinn stays too close to the fairy tale feel so the modern New York setting feels out-of-kilter with the old-fashioned themes. An on-line chat group for people who’ve been transformed like Kyle is too cutesy (although it’s interesting that transformed boys get happier endings than girls) and interrupts Kyle’s first person narration. Lindy’s storyline with her drug addicted criminal father should provide much needed grit, but it’s two-dimensional and ultimately only a plot device to set up key events.
I never believed in Kyle’s story arc because Flinn is too anxious to show him as being good underneath it all so the outcome’s never in doubt. At best, he’s going through the motions, at worst he’s a blank plot cypher. Lindy’s completely passive, never trying to escape or showing much resistance other than saying she hates Kyle. Only Kendra has any zip and even she’s given a sappy tacked on ending.
Ultimately this is an easy enough read but no one learns any lessons apart from Kyle and he already knew them. Too sweet for me, it should appeal to those seeking an old fashioned fairy tale in a modern setting.
The Verdict:
Alex Flinn’s modern recasting of BEAUTY AND THE BEAST was ultimately too saccharine an affair for me and I never felt that Flinn reconciled the modern day New York setting with the old-fashioned fairy tale feel. As a result, there isn’t enough grit in there to offset the sweetness and I never really saw Kyle as anything more than a plot cypher while Lindy slots into the worrying trend of passive female characters who allow creepy things to happen to them without fighting back. If you’re a fan of fairy-tale retellings, you may like this but I was hoping for something a little bit more.
A beast. Not quite wolf or gorilla or dog, but a horrible new creature with fangs, claws and hair springing from every pore. I am a walking monster.
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 – 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, the perfect girl, and the perfect life. And then, I’ll tell you how I became perfectly … beastly.
Good-looking and popular, Kyle Kingsbury’s dating the hottest girl at school and his newcaster father buys him whatever he wants. Kyle’s dad believes that looks are everything and encourages Kyle to treat people according to their appearance. When Kenda, an overweight goth girl, mocks Kyle for this superficial attitude he asks her to the prom in order to humiliate her. However his plan backfires when Kendra reveals that she’s really a witch and transforms him into a terrible and hideous beast. Now Kyle has 2 years to find a girl who loves him for who he is. If he fails to kiss his true love within that period, then he’ll remain a beast forever.
Locked away in a Brooklyn brownstone house with housekeeper Magda and a blind tutor called Will, Kyle despairs of ever finding someone who’ll love him. But one night a man breaks into the house and in return for his freedom promises Kyle his daughter Lindy and Kyle realises that the curse could be broken after all …
Alex Flinn’s YA update of Beauty and the Beast is a saccharine affair. Flinn’s thoroughly researched the story and the result is a familiar plot of transformation and redemption, which will please traditionalists. However for me Flinn stays too close to the fairy tale feel so the modern New York setting feels out-of-kilter with the old-fashioned themes. An on-line chat group for people who’ve been transformed like Kyle is too cutesy (although it’s interesting that transformed boys get happier endings than girls) and interrupts Kyle’s first person narration. Lindy’s storyline with her drug addicted criminal father should provide much needed grit, but it’s two-dimensional and ultimately only a plot device to set up key events.
I never believed in Kyle’s story arc because Flinn is too anxious to show him as being good underneath it all so the outcome’s never in doubt. At best, he’s going through the motions, at worst he’s a blank plot cypher. Lindy’s completely passive, never trying to escape or showing much resistance other than saying she hates Kyle. Only Kendra has any zip and even she’s given a sappy tacked on ending.
Ultimately this is an easy enough read but no one learns any lessons apart from Kyle and he already knew them. Too sweet for me, it should appeal to those seeking an old fashioned fairy tale in a modern setting.
The Verdict:
Alex Flinn’s modern recasting of BEAUTY AND THE BEAST was ultimately too saccharine an affair for me and I never felt that Flinn reconciled the modern day New York setting with the old-fashioned fairy tale feel. As a result, there isn’t enough grit in there to offset the sweetness and I never really saw Kyle as anything more than a plot cypher while Lindy slots into the worrying trend of passive female characters who allow creepy things to happen to them without fighting back. If you’re a fan of fairy-tale retellings, you may like this but I was hoping for something a little bit more.