Beastly

Beastly
By: Alex Flinn
I am a beast.
A beast. Not quite wolf or bear, gorilla or dog but a horrible new creature who walks upright—a creature with fangs and claws and hair springing from every pore. 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.

summary from goodreads.com

My Rating: 3.5/5

I love Beauty and the Beast-mind you, I've only ever seen the Disney version although I may look into a few others versions now seeing as I'm intrigued- so I was really excited to start this book. I'll admit that I picked up Beastly because I heard about the upcoming movie adaptation. And the of course, once I read the books summary and saw how it was an adaption of Beauty and the Beast, I had to pick it up.

I really liked Flinn's take and creativity on a generally well known tale. Her twists and changes were refreshing and had me glued to this book, eager to read on. I have to say that I've never come across such a mean protagonist. Kyle was so horrible at the beginning of the book, it was difficult to read what he was saying/thinking at times just because I couldn't believe that someone could be that rude and judgmental. Although Kyle's beginning persona did make it interesting to read on and to watch him adapt and change throughout the novel.

One thing I really liked about this book was that Alex Flinn gave Kyle (The Beast) a past and a back story. You don't get a lot of that in other versions (So I've found out after using some of my swift googling skills) It is mostly through the eyes of the female lead that you are exposed to the story, The Beast already in his well known form when we first meet him.

If you enjoy love stories with a twist and also enjoy Beauty and the Beast (whichever version/adaptation), I would highly recommend this.