A Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year
A Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year
A Rainbow Book List selection
A YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults selection
A witty, wise, and heart-wrenching reimagining of Beauty and the Beast that will appeal to fans of Rainbow Rowell and David Levithan.
Tall, meaty, muscle-bound, and hairier than most throw rugs, Dylan doesn’t look like your average fifteen-year-old, so, naturally, high school has not been kind to him. To make matters worse, on the day his school bans hats (his preferred camouflage), Dylan goes up on his roof only to fall and wake up in the hospital with a broken leg—and a mandate to attend group therapy for self-harmers.
Dylan vows to say nothing and zones out at therapy—until he meets Jamie. She’s funny, smart, and so stunning, even his womanizing best friend, JP, would be jealous. She’s also the first person to ever call Dylan out on his self-pitying and superficiality.
As Jamie’s humanity and wisdom begin to rub off on Dylan, they become more than just friends. But there is something Dylan doesn’t know about Jamie, something she shared with the group the day he wasn’t listening. Something that shouldn’t change a thing. She is who she’s always been—an amazing photographer and devoted friend, who also happens to be transgender. But will Dylan see it that way?
Praise for Beast:
"Writing smartly in Dylan’s voice, Spangler artfully represents both main characters: the boy who feels like a freak and the witty, imperfect, wise trans girl he loves. Very lightly borrowing on the classic fairy tale, she allows them to fail and succeed without resorting to paper villains or violent plot points to manipulate compassion. A believable and beautiful human story.” —Kirkus Reviews, Starred review
"Spangler’s captivating portrayals of Dylan and Jamie offer piercing insight into the long, painful battle to shatter stereotypes in order to win dignity, love, and acceptance.” —Publishers Weekly, Starred review
Beauty and the Beast is one of my favorite Disney movies, so of course I have to read all things BatB! Especially since Beast is about a giant, hairy boy and a transgirl! Dylan is sent to therapy after breaking his leg falling off the roof. His mother is worried that he actually jumped, since she knows he’s struggling with his appearance. Dylan doesn’t think he belongs in the group, but then he meets Jamie. She’s super cute and actually likes him! But Dylan kind of misses a super important fact about her while wallowing in self pity.
My favorite part of Beast was Dylan’s voice. He felt authentic. Sure, I wanted to smack him sometimes, but he felt real to me. He’s so caught up in his own problems that he completely misses Jamie mentioning that she’s trans, and he never asks his supposed best friend how things are at home even knowing his mother is an alcoholic. His world revolves around how tall and big and hairy he is, and how girls think he’s ugly and boys are afraid of him. That’s now at all how Dylan wants to be seen, so I get it, I do. In fact, I think a lot of people can relate to not being seen by others how you see yourself. Maybe that makes you miss out on how others are feeling, but that’s life.
However, my least favorite part of Beast was J.P., the supposed best friend. He uses Dylan to intimidate people into paying back “loans.” He’s super attractive and gets whatever he wants. Dylan is jealous at times, but then he realizes that J.P. is no friend at all (not that Dylan is perfect in their relationship). There is a confrontation, and I just didn’t believe it. I couldn’t wrap my hear around J.P. as a character at all. Was he being sincere, or was this just another manipulation? I know in real life there are people you can’t quite figure out, but J.P. didn’t read that way to me at all. He just felt like incomplete to me. Not to mention that Jamie falls for his charms, but doesn’t really, but kind of does? I don’t even know. That whole situation didn’t feel completely worked out to me, almost like it was a forced way to have all three characters together and trying to talk things out. I don’t know.
Overall, I really enjoyed Beast. Dylan had a fresh voice and point of view. I liked how his relationship with Jamie developed and how it brought up questions about sexuality and then firmly answered them (no, you don’t have to be gay/bi/poly/pan/whatever to be attracted to a trans person). I loved how Jamie wouldn’t put up with Dylan’s crap!
