Beastly is a fun, quick, enjoyable re-telling of the popular fairytale; Beauty and the Beast. Well written, with great characters and a great plot, I finished the book in one sitting and went out to recommend it to anyone who'll listen a second after.
Once upon a time, before I knew of Goodreads, I used Amazon to find new interesting books. One of the books that caught my attention was Beastly.
The first thing that attracted me to the book was the chat forum it opens with, introducing our main character, Kyle. In this chat gather people who are "monsters". People who have been cursed, and most amusingly - people from fairytales we know; The Frog Prince, The Little Mermaid, etc. through the chat, Kyle ends up telling his story to the rest of the cursed. The chat form continues to accompany us throughout the story, and I absolutely adore it!
This story of Beauty and the Beast is set in modern times, New York City.
It's written in a way that made me believe that if witches and beasts existed, this is how things will go. Flinn just made it so real. The characters were completely believable, the setting very realistic and the plot fantastic. I was completely drawn into the book and events, to the point of picking up the book, reading for three hours and putting the book away; finished.
Once upon a time, before I knew of Goodreads, I used Amazon to find new interesting books. One of the books that caught my attention was Beastly.
The first thing that attracted me to the book was the chat forum it opens with, introducing our main character, Kyle. In this chat gather people who are "monsters". People who have been cursed, and most amusingly - people from fairytales we know; The Frog Prince, The Little Mermaid, etc. through the chat, Kyle ends up telling his story to the rest of the cursed. The chat form continues to accompany us throughout the story, and I absolutely adore it!
This story of Beauty and the Beast is set in modern times, New York City.
It's written in a way that made me believe that if witches and beasts existed, this is how things will go. Flinn just made it so real. The characters were completely believable, the setting very realistic and the plot fantastic. I was completely drawn into the book and events, to the point of picking up the book, reading for three hours and putting the book away; finished.
I loved how the story took the guy in your school everyone pretends to like cause he's rich/hot/successful but secretly hate because he is condescending and cruel, broke him into little bits, scattered them around and left Lindy to gather only the better parts and discard the rest.
Kyle, as mentioned before, is that arrogant, rich, handsome guy each school (or at least each fictional school) has. He's one of those popular for his power rather than personality. He's vain, knows how he looks and doesn't have any problem with flaunting it. His idea of entertainment is to laugh at the less fortunate, look-wise and money-wise. That's how his trouble begins, by deciding to put a prank on an ugly girl called Kendra. Only Kendra's not a girl - she's a witch, and she puts a curse on him, to become as ugly outside as he is inside.
It was lovely watching Kyle change and grow throughout the story, learn the importance of being a good person, becoming someone who judges based on personality and not by how someone looks or how much money he has. Learning that nothing real comes when you buy it, that you've got to earn someone's respect and trust. Learning he can't get everything he wants, and that the heart is not for sale. I thought his growth in the story was just honestly charming.
For all his flaws, you couldn't help but love the guy at the end.
Lindy is the normal girl - she isn't a beauty, and she most definitely isn't rich. Her father's a scumbag; one willing to sell her to Kyle in exchange of not being imprisoned. Lindy, in a way, is one of us. There is nothing extraordinary about her, aside maybe her mental strength, but she's the one who manages to save Kyle, both from his curse and himself. She's the one to teach him money and looks don't matter as long as you've got a good heart.
Add to that a cute blind teacher and a maid who sometimes speaks perfect English even though she shouldn't be able to, and you've got a great set of character that really make the book worth reading.
As for the romance, I found it lovely. It doesn't develop over night, but over a long period of time, which I adore. Instant love isn't my thing, and this ain't it. You could see the process of them falling in love and you fall together with them, and I loved it. Some parts of this book were just darn right adorable.
I ended up forcing everyone to read this recommending this book to all my friends and family, because it really is a good, quick, fun read, with a great message!
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To read a proper review for this book go to my blog; Drugs Called Books!
Old Review:
I have a confession to make: the only reason I picked this book at the beginning was because I saw the chat form it opens with.
I was flipping through Amazon in search of a potential new read when I encountered this book (be surprised, that's how I found my books when I'm either too lazy to leave the comfort of my air-conditioned room, or know there isn't anything interesting in my local bookstore at the moment [before Goodreads, of course]). When I clicked the "look inside" option, just to see what it is, I saw the chat. I found the idea so fresh and new and interesting, especially since I love chats. I thought; any book that starts like this is worth my read, and it didn't disappoint.
I loved this spin of the tale of Beauty and the Beast.
I loved how it was taken into modern times and how it was executed. The way the Flinn put it made me believe this might actually happen in real life (if witches and beast existed, which sadly reality so far proven false). The characters were so believable and the setting very real. Through the three hours of reading this story, I was completely drawn into the book and events.
I adored how flawed the main character is; how vain and condescending and cruel. And then how the story slowly breaks him to bits, scatter them around and leaves Lindy (and his curse, in a way) to gather only the better parts and discard with the rest. After all - who doesn't dig the idea of fixing the evil, bad guy? (C'mon girl, admit you do.)
Add to that the cute blind teacher and the lovely romance (Another confession: I love romance. What can I say – I'm a girl. I'm allowed to love these things), which doesn't develop over night as Disney's movies tend to put it, it was a gripping and lovely reads which I recommended to my friends and family.