Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Beastly by Alex Flinn


Kyle is the most popular guy at school. He's also the meanest and most self-absorbed. When his monstrous behavior goes a step too far, a witch turns him into a beast. Only true love will break the spell, but that's a tall order in today's cynical world. Will Kyle remain a beast forever?

The fairy tale novel has been having a mild resurgence lately, ever since Gail Carson Levine's Ella Enchanted. Some have been using fairy tale elements to create an original tale, but others, like this one, retell an actual tale. Most fairy tale novels (at least the ones that I'm familiar with) tend to be female-centric, so it is refreshing that this one is told from the point of view of the Beast, and lets us get to know him before the witch curses him. Kyle is a snobby rich kid who thinks he is better than everyone because of his looks, because of his money, and because that is how his father has raised him. His cruel jokes cause a witch to transform him, making his outside as ugly as his inside. Alex Flinn does a really nice job in updating the Beauty and the Beast story, blending the traditional elements with modern culture. As the Beast, Kyle has his rose garden, which winds up being the catalyst for his Beauty (in this case, Lindy) to come to his home. He also has his servants who have their own sort of enchantment (okay, that is stretching it a bit on my part, but after you've finished the book, you should see my point.) But there is a chat room where he first reaches out to the world outside his lonely brownstone, and when he goes searching for love on the internet the magic mirror shows him that not everyone is who they claim to be.

I really enjoyed this book. What about you? Do you like the fairy tale aspect? What about the references to The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Jane Eyre, and The Phantom of the Opera? Or did you think the author had to strain too much to get everything to fit?

4 comments:

Bailey Marin said...

hey! i loved this book! and so i'm doing a report on it right now but i don't have it with me and i cannot remember for the life of me all the character's names!! who is the witch? the teatcher? and the maid?

smaileh said...

Hi, Bailey. I really liked this book, too. In fact, it sounds like the author is going to do a series of fairy tale inspired novels. She wrote something on her blog awhile ago about her next book being based on Sleeping Beauty.

Anyway, the witch was Kendra, the goth girl--the one he humiliated in front of the dance. And she was also Magda, the maid--remember that scene on the roof at the end? She transformed herself into Magda. The tutor, Will, was just someone his dad hired, though Magda/Kendra was the one who recommended him.

smaileh said...

BTW, the author's blog is at http://alixwrites.livejournal.com/

Anonymous said...

OMG! This book was so awesome! I loved it, the way it was based on Beauty and the Beast! It was just so awesome! Okay my fav part was when he saved Lindy what was any of yours????? The Sleeping Beauty thing sounds awesome!!!!!

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