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71 of 79 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Courtesy of Teens Read Too, February 28, 2008
"Kyle Kingsbury, you are beastly."
That's what Kendra said. Beastly. But Kyle had it all: popularity, good looks, money, and any girl he wanted. Kyle never missed an opportunity to let the inferior people know just how far beneath him they were, including his best friend, whose dad was merely a doctor. Kyle's dad was the nightly New York City news anchor. At Tuttle, an elite school for the richest of the rich, Kyle was a somebody.
Until the school dance. Until his stupid maid bought his girlfriend a rose instead of an orchid for her corsage, which Kyle tossed to a scholarship student. Until he deliberately set up Kendra to be embarrassed and humiliated when she realized that he, Prince of the dance, already had a date and never intended to be her escort.
Until Kendra appeared in his bedroom and he received his "comeuppance."
"You will know what it is like not to be beautiful, to be as ugly on the outside as on the inside..."
The clock struck midnight and Kyle was left a beast, with only a magic mirror for company.
Kyle's famous dad vows to spend whatever it takes to cure his son's affliction. When he realizes even his money isn't enough to find a cure, he banishes his son, with their maid and a tutor, to a New York brownstone.
Will Kyle ever be able to break the curse? Will he find true love's kiss or be forever doomed to roam the New York City streets in the dark of night, hidden as the beast?
BEASTLY, by Alex Flinn, is a modern retelling of Beauty and the Beast. This novel is just plain fun . Ms. Flinn creates the perfect romantic tension when Kyle finds his true love and then has to let her go. Like the fragrance of the perfect rose, BEASTLY will linger with the reader, leaving the feeling that life is indeed good long after the pages of the book have been pressed closed.
Reviewed by: Cana Rensberger
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53 of 58 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Great character transformation, not the greatest love story, April 3, 2008
Kyle Kingsbury is rich, good-looking, has a celebrity father, and is elected the prince of popularity at school. Influenced by his neglecting father, who teaches him that the only person who will ever love him is himself, he lives his life in an arrogant, cruel manner, getting thrills out of hurting others. When he deceives a girl at school with the sole purpose of humiliating her, and the girl (who happens to be a witch) retaliates, he finds himself under a beastly curse until he can learn to love and is loved in return.
The most interesting part of the story is the great transformation of Kyle. In the beginning he is truly selfish and vile and undergoes a substantial physical change which leads to a deeper, inward change that is believable. Lindy is not as compelling a character as I would have enjoyed. She needs more wit or cleverness to make her truly something unique. He seems to fall in lust with her more than love (thinking of running his hands over her thin dress, etc).
Warning for YA readers: There are references to sex with girlfriend at the beginning of book, alcohol use, mildly offensive language, and general sensuality.
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46 of 55 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
keeper, October 26, 2007
I think I would call my reaction to this fairy tale retelling "mildly enthusiastic," though I suppose that's an oxymoron.
The story flows smoothly and believably, and does not suffer at all for being set in modern times. Too often when fairy tales are modernized, they lose a bit of their magic, but Ms. Flinn did a very good job.
Two things prevented me being wildly enthusiastic for this book. The first could have been avoided, but the second I thought Ms. Flinn handled very well. First, the transformation help group internet chat logs interspersed throughout the story were an intriguing idea, but I think overall I could have done without them.
Second, for those who, like me, read fairy tales mostly for the romantic themes, it might be hard to be entranced by the male viewpoint. Much like Andrew Lloyd Weber's "Phantom of the Opera" (with whom our beast identifies), however, you find yourself really rooting for the monster, even knowing what a jerk he was before his transformation.
I expect this story to improve with a second reading, and have decided to add it to my bookshelf.
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