Review: Beastly by Alex Flinn

Beastly - Alex  Flinn
Release Date: October 1st 2007
Publisher: Harper Teen
Age Group: Young Adult
Pages: 304
Overall: 5/5

I am a beast. A beast! Not quite wolf or bear, gorilla or dog but a horrible new creature who walks upright. 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.

Every book is supposed to be better than the movie right? So of course after seeing Beastly and falling in love with it I knew I just had to read the book. Of course, I was not disappointed. Sure a few things were changed because of how they had to film it, but reading the book helped to fill in gaps here and there that the movie left and of course, make me fall in love with Kyle/Adrian and Lindy all over again.

When I was little my favorite Disney adaptation was alway The Beauty and The Beast. So this book had a lot to live up to, and man did it. I love how fresh the take is, placing The Beast in our own time, with our own problems, and making him seem just like the original. Sweet and caring once you get to know him and get past his beastly exterior. Then Lindy, being just your average girl who's father gets into some trouble with The Beast and she is sent to live with him.

Thankfully there is no Gaston in this book though. I really loved getting to see how quickly Kyle falls in love with Lindy. Getting to know the words he wants to say to her, what he wants to do, to show her how much he loves her, and the fact that he's changing without him even realizing. You also understand his relationship with his father a bit more than when watching the movie. There are some stories that help you realize what  a horrible man he is.

The ending is really different from the movie, so I suggest anyone who saw the movie to read the book as well. Whether you liked the movie or not, the book is worth reading. It illustrates their love so much more, and I kind of liked the book ending better than the movie ending because of how fast paced it was. I read the ending so fast, when I was done and got to read the prologue I finished it just as quick, still wanting more. So if you are looking for a book that you've seen everywhere, then this is the book to get. It's worth the read, and the re-read, and the re-re-read, so if you haven't yet, go and read Beastly