Beastly
Fantasy
Alex Flinn
Reviewed by C Young
Rated 4 out of 4 stars
“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 you 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.”
Are looks everything? Some people who have never even talked to Kyle love him solely based on how gorgeous he is. What they don’t know, is Kyle has this side to him, an evil side. Underneath his perfect skin, there is a mean, vicious bully; who belittles anyone and everyone who isn’t a part of the “in” crowd. All of the attention Kyle gets on a daily basis has given him a cocky outlook on life. One day, an ugly girl named Kendra appears in one of his classes. Thinking she is just another hideous ‘new girl’, he decides to play a joke on her in front of the whole class after Kendra doubts his “royal” status. The next day in the same class, Kyle asks Kendra to the upcoming dance. Kendra knows his hidden agenda of trying to embarrass her. This is when Kendra reveals herself to be a beautiful witch, and decidedly punishes Kyle for his cruel ways, condemning him to live as a alien-like beast. The only way to stop him from being a beast forever, is by finding someone to love him based on what’s on the inside within the next two years, throwing his looks to the side.
This book was extremely interesting to read because you constantly wondered whether Kyle was going to end up as an ugly beast forever. Because part of you wants him to be humiliated and feel the way everyone else felt because of him everyday, but another part of you wants him to find love and be happy, because you know after he gets back to looking the way he did, he would have changed. It just confused me to death, had me wondering, and furious at times. But I absolutely loved every moment of it.
