Beastly

Summary:

I am a beast. A beast. Not quite wolf or bear, gorilla or dog, but a horrible new creature who walks upright – a creature with fangs and claws and hair springing from every pore. 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 a perfect life. And then, I’ll tell you how I became perfectly beastly.

Review:

I was tooling around on Youtube and I found a "teaser trailer" for this book which I had on my To Be Read pile. So I moved it up on my reading list.

I have to admit I thought the trailer was a bit...lame...but after reading the book I can see that the movie actually fixes some of the more traditional and out of date concepts of the wonderful story of Beauty and the Beast.

It took me about 70 some pages to get into this and then I couldn't put it down! It is a modern telling of Beauty and the Beast and it keeps to the very traditional storyline, the beast is hairy (unlike in the trailer...but I like the image in the trailer better, I don't think a modern witch would turn a bratty teen into a woolly mammoth anymore). Also the way the Beast obtains his Beauty is traditional...her father exchanges her...and while the book made this seem half believable I still don't see it happening...I do wonder what they will do in the movie.

As a young adult book I found this one perfect for a teen girl. The female character is not weak nor is she particularly boy crazy. She gets the boy because she is portrayed as a good wholesome studious person. Which not many of the "popular" teen book are doing these days.

Overall I give this book 4 stars...