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 the perfect life. And then, I'll tell you how I became perfectly . . . beastly.

CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 4.5 based on 29 reviews)

New York Beauty & The Beast Romance

Several of my middle and high school girls told me this book was "almost as good as Twilight." That is about as positive an endorsement as they could make seeing as Twilight has been read at least once by ninety percent of my female students. They will never pass up an opportunity to talk about it. What Beastly does do is to come close to Twilight in its ability to satisfy the adolescent female's hopeful perspective on romance.

Alex Finn, author of several well-received books for young adults, makes a seamless fit of the story Beauty and the Beast and a twenty-first century high school in New York City in her book Beastly. Every aspect of the original story is preserved: the bookish, pure-hearted girl; the arrogant, privileged, shallow, and handsome young man; the witch and the spell that must be broken by a kiss of true love; the father who pays for trespassing by giving his daughter to the beast; the transformation of the heart of the beast; the rescue and the kiss freely given on the brink of the wounded beast's death. Yet each one of these elements is easily recognizable as an aspect of the lives of today's teenagers.

Good stories are retold through the ages because they reflect the timeless and universal qualities of human nature. The fairy tale Beauty and the Beast tells us that romantic love worth having is love based on caring and not on money or looks or power. Its retelling in Beastly appeals to my female students and mostly leaves their male counterparts as uninterested as does the enormously popular Twilight. Though it does have some mature observations made by the adolescent protagonist, the action and writing style is appropriate for readers as young as middle school.

Gaby Chapman
January 07, 2009

beastly

"Beastly" is a re-telling of "Beauty & the Beast" set in present day New York City. The book adds another twist by having the Beast (in the body of 16 year old Kyle Kingsbury) narrate the story. Kyle is basically a spoiled brat before his transformation into the Beast, but he becomes vulnerable & learns his lesson afterwards. Kyle's transformation is real, but his falling in love with Lindy (a homely Beauty) just doesn't ring true. But all in all, "Beastly" is worth the read.
December 31, 2008

very well done

I very much enjoyed reading this version of Beauty and the Beast, although I would suggest that parents take into account that this teen book is based for a more mature audience. There were definite scenes within the book that were risque'.

Kyle/Adrian (he changes his name when his character changes) is the beauty and the beast in this novel. He was very beautiful and knew it, but when he decides to pick on a ugly girl at school it turns out she really a witch and turn him into a beast so that his looks on the outside match what he is on the inside. Kyle/Adrian has two years to find his TRUE love. Well, lets just say he cuts it pretty close. What I liked about this version was that the heroine had a hard life, too, and she was portrayed as no beauty, yet once Adrian got to know her better, he saw her as a beauty. I liked the whole beauty on the inside coming out portrayal. This one is definitely a keeper!
November 17, 2008

Angieville: BEASTLY

I read this in one big gulp the day it showed up on my doorstep. I've flirted with the thought of reading an Alex Flinn book for awhile now and just never got around to it. BEASTLY was the perfect point of entry. Loved the title, loved the cover, loved the back jacket excerpt. Set in contemporary NYC, this version is told from the Beast's perspective as he recounts the tale of how a scorned gothgirl witch changed him into a beast and his subsequent efforts to regain his human form (and perhaps a little actual humanity while he's at it). What I loved about this book was the way Flinn absolutely threw her story (and her characters) into the modern world of teenagedom. If a 16-year-old former cock of the walk high school student suddenly found himself a big beastie, he'd, well, once he got over the social mortification of it all, he'd totally find himself a chat room for transformation survivors where he could take advantage of his anonymity and make snarky remarks. And that's exactly what Kyle does.

The book opens with a transcript from one of these chats, and they are interspersed throughout the rest of the narrative. They are the most hilarious parts of the book. BeastNYC, SilentGirl, Froggie, and GrizzlyGuy talk about their struggles as three transformed beings (and one wannabe). The discussion is moderated by the mysterious Mr. Anderson and as the familiar fairy tale characters took shape I couldn't stop myself laughing out loud. This B&B story hits everything right and the changes Ms. Flinn made enhanced her grittier version of the tale. For instance, Flinn's Beast is more akin to a dark superhero. Batman prowling the streets of Gotham City at night. He even takes a new name--Adrian--symbolizing his complete reversal in fortune, bleak new outlook on life, and ultimate rejection of the boy he used to be. In addition, the reader gets to catch the whole transformation thing as it happens. In most versions, we come to it way after the fact. Often the Beast has been languishing under his curse for hundreds of years when we come upon him. In this case, Kyle/Adrian has just two years to find true love and break the spell. I liked that we got in on how he coped with it all, as opposed to getting it in retrospect. This is also the first version I've read where Beauty's family didn't want her. Where, by all accounts, she's had a rougher life than he has. It makes it that much sweeter when these two people who have suffered much find not only love, but a way out.
November 06, 2008

good but not for anyone under 16

Great story. Well written but definantly not for younger readers. If you like fary tales whitch I do you'll like this book.
October 27, 2008

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