Beastly, by Alex Flinn

One of my teen advisors, Amanda Heffner, recommended Beastly, by Alex Flinn, at our last Teen Book Club. She said it was a modern day fairy tale version of Beauty and the Beast. I was interested; of course, she alway recommends fabulous books. So, I went to my local bookstore and they didn't have any! We have some at the library, of course, but I wanted to be able to give one away at the End of Summer Party for Teens in August. I had to order one and wait a few days. Anyway, be sure to read Flinn's author's note at the end. I love how she explains that she was "disturbed by the inconsistencies" in the retellings "of a traditional tale" especially in the Disney version. Flinn's Beast is one of the beautiful people that you will find in your high school. Do you have a rich and handsome boy in one of your classes who just knows how rich and handsome he is and flaunts it all over the place? Do you hope someday that he will get his comeuppance? Well, Beastly, is a safe place for you to get your vindication. Kyle Kingsbury, who later becomes the Beast, is beautifully cruel to all of the regular people at his private school. One day he notices a goth girl and starts to tease her in front of everyone! Little does he know that she's actually a witch and she turns him into the Beast for his inability to see past appearances and treat people with respect. He not only goes through a transformation on the outside, but Flinn's Beast goes through an inner transformation as well... Don't worry, it's not just a love story; there is plenty of flesh ripping and bone cracking for balance. I think my favorite aspect of the story is that the Beast reads so many great books during his time of change and talks about them with his tutor, Will.
If you like fantasy fiction, you should put a copy on hold today! Click on the title to reserve a copy now! Don't forget to come back to the blog and post a comment on how you liked the story!
Later,
Audrey