Beastly

Beastly, by Alex Flinn, is on the 2008 Quick Picks for Reluctant Readers list. This was an excellent retelling of the Beauty and the Beast fairy tale, told from the beast’s point of view. The beast was originally a spoiled, gorgeous sixteen-year-old named Kyle who made fun of a strange, unattractive girl who turned out to be a witch. This witch cast a spell on Kyle, turning him into a beast, and of course the spell could only be broken by a kiss from a girl who he loved and who loved him back. Kyle had a two-year deadline to find true love, and eventually he did. A man broke into his greenhouse who had a sixteen-year-old daughter he was willing to trade for his freedom. Kyle, who now referred to himself as Adrian, made a comfortable home for this girl, Lindy, and fell in love with her, not believing she could ever love him back. Later, he let her leave to take care of her druggie father, then months later on the night of the two year anniversary of the curse, Adrian saw in his magic mirror that Lindy was in danger. He ran through New York to save her, and after she kissed him she asked Kyle where Adrian was because she wanted the beast back. The author patterned much of the storyline after the traditional versions of this story, with her own twists along the way. She emphasized certain aspects which were previously neglected, such as the two teens being alone and neglected by their fathers. The story was very well done. We really got to understand Adrian’s hopes and dreams as he transformed himself into a better human being on the inside before he was transformed back into a human on the outside.