Beastly
by
Alex Flinn
Order:
USA
Can
HarperCollins, 2007 (2007)
Hardcover
Reviewed by Lyn Seippel
C
an beauty be only skin deep? Anyone who knows Kyle Kingsbury, knows this is true. Spoiled but ignored by his anchorman dad, Kyle is intolerant of anyone who isn't beautiful.
W
hen he has the unlucky experience of asking a witch to the high school dance so he can laugh at her when he shows up with the school's most gorgeous girl, the witch decides he should look more like he behaves. She turns him into a beast, but she gives him a way out of his curse. He must find a girl to love him and he must love her in return.
E
ven in present day New York, a hairy beast with fangs and claws draws attention. Kyle's dad is disgusted with Kyle's appearance and after he is unable to find a doctor to
fix
his son, he leaves him in a house with a maid and a tutor to take care of him. How can Kyle meet anyone when he can't even leave the house? And if he did, would she run away screaming?
A
n interesting twist on this contemporary version of
Beauty and the Beast
is that the story is told from the beast's point of view. Despite the fact that everyone knows the plot, Flinn's version is well worth reading.
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