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| Beastly | 
 enlarge | Author: Alex Flinn
Publisher: HarperTeen
Category: Book
List Price: $6.99
Buy New: $3.05
You Save: $3.94 (56%)
New (31) Used (7) from $3.05
Avg. Customer Rating:  27 reviews
Sales Rank: 13593
Media: Paperback
Edition: Reprint
Reading Level: Young Adult
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 336
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5 x 0.9
ISBN: 006087418X
EAN: 9780060874186
ASIN: 006087418X
Publication Date: October 1, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Brand New and Factory Sealed Item Fast Shipping
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Product Description
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.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 22 more reviews...
 very well done November 17, 2008
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!
 Angieville: BEASTLY November 6, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
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.
good but not for anyone under 16 October 27, 2008
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
Great story. Well written but definantly not for younger readers. If you like fary tales whitch I do you'll like this book.
What a Beast! October 15, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Of all the fairy tales, my favorite has always been "Beauty and the Beast." I found this version to be fascinating because it came from the view of "the Beast" and because "Beauty" isn't the beautiful girl everyone just adores. In fact, "the Beast" is the one who starts out as the beautiful one.
Kyle Kingsbury is the newly crowned "Prince" of the Spring dance at Tuttle High School, the most elite school in New York. He's handsome, and he knows it. He's also arrogant, self-centered, selfish, mean spirited, and (as his girlfriend puts it) evil. He finds pleasure in putting people in their place, which is always below him.
Things take a drastic change when Kyle plays a mean trick on a girl at school who is truly a witch and is transformed into "the Beast." He is given 2 years to find true love and have that loved returned. The author does a wonderful job in making Kyle a believable character from today's world and leading us to thank the witch in casting the spell on the annoying Kyle. I loved seeing when characters get their cummupence.
The book only explores the side of "the Beast," which contrasts all other stories of "Beauty and the Beast" that only tell the story from Beauty's point of view. I don't mind this at all, but love the fact that the author doesn't bog the story down by explaining what's going on inside the head of "Beauty." We already have that information. I loved the development of "the Beast." We get to see why and how "the Beast" is able to change his horrible ways. It's not just all the sudden he's a changed man, but we see that development. We go from hating Kyle to rooting for him.
I only gave the story 4 stars because once "the Beast" does change, although his actions are believable, a lot of his language isn't so believable. In fact, he kinda sounds like a girl quite a lot.
All in all, a very enjoyable story, which I finished in 2 days. Will be re-reading this story again and again.
A fun retelling of a classic fairytale September 24, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I love Beauty and the Beast. I loved the Disney movie, the tv series and especially Robin McKinley's Beauty.
Even though I am 31 years old, a little older than the age group it was written for, I picked this book up simply because it was my favorite fairytale. I had my misgivings from the start. I was skeptical of how the modern setting, and a high school setting, would serve the story. And how, in a modern setting, would Beauty come to be with the Beast?
But I was most pleasantly surprised! It's not a long book, nor is it a hard read. I read it in a day while traveling, in the airport and on the plane. But I really enjoyed the book! The characters were well thought out, and 3-dimensional, which I liked. And the story being told from the side of the Beast was a nice new twist.
Yes, it had the sappy ending, but it fit the book and was picture perfect.
I really enjoyed the book and look forward to sharing it with my friends!
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