Review: Beastly by Alex Flinn

Synopsis: Taken from the back of the book

I am a beast. 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.



Review:

Wonderfully humorous and entertaining retelling of a classic fairytale. I giggled out loud from the beginning of this book, much to the disgust of my 4 year old who just could not get why I was laughing at a book. The notion of an online support group for mythical characters is hilarious.

Written in first person narrative from the point of view of the Beast. Surprisingly easy to relate to in this instance.

We all know the moral of the story Beauty and the Beast of beauty being on the inside not just the physical manisfestation of it, so it is not a surprise that it should be woven into the plot in Beastly, the surprise occurred with the theme of nature versus nurture interwoven within the main plot give pause for contemplation as to the conflicting arguements of this debate, adding a touching element where I felt sympathy for the Beast.

My quest for education via osmosis was gratified with the numerous refernces to classic literature and Shakespeare's sonnets. The rose imagery paralleled with the Shakespeare Sonnet quotation was genius. Alex Flinn brings the entire fairytale theme up-to-date with references to the movie The Princess Bride (which I have seen and loved).

The use of other mythical characters - The Little Mermaid, The Frog Prince, etc via the online support group added a sense of realism to the story.

A highly recommended entertaining read and a lovely piece of escapism.