A Book Review: Beastly by Alex Flinn
Ok, so here I am to give you my review of the first book I've read in the new year. If you haven't noticed already, there is a link called "What I've Read: 2013" that will take you to the list of books I've read this year, well it's pretty self-explanatory. There's only one thing (haha Sea! Sorry, inside joke :)) there so far, but I welcome you to check back any time to see my updates!
Here's the review!
TITLE: Beastly
AUTHOR: Alex Flinn
GENRE: fantasy/fairytale
SYNOPSIS:
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 the money, perfect looks, and the perfect life. And then, I'll tell you how I became perfectly . . . beastly.
(from inside cover)
GOOD STUFF: It has a great plot that follows the Beauty and the Beast tale, mostly relatable characters, and the author had great ideas that made it different from the classic Beauty and the Beast.
BAD STUFF: Sadly it had to have some language, and some other innapropriate things that made me say to myself, "Why did you have to ruin it by putting this in there?" Also, some certain things are implied. I'm just being honest.
COMMENTS: I personally liked the book and read it really fast. I grew up watching Beauty and the Beast all the time and Alex Flinn but on a modern spin. It was cool because I kinda knew what was going to happen, but yet at the same time I didn't.
I was upset though that the author put bad stuff in there, she could have easily not included it and nothing would have been changed really.
I loved watching how Kyle changed from beginning to end, especially in his relationships with the maid/housekeeper, Magda, and with his tutor, Will.
At the beginning, everything was about looks for Kyle, but that was all changed when the witch turned him into a beast and he needed to find someone to love him before two years was over. Overall, I think Beastly reminds us that it's not all about the outward appearance, but that it's actually about what's in your heart.
RATING: 3.5 roses out of 5 because of the brief, but still bad all the same, stuff in there
RECOMMENDED READERS: 13-19 or older? That's who I would recommend it to anyway.
COMPANION BOOKS: I think she's still writing, but there is another book out called Cloaked about the Frog Prince I think. Also, there is a movie of Beastly but you definitly need to read the book before you see it if you choose to see it. I'll include the trailer that I watched and (sorry) hated because they changed a lot of things. Also, the trailer contains spoilers, maybe you should watch it after you read the book :)
~July
1 Samuel 16:7
Here's the review!TITLE: Beastly
AUTHOR: Alex Flinn
GENRE: fantasy/fairytale
SYNOPSIS:
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 the money, perfect looks, and the perfect life. And then, I'll tell you how I became perfectly . . . beastly.
(from inside cover)
GOOD STUFF: It has a great plot that follows the Beauty and the Beast tale, mostly relatable characters, and the author had great ideas that made it different from the classic Beauty and the Beast.
BAD STUFF: Sadly it had to have some language, and some other innapropriate things that made me say to myself, "Why did you have to ruin it by putting this in there?" Also, some certain things are implied. I'm just being honest.
COMMENTS: I personally liked the book and read it really fast. I grew up watching Beauty and the Beast all the time and Alex Flinn but on a modern spin. It was cool because I kinda knew what was going to happen, but yet at the same time I didn't.
I was upset though that the author put bad stuff in there, she could have easily not included it and nothing would have been changed really.
I loved watching how Kyle changed from beginning to end, especially in his relationships with the maid/housekeeper, Magda, and with his tutor, Will.
At the beginning, everything was about looks for Kyle, but that was all changed when the witch turned him into a beast and he needed to find someone to love him before two years was over. Overall, I think Beastly reminds us that it's not all about the outward appearance, but that it's actually about what's in your heart.
RATING: 3.5 roses out of 5 because of the brief, but still bad all the same, stuff in there
RECOMMENDED READERS: 13-19 or older? That's who I would recommend it to anyway.
COMPANION BOOKS: I think she's still writing, but there is another book out called Cloaked about the Frog Prince I think. Also, there is a movie of Beastly but you definitly need to read the book before you see it if you choose to see it. I'll include the trailer that I watched and (sorry) hated because they changed a lot of things. Also, the trailer contains spoilers, maybe you should watch it after you read the book :)
~July
1 Samuel 16:7
But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”
Oh! I read this book! I do agree that there was some scandalous content within the book, but I did like how he became so different from the way he was. I really liked their little chat room conversations at the beginning and scattered throughout the book (I think...maybe it was only at the beginning and...possibly the end) because it was rather cool to hear from the other fairy tale folk.
ReplyDeleteI read this book a long, long time ago, so I really don't remember all of the characters and whatnot. (:
I LOVED them too :D They're so funny, but it was sad what happened to Silent....
DeleteYeah, they were scattered throughout the book.
Did you read Cloaked too?
Silent was the mermaid, yeah? If so, then yes! It was so sad! But I loved the frog dude. He was so special. :P
DeleteNo, I did not. I didn't like this book enough to pick up Cloaked, and I didn't know that Cloaked existed before today. (:
WAIT A SEC! YOU DROPPED PHYSIK?! Noooooo! *sob* You gotta keep reading those! :D
DeleteYeah Silent was the mermaid. Cloaked is about the frog dude I think........
DeleteOh calm yourself, I had to return it to the library, I'll get it again!
Eheheh, i love how we nicknamed him "Frog Dude." (:
DeleteYou better! Or I will hunt you down and give you the most horrifying dare in the world. *evil cackle* :D
Oh that's a pity about the bad stuff. I've seen the movie though I didn't know it was a book
ReplyDeleteReally? How did you like the movie? From what I saw in the trailer, they changed TONS!
DeleteYeah, it was good although I haven't read the book. Thanks for your comment, though I thought we already followed eachother. Anyway, I'm following ur cool blog.
DeleteYeah, I think we do :D Haha sorry about that!
DeleteYou should read The Merchant's Daughter by Melanie Dickerson, and if you like that, read The Healer's Apprentice (which technically was written first, but the two are not connected other than the fact that they're fairytale retellings).
ReplyDeleteI really like fairytale retellings! They're fun to read and I've always loved fairytales :D Thanks Emma!
DeleteI will read that book dont worry July. Cloaked? gonna read that too, email/tweet me if you find others.
ReplyDeletetoo lazy to log in
Raven DeWitt
Ok, will do!
DeleteThanks for that review. And it's interesting that you thought that way about the book. I'm like that too! :) I had a book where I enjoyed reading it and was almost to the end when i came across something inappropriate. I was like, 'Why did you have to ruin it?!" Then it ended up in the trash can. Yup, it was that bad.
ReplyDeleteAww, that stinks! I hate it when a book is so bad it goes in the trash, but it's amazing how many people and authors think that's normal!
DeleteI know! Weird. :( That is so sad.
DeleteHey July!
ReplyDeleteThere's a movie called Beastly, and it's based off of the Alex Flinn's book! You should see it!
Yup there is :) I said that in my post by the way! I also included the trailer but from what I saw there, they changed a lot. Plus it's rated PG-13 and I would have to want to see it really bad if I would go through all that trouble of convincing my mum to let me :D Maybe someday when I move out, haha.
DeleteJuly-
ReplyDeleteThere's a movie based off of Alex Flinn's book, Beastly. I think that you should read it!
I think that I will put it on my book list, after all the others I have to read.
Haha, Stephanie, you may or may not have already mentioned that :D Also, how do you read a movie?
DeleteYay! I'm glad you're gonna read it too!
I like the format that you review books in...I usually just write a big long paragraph XD Can I try writing a book review using your format, please? I'll give you all the credit and put a link to your blog :)
ReplyDeleteAnd there's a book called The Seven Tales of Trinket by Shelley Moore Thomas which is not very advanced in terms of vocabulary, but it consists of seven awesome magical stories that I highly recommend.
Sure that would be fine with me!
DeleteI'll have to check that out as soon as possible.... :) Thanks!
Heehee xD
ReplyDelete