Book #42: Beastly

Title: Beastly

Author: Alex Flinn

Date started reading: March 23, 2012
Date finished reading:  March 25, 2012

Publish date: October 2007
ISBN: 978-0060874162
Number of pages: 320

Official summary: "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 a perfect life. And then, I’ll tell you how I became perfectly beastly." (http://www.alexflinn.com)

Movie trailer:

How I obtained the book: Bought for $1 at Friends of the Library charity book sale

Memorable quotes:

• "You ever think that school dances are a form of legalized prostitution?" ~ Kyle to Trey
• "A beautiful thing is precious, no matter the price. Those who do not know how to see the precious things in life will never  be happy." ~ Magda
• "I don't believe anyone could love a monster." ~ Kyle
• "Good to know: Doctors can't cure you of being a beast." ~ Kyle

My commentary:

• This is one of the books that I'm reading solely because I liked the movie (or sort of liked the movie). 
•  I knew this was a modern take on "The Beauty and the Beast" story, but I didn't think it would be so close to the original story, just set in the modern world. I think I prefer the adaptations the movie's creators made. In the book, Kyle is covered in hair and really is beastly, but in the movie, he's more severely disfigured rather than beastly. The movie seems more like a different story than the traditional fairytale than the book does
• There are excerpts of a weekly internet support group chat scattered throughout the book. These are rather cheesy because the other group members are basically "The Frog Prince" and "The Little Mermaid"

Buy on Amazon.com: Beastly