Hey, guys!
This post is a little late by my standards, but at least I have a post for today. My excuse: homework is a pain in the caboose. And time-consuming.
But this is a blog where I talk about books and writing, not complain about school. So are you guys ready for another variation on Beauty and the Beast? You should have known that it was only a matter of time.
The YA novel I speak of is Beastly by Alex Flinn. Many of you may have already seen the movie with Alex Pettyfer, Vanessa Hudgens, and Neil Patrick Harris. It's a pretty good movie, and I love how rather than going for the typical "beast" with fur and claws and fangs, they stepped outside of the box by making the beast someone who doesn't conform to today's beauty standards. I applaud that.
That being said, I liked the book a lot better. Maybe it's the romantic image of a beast who is searching for love, maybe it's the sacrifice that makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside, but there's something about the book that makes me feel like a little girl dreaming of my Prince Charming (furry slobbery though he may be) all over again.
So, in this book, you have the popular-nerd dichotomy trope. We've all read at least one book where of the two love interests, one is gorgeous popular jerk whom everybody wants to be and one is a nerdy bookworm who is not as privileged and has to claw their way to whatever social standing they now occupy.
Kyle is the hot jerk attending a preparatory academy who barely notices the scholarship student, Lindy. Did I mention that Kyle is a jerk? Because that gets him into trouble.
In the beginning of the book, Kyle ticks off a fellow student who isn't exactly attractive. Guess who she turns out to be? Yeah, she's a witch. You know how it goes.
Bippitty-boppitty-boo, Kyle is a beast (the fangs, fur, and claws kind). He is dumped by his girlfriend and is basically shunned by his father, a renown news anchor who is as shallow as a puddle. Kyle now lives in his own apartment with a house-keeper and (blind) private tutor for company and a magic mirror to the outside world.
Kyle (now known as Adrian) has two years to fall in love with a girl, who must declare her love for him and kiss him in order to break the spell. I bet you can guess who this girl is.
Well, after months of isolation in his apartment, Adrian builds a greenhouse (at his tutor's encouragement) to tend to roses. It becomes his obsession, these roses. So much so that when an intruder breaks in, Adrian threatens death.
The cowardly intruder, however, will do anything to save his own life, even offer his own daughter, Lindy, as compensation for his crime. And that's where Adrian sees his first and only chance to break the spell.
Ecstatic, Adrian prepares Lindy's room (and own personal library) to ensure that she will want for nothing. Not that she wants anything to do with him at first. But despite the fact that her old life is to study hard in school so she can get into college while taking care of her drug addict father, who could really blame her? Some freedom is better than none.
But when Lindy and Adrian end up alone together (by accident) to watch a movie together, it's the first contact they've had since she was brought to his apartment. And the more time they spend together, the fonder they grow of each other.
Will they fall in love? Will Kyle/Adrian run out of time? Will he remain a beast forever? Read the book and see what happens.
You guys know that I'm going to recommend this book for all those hopeless romantics of any age who adore Beauty and the Beast stories. I read this book for the first time in high school. I stayed home from school because I was sick. I picked it up (because who wants to do homework when they're sick?) and read the whole book in that one day. You decide for yourselves how much you love it.
Hope you enjoyed this review and that you'll give this book a shot. Leave comments if you're willing to provide me with some feedback. Come back tomorrow for a brand new writing exercise.
Happy reading!!
This post is a little late by my standards, but at least I have a post for today. My excuse: homework is a pain in the caboose. And time-consuming.
But this is a blog where I talk about books and writing, not complain about school. So are you guys ready for another variation on Beauty and the Beast? You should have known that it was only a matter of time.
The YA novel I speak of is Beastly by Alex Flinn. Many of you may have already seen the movie with Alex Pettyfer, Vanessa Hudgens, and Neil Patrick Harris. It's a pretty good movie, and I love how rather than going for the typical "beast" with fur and claws and fangs, they stepped outside of the box by making the beast someone who doesn't conform to today's beauty standards. I applaud that.
That being said, I liked the book a lot better. Maybe it's the romantic image of a beast who is searching for love, maybe it's the sacrifice that makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside, but there's something about the book that makes me feel like a little girl dreaming of my Prince Charming (furry slobbery though he may be) all over again.
So, in this book, you have the popular-nerd dichotomy trope. We've all read at least one book where of the two love interests, one is gorgeous popular jerk whom everybody wants to be and one is a nerdy bookworm who is not as privileged and has to claw their way to whatever social standing they now occupy.
Kyle is the hot jerk attending a preparatory academy who barely notices the scholarship student, Lindy. Did I mention that Kyle is a jerk? Because that gets him into trouble.
In the beginning of the book, Kyle ticks off a fellow student who isn't exactly attractive. Guess who she turns out to be? Yeah, she's a witch. You know how it goes.
Bippitty-boppitty-boo, Kyle is a beast (the fangs, fur, and claws kind). He is dumped by his girlfriend and is basically shunned by his father, a renown news anchor who is as shallow as a puddle. Kyle now lives in his own apartment with a house-keeper and (blind) private tutor for company and a magic mirror to the outside world.
Kyle (now known as Adrian) has two years to fall in love with a girl, who must declare her love for him and kiss him in order to break the spell. I bet you can guess who this girl is.
Well, after months of isolation in his apartment, Adrian builds a greenhouse (at his tutor's encouragement) to tend to roses. It becomes his obsession, these roses. So much so that when an intruder breaks in, Adrian threatens death.
The cowardly intruder, however, will do anything to save his own life, even offer his own daughter, Lindy, as compensation for his crime. And that's where Adrian sees his first and only chance to break the spell.
Ecstatic, Adrian prepares Lindy's room (and own personal library) to ensure that she will want for nothing. Not that she wants anything to do with him at first. But despite the fact that her old life is to study hard in school so she can get into college while taking care of her drug addict father, who could really blame her? Some freedom is better than none.
But when Lindy and Adrian end up alone together (by accident) to watch a movie together, it's the first contact they've had since she was brought to his apartment. And the more time they spend together, the fonder they grow of each other.
Will they fall in love? Will Kyle/Adrian run out of time? Will he remain a beast forever? Read the book and see what happens.
You guys know that I'm going to recommend this book for all those hopeless romantics of any age who adore Beauty and the Beast stories. I read this book for the first time in high school. I stayed home from school because I was sick. I picked it up (because who wants to do homework when they're sick?) and read the whole book in that one day. You decide for yourselves how much you love it.
Hope you enjoyed this review and that you'll give this book a shot. Leave comments if you're willing to provide me with some feedback. Come back tomorrow for a brand new writing exercise.
Happy reading!!
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