Beastly by Alex Flinn

Title: Beastly

Author: Alex Flinn

Pages: Hardcover 304 pages

Publisher: HarperTeen

Date Published: October 1^st 2007

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy

My Rating: 

 

Goodreads

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.

My Review

For starters I will admit this book was not for me. I really believed it was of my taste but once I read it I realized it wasn’t. It is a temporary version of Beauty and the Beast and I was really excited to read it. The book is small but it took me a while to finish it, I’m guessing it was because it wasn’t seizing my attention. It was a good story and I understand why a lot of people liked it. It had its romance and its moral but it just wasn’t for me. I’m not going to say it was a bad book because it wasn’t, I am sure many of you will like it. It had a good little twist at the end that was pretty clever. I know this review was way too short but I hope you enjoy this book a little more than I did.

Red Riding Hood by Sarah Blakley-Cartwright

Title: Red Riding Hood

Author: Sara Blakley-Cartwright

Pages: Paperback 329 pages

Publisher: Poppy

Date Published: January 25^th 2011

Genre: Young Adult, Fantansy

My Rating: 

 

Goodreads

The blacksmith would marry her.

The woodcutter would run away with her.

The werewolf would turn her into one of its own.

Valerie's sister was beautiful, kind, and sweet. Now she is dead. Henry, the handsome son of the blacksmith, tries to console Valerie, but her wild heart beats fast for another: the outcast woodcutter, Peter, who offers Valerie another life far from home.

After her sister's violent death, Valerie's world begins to spiral out of control. For generations, the Wolf has been kept at bay with a monthly sacrifice. But now no one is safe. When an expert Wolf hunter arrives, the villagers learn that the creature lives among them--it could be anyone in town.

It soon becomes clear that Valerie is the only one who can hear the voice of the creature. The Wolf says she must surrender herself before the blood moon wanes...or everyone she loves will die.

My Review

Okay so this book is based off the screenplay written by David Johnson. The real ending to the book was left out so that people would go and watch the movie, which was something a lot of people didn’t think fair but I really didn’t have a problem with it, the bonus chapter was up online (Legally) for people to go read and I think that was a great marketing strategy in their part because the movie was the first idea since the beginning so it seemed fair to me.

Obviously the whole thing is based on the fairy tale we all know except with a dark twists which is what got this book so much attention. Personally I believe this book was a little odd but I’m not sure if it was a good odd or bad odd, mixed feelings here, I liked it for the most part but it was missing something. I would have rated this book maybe half a star less if it didn’t have such a good twist at the end. It’s hard to find books with twists like this one and I love it when I finally find one. By the way, yes the good part is in the bonus chapter that is found online so I guess if you really wanted to know my opinion in just what you buy for, I would give the book three and a half stars. Besides that, it was a very interesting idea the author had with this book because I really didn’t expect how they were going to re-do little red riding hood. There is romance in it and your typical love triangle that most YA readers adore, not so much for me. There is suspense, mystery, great characters, not so bad concept of a story and of course that great twist at the end you just can’t expect. I say if you have seen the movie don’t bother with the book because they followed it very well but If you have yet to see the movie go ahead and give the book a try either you will hate it or love it in my opinion.


For Bonus Chapter CLICK HERE (Please don't read without reading the book first)