Beastly

By Alex Flinn

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.

I’ve been in a Beauty and the Beast kick lately, so I apologize to everyone who is annoyed with it, but this one was pretty good. There were two things that bothered me: one was the references to sex and the other was the rather un-real change Kyle goes through after he becomes the beast. Oh, wait I forgot one, after each ‘part’ in the book there is a section where other people who have been transformed have an online chat and that was just really stupid. It detracted from everything and made me say, “Man, this is so lame.” It broke whatever hold the story had on you. But for the good, it was probably the best present-set telling of the story I’ve ever read. I liked how character-focused the book was instead of trying to fit the plot into a more prominent role. Although the dialogue became slightly un-real toward the end I was hooked enough to read the whole 300 pages in 4 hours. It’s a fun read. I wouldn’t recommend it for anyone under the age of 16, possibly 17-18; just for the crude stuff- although it’s different for everyone.