Beastly

By: Alex Flinn

Narrated by: Chris Patton

Length: 6 hrs and 41 mins

Publisher's summary

"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 urn 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."

©2010 Alex Flinn (P)2010 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

“[An] engrossing tale that will have appeal for fans of fantasy and realistic fiction." (VOYA, Voice of Youth Advocates)

Way to cheezy.

The original beauty and the beast storyline is a classic but the writing in this is not the best. I'm a sucker for a good romance novel but even I found this way way to sappy and cheezy. Laughed through most of it.

I'll Pass on this Retelling

What disappointed you about Beastly?

I love fairy tales, and typically love good modern day retellings. This was NOT a quality retelling. The story was over-melodramatic, to the point where I wanted to rip my hair out. The characters were flat, unoriginal and stereotypes of themselves. They never once surprised me, or even interested me.

The audio for the book was well done by Chris Patton, but even with his voice, the story left a lot to be desired.

Plain awful!

I bought this as one of their sale books for $4.95. Even at that price it was a waste of money. It started as a conversation in a chatroom. It was very difficult to listen to. And VERY weird. I hated it. A very bad beginning to a book. Plus the narrator was not the greatest.

Just Okay

I struggled to finish this book. It was a bit too cheesy for my taste. It is exactly like every other Beauty and the Beast retelling you have ever read or seen, and there was nothing original at all about it. The performance was pretty ok, just a few cheesy moments again that I thought were over the top.

To describe the book in a single word- trite.

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

I think this book is better suited to an audience who is just discovering fantasy as a genre. The protagonist is a 16 year old boy, so the audience for the book is likely of a similar age.

What could Alex Flinn have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

I believe the author could have done something... anything interesting. The entire things was trite and predictable. You could easily predict every single character action and reaction the whole way through. I kept waiting for the shoe to drop- and it never did.

Which character – as performed by Chris Patton – was your favorite?

Wow, that's a hard question. Chris did a lovely job bringing all of the characters to life. He helped redeem the story in my opinion. I quite enjoyed the Frog Prince though.

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

I did enjoy the actual 'sessions' when the protagonist had come together and was discussing life with some of the smaller characters. I think those interactions were about the only unique element that was added to the tale.