The Premise: Kyle Kingsbury is handsome, popular, and, a big superficial jerk. His father is a famous newscaster and taught Kyle that people who did things out of friendship or love are suckers, so Kyle lives only for himself. Life is good: he goes to an elite school in Manhattan where he’s ultra popular and has a lock on being voted king of the ninth grade spring dance. Then Kyle decides to humiliate a strange new girl at the dance, and is rewarded with his comeuppance – cursed to be a beast unless he can love and be loved in return. He has two years to learn and to become someone worth loving or he will stay a beast forever.
Read and excerpt of Beastly here
My Thoughts: Kyle is incredibly unlikable in the first few pages of this book. Before his world is rocked by the curse, he really turned me off. In fact, I read a few pages of Beastly through Amazon’s Look Inside program a year or so ago and I was worried I wouldn’t like the book because of him. But once I got a chapter or two in, I empathized with Kyle despite my first impressions. Kyle’s growth from the snobby pretty-boy with negligent parents into a man of character doesn’t happen overnight. It took much of the two years he’s allocated and it’s not an easy road, but I believed and hoped he could make it eventually.
Kyle (who renames himself Adrian), is exiled by his father to a house in Brooklyn when it becomes clear that nothing can fix his appearance. All he has is his faithful housekeeper Magda, and after he asks for it – a blind tutor named Will. Adrian watches the world through a magic mirror. The forced isolation produced by becoming a beast gives him plenty of time for introspection, and he uses the time productively. He starts to appreciate things he thought of as unimportant before, and I enjoyed his discovery of less superficial interests, although he continues to despair of really breaking his curse. That is until circumstances allow Lindy, the “Beauty” of the story to enter the picture.
Lindy is probably the opposite of what Adrian used to be when he was Kyle – not popular, not good looking, and not rich. She lives in a poor neighborhood with an addict father. Despite being rather plain and not particularly noticeable, there’s something that draws Adrian to her. Adrian’s feelings for her were rather sweet – wanting her to like him, and realizing he can’t buy or bargain for her affections. His loneliness and yearning at this point made their tentative friendship something to root for. While I found Lindy to be a nice person, but not particularly compelling compared to Adrian, I wholeheartedly believed the feelings Adrian had for her. And I believed this version’s explanation of why her family so easily let her go to the Beast.
As a bonus, I loved that Beastly was based on the version of Beauty and the Beast in which Beauty is a reader. Reading books like Jane Eyre, The Hunchback of Notre-Dame, Les Misérables, Phantom of the Opera and The Picture of Dorian Grey are all part of the story, and I loved the parallels, which were not lost on Adrian/Kyle. I also enjoyed the “transformation” chat room conversations that Adrian joined. It was hilarious to see the little mermaid, the frog prince and others kvetching online.
Overall: A very pleasing modern-day Beauty and the Beast. I really liked this spin on my favorite fairy tale: told from the first person point of view of a spoiled Manhattan teen who does become a better person and has to win the girl the hard way. If you’d like to read a YA with a sweet romance, and you like the Beauty and the Beast fairy tale, I recommend this one.
I’m looking forward to reading the other books in this series – A Kiss in Time, and Cloaked. And I’ll probably look for the DVD of Beastly the movie whenever it comes out (it’s been suspiciously delayed in it’s release).
Buy: Amazon | Powell’s | The Book Depository
Other reviews:
Steph Su Reads – 3.5 out of 5
My Favourite Books – positive review
Chachic’s Book Nook – positive review
All Things Urban Fantasy – 2/5
The Book Smugglers – 6/10
Angieville – positive review
See Michelle Read – positive review
specficromantic 
Oh hey, we have the same favorite fairy tale! Like you, I also like retellings where Beauty is a reader. That’s probably why I love McKinley’s Beauty so much, I love the library in that one.
I also don’t know why the Beastly movie was pushed back several times. I’m curious about it although based on the trailer, they changed quite a few things – like how Beast looks like and Vanessa Hudgens doesn’t really look like Lindy in the book.
It may be BECAUSE of Robin McKinley that it’s my favorite (that and Beauty often being a reader!). 😀
Yes, I’m very curious about the movie — when is it going to be out already, I wonder? Not sure why it’s taking so long to be released, but it could be a bad sign that it is.
I think it’s finally going to be shown March next year? Not really sure. I don’t know what’s taking it so long.
You liked it! I’m glad. I totally agree with you about Kyle at the beginning. He was such a jerk. Nothing redeeming. I was worried I wouldn’t be able to stand him our believe his transformation, but it worked. I love the covers for the series too. I’m interested in Cloaked.
I think it us a bad sign that thee movie was moved back, but maybe we’ll be wrong.
Exactly. I even felt annoyed by how he talked! The author did a good job in his change.
I’d feel better if there was an explanation for why the movie’s release was moved..Oh well.
Yay! I’m so glad you liked it. I re-read it not long ago and just really enjoyed it again. The chat sessions still crack me up.
I saw the preview for the movie when I went to see the latest Narnia movie and I have my fingers crossed. Really sad they had to make Lindy beautiful, though…
I listened to the audiobook for a bit and the chat room parts are pretty awesome, particularly froggie’s voice!
How was the latest Narnia? My mother-in-law felt like they’re getting successively worse, but I plan to see it one day anyway.
Just seeing this now! Eeep!
I read this in 2010 and really enjoyed it, too. I was very pleased with Kyle’s transformation. I think he learned a lot about himself and the world.. really important lessons there. And I absolutely ADORED that Lindy was an average girl on the outside, but Kyle truly discovered and feel for the beauty within her. Really… could there be a better fairy tale?
I think the author did an excellent job having Kyle’s attitude change show through the writing. Yes, favorite fairy tale ever!