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 a perfect life. And then, I’ll tell you how I became perfectly beastly.
      A few months ago a movie called Beastly came out.  I was checking it out, and read a few reviews to see if I was interested in seeing it, but found upon research that it wasn't getting very good reviews. So, naturally, I didn't go and see it.  But I did check out the book.  And by check out, I checked it out from the library.  I figured that since the movie was based off of the book, than the book must be very different from the movie.  My mind comes to this conclusion because, most movies that are based on books, are totally different than the book.  For instance, Mary Poppins the movie was not at all like the book, which at the children eating Mary Poppins fingers for snacks instead of going to the park. 
      Anyways, so about the book.  Positive side of it is that the main character, Kyle, was a very interesting and fun character.  I enjoyed traveling with him through his hard experiences that molded him into the wonderful dream man he is at the end. The author's twists, (you'll have to read the book to find out what twists), were greatly appreciated, turning an otherwise well-known story into a new read. Also, I loved that Alex Flinn managed to add some laugh-out-loud moments and yet mix in a good healthy bit of sadness and tears at the same time.
     Negative elements were:  Both Lindy and Kyle were not at all developed enough nor was the book well written.  The simplicity of the writing would have been alright, if not for the fact that the book did not develop it's characters near well enough. 
    Conclusion, fun read, but not a nominated award book in my standards.