Audiobook Review: Beastly by Alex Flinn

Title:  Beastly
Author:  Alex Flinn
Series:  n/a
Publisher:  Brilliance Audio
Publication Date:  June 30, 2010
Links:  Amazon | Goodreads
Rating: 

From Goodreads:

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.

Review:

This story was cute and fun and over pretty quickly. I like retellings, but I never connected with this one. I love the original story, and I love watching Disney’s version of Beauty and the Beast with my daughter, but this adaptation left me wanting.

I didn’t like Kyle, even after he became a better version of himself. And Lindy was just one big cliché. I didn’t watch the movie based on this book, but even so, I found it difficult not to project the actors onto the characters. That’s no one’s fault but my own, I know, but it still had an influence on my opinion of this book, sadly.

I believe we all probably know this story pretty well, so I don’t think I’ll be spoiling anything for anyone here. The story is supposed to take place over the span of two years, in which Kyle must break the spell the witch has cast upon him, but there obviously wasn’t enough material there to cover that time span because here’s what goes down: the spell is cast, Kyle removes himself from society for awhile, then abducts Lindy who leaves before the curse is broken to take care of her father, she’s gone for months and months in which nothing happens, and then she and Kyle are reunited by fate. I hate when I see this in a novel. I don’t like it in movies either, really. And maybe it can’t always be helped, but I think there’s probably a better way to relate the passing of time than “six weeks later…” or “one year after…” or similar transitional phrasing. If you’re going to tell me that a lengthy amount of time has elapsed, you’d better tell me what happened in that time period.

Anyway, this review is for the audiobook. I think I may have liked the actual book better because the narrator for this one drove me a little nuts. The guy read Lindy’s parts as if he was Derek Zoolander. Seriously. It was funny at first because I, for one, think Zoolander was one of Ben Stiller’s funnier movies, but it started grating on my nerves after awhile. Maybe I’ll give the actual book a read one day, but I wouldn’t hold my breath.  I'm still considering reading Cloaked by this same author, though...I can't help it.  I love retellings.  But maybe I'll read the book instead of listening to it, especially if it's narrated by the same guy.