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3.52 AVERAGE
3.52 AVERAGE
This is the book that got me forever obsessed fairy tale retellings. It's an engrossing, perfect modern retelling of Beauty and the Beast. I absolutely loved it - especially the ending, which I had to re-read several times because it was just so awesome.
Not my favorite retelling of Beauty and the Beast, but it was interesting to read from the Beast's POV.
I read this book to see how it integrated a self-help chat room into the story, but that thread really was separate and served more as a brief pause between chapters. Since the chat room was populated by other fairy tale characters that had been transformed and the messages traced their progress or lack thereof towards becoming human again, it was fun. I love fairy tale retelling and came to care about Kyle/Adrian even though he was a very unsympathetic character in the beginning.
Oddly, I saw the movie first and prefer it to the book. However, I am officially giving this book 3.5 stars, because I loved the bonus of Lindy's diary so much. Such a fast read! On a seperate note, my copy had text missing on the bottom of the pages in over half the book! Did anyone else encounter that in this edition?
challenging
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Loved the movie so thought I’d give the book a try. Great story and an interesting spin on Beauty and The Beast.
I was eager to begin reading this book, as it is a Beauty and the Beast retelling, and one of my not-so-distant WIPs is also a retelling of Beauty and the Beast. Basically, I picked up this book mainly for research. Also, I maybe love fairytale retellings way too much.
I had recently read A Kiss in Time, also by Alex Flinn, and really enjoyed it, and guess what: I wasn't disappointed with this one.
Firstly, the cover, because despite the saying telling us not to judge a book by its cover, I'm pretty sure most everyone does. I know I do. The cover was simplistic, yet it worked. I love covers like that, it isn't overcrowded, and random stuff isn't overflowing; it directs us straight to the centre, allowing us to immediately take in the information before us. The rose and the thorns--or, the main imagery featured in the book--allows the reader what to expect. I, for instance, automatically assumed that it was a retelling of Beauty and the Beast for that very reason, so I knew what to expect.
As for the plot, I think that it progressed nicely. It was an interesting take on the classical fairytale, featuring two teenagers stuck in present-day New York, both finding themselves abandoned by the world. It seemed almost believable, and that was what was so magical about it.
Unlike most other books, I found that the plot didn't falter, that it flowed well, and each minute detail presented coincided with the story, that were from the original stories, from the roses, to the magic mirror.
I overlooked their youngness (I tend to find love at the age of 16 or so to be quite unbelievable), and found myself sighing at the advances in Lindy and Kyle/Adrian's relationship, thinking that it was the most loveliest, sweetest thing in the world. In fact, I even ended up asking myself where my own 'Beast' was.
What bugged me the most was the irrelevance of the chat room (well, I found it irrelevant). There were times where I was more interested in the other fairytale creatures that were featured, and I kept asking myself: Why were they in that position? What were they up to, and what were they doing to reach their happy ending? And, what the heck happened to SilentGirl?!? (No, seriously, what happened to her? Did I completely miss it or what?). I don't know, it seemed to hinder the pacing of the story.
The characters were loveable, my definite favourite being Will. He was just awesome because he was blind, yet despite this hindrance, guided Kyle/Adrian to change, to become a true hero.
What I usually find to be important in a novel is the change a character goes through, how they evolved, how they've grown. Their journey towards this change makes the novel, I believe, and this story fully incorporates Kyle/Adrian's change, to the point where it is a major theme.
The writing was as one would expect from a YA writer, nothing flashy. Though, I was impressed, yet annoyed at the use of the chat room language. I liked it because it kept the characters in check, and showed their individual personalities, and was an interesting concept (despite not being necessary to the story). But I disliked it because I just generally hate that sort of writing in books (in fact, I HATE Melissa Marr's Ink Exchange because on page 110, the word WTF is used. And I think OMG or something similar is used in Wicked Lovely. I would have loved the books a whole lot more if it weren't for that, but more on that at a later date).
Overall, I think that if you want a simple, sweet retelling of Beauty and the Beast, set in modern times, check out this novel. It's a quick read, and easy to get through, and was a really fun experience.
I had recently read A Kiss in Time, also by Alex Flinn, and really enjoyed it, and guess what: I wasn't disappointed with this one.
Firstly, the cover, because despite the saying telling us not to judge a book by its cover, I'm pretty sure most everyone does. I know I do. The cover was simplistic, yet it worked. I love covers like that, it isn't overcrowded, and random stuff isn't overflowing; it directs us straight to the centre, allowing us to immediately take in the information before us. The rose and the thorns--or, the main imagery featured in the book--allows the reader what to expect. I, for instance, automatically assumed that it was a retelling of Beauty and the Beast for that very reason, so I knew what to expect.
As for the plot, I think that it progressed nicely. It was an interesting take on the classical fairytale, featuring two teenagers stuck in present-day New York, both finding themselves abandoned by the world. It seemed almost believable, and that was what was so magical about it.
Unlike most other books, I found that the plot didn't falter, that it flowed well, and each minute detail presented coincided with the story, that were from the original stories, from the roses, to the magic mirror.
I overlooked their youngness (I tend to find love at the age of 16 or so to be quite unbelievable), and found myself sighing at the advances in Lindy and Kyle/Adrian's relationship, thinking that it was the most loveliest, sweetest thing in the world. In fact, I even ended up asking myself where my own 'Beast' was.
What bugged me the most was the irrelevance of the chat room (well, I found it irrelevant). There were times where I was more interested in the other fairytale creatures that were featured, and I kept asking myself: Why were they in that position? What were they up to, and what were they doing to reach their happy ending? And, what the heck happened to SilentGirl?!? (No, seriously, what happened to her? Did I completely miss it or what?). I don't know, it seemed to hinder the pacing of the story.
The characters were loveable, my definite favourite being Will. He was just awesome because he was blind, yet despite this hindrance, guided Kyle/Adrian to change, to become a true hero.
What I usually find to be important in a novel is the change a character goes through, how they evolved, how they've grown. Their journey towards this change makes the novel, I believe, and this story fully incorporates Kyle/Adrian's change, to the point where it is a major theme.
The writing was as one would expect from a YA writer, nothing flashy. Though, I was impressed, yet annoyed at the use of the chat room language. I liked it because it kept the characters in check, and showed their individual personalities, and was an interesting concept (despite not being necessary to the story). But I disliked it because I just generally hate that sort of writing in books (in fact, I HATE Melissa Marr's Ink Exchange because on page 110, the word WTF is used. And I think OMG or something similar is used in Wicked Lovely. I would have loved the books a whole lot more if it weren't for that, but more on that at a later date).
Overall, I think that if you want a simple, sweet retelling of Beauty and the Beast, set in modern times, check out this novel. It's a quick read, and easy to get through, and was a really fun experience.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I thought this was a very good modernized retelling of Beauty and the Beast. I had seen the movie so I was not expecting much, but I think the author did a great job infusing depth into a short novel. The character development of the beast was very well written. I liked it and look forward to reading more of Flinn’s work.
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced