In My Mailbox (46)

In My Mailbox is a meme created by The Story Siren and inspired by Alea of Pop Culture Junkie! It is a list of the books that I've received over the previous week, either in the mail, from the bookstore, or from trades.

Here's what I got this week:

Bought:

Barnes & Noble NOOK!
Sugar & Spice by Lauren Conrad

Nook E-books:

Yet again, long time no see! My book addiction has brought me back here, after all this is my 2 year old baby, btw last September was my 2 Year Blogoversary! No, I haven't forgotten about it. I'm still reading, especially now that I have a NOOK, which I'm in fact ADDICTED to. I find it easier to read it on it for some unknown reason! Plus, my parents left me unsupervised with their credit card, so I bought some amazing e-books!

^^^ Now I want to see what you got in your mailbox.... ^^^

Beastly by Alex Flinn

Title: Beastly
Author: Alex Flinn

Pages: 300, paperback

Publisher: Scholastic

Age Group: Young Adult
Pub. Date: 2007

Overall Rating:

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 the perfect life. And then, I'll tell you how I became perfectly . . . beastly.

Beastly was a refreshing read about what true love really is. This modern retelling of Beauty and The Beast is truthfully a satisfying, hit the spot, pleasurable read. The theme of Beastly is that beauty is not in the face, instead its a light in the heart. Looks are insufficient to true love, because "just because something is beautiful doesn't mean it´s good."

Our main character Kyle is a spoiled-rotten, disrespectful, heartless teenager with overflowing good looks. After jokingly asking a goth girl to the homecoming dance, who he knows will accept, his evil plan takes off. Consequently, the goth girl isn't just a girl, she is a witch that will put a curse on him. He transforms physically into what his personality looks like a "beast". In order to gain back his looks and his old life, he will need to find true love and receive an "I love you". Can he do it, he only has 2 years?

What I find so fascinating is Kyle's inner transformation. He constantly struggles to be good person at the beginning, but he comes to a realization that he needs to change. In this transformation, he's getting a taste of his medicine he finally learns the meaning of what goes around comes around. Instead of being your typical popular guy he's forced to be an outsider living in captivity, so people aren't grossed out, because of his beastly looks. To make his change real, he changes his name to Adrian, and slowly removes all the layers of evil within him, significantly eye-opening. It thought me that "those who do not know how to see the precious things in life will never be happy."

I found this book empowering with a beautiful massage about true love, that most books nowadays leave out. I couldn't resist, but keep reading it without ceasing. It truly captured my attention and I was entertained every second. It's officially a book I can add to my favorites.

Content Rating:

Rated PG-13 Young Adult


Content Comments:
This book is appropriate for an older audience. Beastly has a significant amount of tolerable references to sex, profanity, drugs and alcohol, and crude comments etc.

Rating:

Plot: (10/10)
Characters: (10/10)
Ending: (9/10)
Enjoyment: (10+/10)
Cover: (10/10)
Overall: 49/50 = 99% = A+

Cover: Only drew my attention when it was changed to the movie poster.

For More Info or to Buy Beastly:

{Good Reads} {Borders} {Barnes & Noble} {Amazon}

In My Mailbox (45)

In My Mailbox is a meme created by The Story Siren and inspired by Alea of Pop Culture Junkie! It is a list of the books that I've received over the previous week, either in the mail, from the bookstore, or from trades.

Here's what I got this week:

Won From Macmillan Children's Publishing Group:

My Life Undecided by Jessica Brody
Paradise by Jill S. Alexander
Pearl by Jo Knowles
The Girl Is Murder by Kathryn Miller Haines
The Flirt Club by Cathleen Daly

Long time no see! To be honest, I don't know if I could ever be dedicated to this blog full-time like in the past. It's not to say I'll never come back, I love the memories I have of this blog and book lover community here. It's a lot to give up, but if I ever have any reviews I'll still post them here. It saddens me to say this, but with my last year of highschool and college classes I don't know if I could keep up. I don't even know if I could still read as much as I read this summer over 30+ books!

^^^ Now I want to see what you got in your mailbox.... ^^^

Epic Fact