Beastly by Alex Flinn is not your usual Beauty and the Beast. For one thing, it's set in modern day Manhattan. For another, our narrator is the beast. Who starts out as a genuine POS. No sympathetic misunderstood hero here! Just your run of the mill, 'I am so much better than you', a***ole.
The story of Beauty and the Beast is traditionally told from the beauty's pov. It's all about looking below the surface, and recognizing that outward beauty isn't important. But, in almost every version of this story that I've heard, our 'Belle' is already like that. She doesn't have any trouble falling in love with the beast, because looks have never been important to her, because she is an intrinsically good character.
And think about it. The beast is the one who was cursed, for being vapid, vain, and shallow, right?! So why is it that the girl is the one 'learning' the lesson to free the beast? Who says spending a few years looking nasty is really going to convince this guy that looks aren't important?! Somehow, I think that's more likely to teach him the opposite lesson-teach him that looks really do matter. After all, how many people are willing to spend time with him when he's horrific to look upon?! So really, this lesson's not so great for getting your point across, but boy! Is it ever cathartic!
That is why I thought Beastly was such a great story. We get to hear what the beast has to say. We get to see how it changes him. And at first, he is incredibly bitter about everything and everyone. His dad shuts him up in a fancy townhouse and hires a blind tutor, because he can't stand to be around him, and Kyle becomes a complete recluse. He knows he needs to find a girl that he can love who will love him back in order to break the spell, but he's not exactly about to go out looking. So, if I remember correctly, (it's been a while since I read the book) he kidnaps the girl breaking into his rose garden and forces her to stick around, with the necessary trips home to quell any suspicions that might arise. (I'll admit my details here are a little fuzzy, but I think I'm close)
The girl, Lindy, actually goes to Kyle's school and he never even noticed her. But she's a sweet, genuinely good person, who loves roses and reading (pretty typical 'Belle' character) and she isn't overly concerned with Kyle's appearance. And Kyle, who now calls himself Adrian, which means 'Dark One', really begins to change. He recognizes traits in Lindy that he can admire, and he realizes that she is happy. She doesn't need exorbitant amounts of money, wealth, or popularity to be happy. She just is. And we watch as Kyle changes from self-absorbed, egotistical jack-ass into a person I could be friends with. He begins to understand that life isn't all about money and looks, and there really is value in having depth.
Kyle's magical transformation is necessary for the story, but it is his internal transformation that really makes this story magic. Too often the beast's lesson is overlooked in favor of what Beauty sees and I love that in this book, the focus is on the Beast. Beauty really is only skin deep, and it's even more important for our beast to realize this than it is for our beauty. So thank you Alex Flinn, for giving us a beast who gets it, a beast who actually learns his lesson.
