Beastly: Book Review

Beastly is a book written by author Alex Flinn. The story centres around a teenage boy in high school who had a perfect life: perfect looks, money, and popular. One thing he lacked was humility. He had everything and he knew it; but instead of using it for good, he made sure others’ lives were a living hell. And that was what led into his downfall. He humiliated a girl in his class who turned out to be a witch; and she cursed him, taking away his perfect looks - his perfect life. His entire life was stolen away with one curse. But like every other curse, this comes with a cure. If he could find a girl that would love him even with his deformity, the curse would be broken. But also like any other curse, this was near impossible. The first thing he thought of was his girlfriend. She would break the curse, right? Sadly, what they had together was nothing close to true love. Through this curse, golden boy Kyle realises just how none of his friends were real friends. Picking up the pieces of what he had left, he starts to realise other parts of life he had never noticed before in his “perfect” state. With a new girl in his life, one whom he would never pay attention to if he were Kyle Kingsbury, he finds just how much love could do - even more than breaking a curse.

This story is beautifully written. Starting out with an online conversation between fairytale characters put in the real world, this introduces the story taking place in an reality where magic secretly exists. Kyle Kingsbury was a figure everyone wanted to be, but secretly hates because of his personality. All he sees was everyone’s outer appearances. Because of his own “beauty”, he didn’t give anyone “ugly” a chance to get to know him, or vice versa. He was a character who thinks the world revolves around him, and he shouldn’t have to get to know anybody, everybody needs to know him. This is where the magic comes in. With the beauty he uses to put others down taken away, he could no longer face his previous life. He gets away from everything he’s ever known, to isolate himself until he breaks the curse, or time gets to him. With nearly no hope at all to break the curse, he starts realising beauty in other things he never would’ve paid attention to if the curse didn’t happen. His “beastliness” changed him from a cocky, self-centred person, into a rose-loving, smart, and considerate man. A reality where almost everyone judges everything by its cover, this story shows how there is beauty to everything, but only some people try to get to know it enough to see it. If people only catch a glance of something’s outer appearance, but it fails to impress them and they move on without “digging in deeper”, they would forever miss the goodness in it. And if people are too self-centred to even notice the people and things around them, they would never learn more than what they already know. Everything doesn’t revolve around you, it goes on even when you’re gone. But take how others’ feel about what you do into consideration, so that even when you’re not here anymore, the legacy you leave behind may succeed into people’s hearts.

*Yes, another repeated post, but no. This is a review, not a book talk. And yes, there's a difference. :)
But as a gift.. here's a wallpaper!