Books at the Box Office: Beastly

Remember when Vanessa Hudgens was doing the post-nudes rebound movie tour and absolutely killing it? Yeah, we got Beastly from that, which alright, isn’t the BEST movie, but it does what it sets out to do, and I’m pretty sure I paid to see it in theatres, so who am I to complain? I like fairy tale retellings as much as the next one, and now that I’ve reread ACOTAR in like nine different books, I really appreciate the contemporary setting.

From Amazon:

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.

This book isn’t GREAT, but it’s definitely good. It’s well written, you want to keep reading it, and you’re kind of attached to the story, ya know? Also, the author, Alex Flinn, did some interesting other books and 3 more in the Kendra (the witch) Series: Bewitching and Towering, which are Cinderella and Rapunzel retellings.

Now, onto the movie:

This movie got a lot of press when it came out in 2011, and it had a pretty good cast for a movie of its sort. Vanessa Hudgens, Alex Pettyfer (IT boy of the day), Mary Kate Olson (pre-quitting acting), Dakota Johnson (pre-50 shades) and even Neil Patrick Harris as a blind man. How interesting. The movie is honestly perfect for when you want something on that will catch your eye but you don’t need to watch too closely: it’s Beauty and the Beast. You know what’s going to happen, but you’ll still like the twists on this one.