Finished Beastly by Alex Flinn. This is a young adult retelling of the classic Beauty and the Beast fairy tale.

In this book, Kyle Kingsbury seems to have it all — good looks, a rich dad, and the hottest girl in school. But Kyle isn’t a very nice guy. After he plays a cruel prank on a witch, she turns him into a beast — complete with fur and claws. The witch tells Kyle that he has two years to find someone to love him — or he’ll remain a beast forever. Kyle’s dad, being the jerk that he is, sends Kyle off to live with a blind tutor and a maid. Of course, Kyle doesn’t think that anyone could ever love a beast until he meets Lindy …

I loved this book. Seriously — I loved it. I’m a sucker for fairy tale retellings, and this is one of the best ones that I’ve read. It’s witty and breezy and charming and emotional all at the same time. Kyle starts out as a jerk, but over the course of the book, Flinn transforms him into a caring guy who’s worthy of being loved. You really feel his pain, desperation, and longing for Lindy to love him just as much as he loves her. To me, the mark of a great character is someone that you want to read about even if he’s not being very nice or heroic. Kyle is definitely not nice or heroic in the beginning, but Flinn makes you care about him regardless.

I also liked that Lindy had her own problems, namely her junkie father. Lindy wasn’t fleshed out quite as much as she could have been, but this is Kyle’s book, not hers. Also among the supporting cast are Kyle’s tutor, maid, and the witch who cursed him, all of whom get their moments to shine. In fact, there’s a really cool twist at the end with one of secondary the characters that I didn’t see coming.

Every so often, the story takes a time out, and the reader is treated to an online chat transcript for fairy tale heroes and heroines, like the Little Mermaid, the Frog Prince, and others. I thought the chat sessions were cute and quirky and tied in nicely with what was happening in the book at that point.

Overall, this is one of my favorite reads of the year. It’s just excellent from start to finish. If you like fairy tales, you can’t go wrong with this book.

My grade: A.

Would I read this author again: Absolutely. Flinn has another fairy tale book, A Kiss in Time, that I’m looking forward to reading.

Up next: Candy Houses by Shiloh Walker.

Books in my TBR pile: About 20.