Erstwhile

The Book
This book by Alex Flinn was a delightful read. I greedily consumed its contents in one day, foregoing comic work to continue. Beastly is based on the fairytale of Beauty and the Beast.

A privileged boy named Kyle Kingsbury is handsome, proud, and a real jerk. You know the type… he thinks he’s better than everyone, has lots of friends and admirers, picks on the weird kids and dates the hottest, most superficial girl in school. When he invites weirdo girl Kendra to the prom as a prank it backfires.

She’s actually a witch and punishes him for his wicked heart. However, because he showed one small act of kindness by thoughtlessly giving the white rose corsage his date hated to a nerdy girl collecting prom tickets, a girl who truly appreciated it’s beauty. Instead of being permanently beastly, Kyle has two years to break the spell. Two years to find a girl who will love him for what he is instead of what he looks like, PROVE her love with a kiss, and the real kicker, he has to truly love HER in return. Kyle believes all of that to be impossible.

This is where the real meat of the story begins. Kyle is taken from his home in New York City and locked away in an expensive house in Brooklyn by his father who is even more disgustingly superficial than his son. It is here Kyle begins his real transformation. His character gradually and believably changes, matures into someone who looks past the surface. It is excellently written as you don’t feel that this part of the story is rushed or happens all at once. As he is around genuine people who care about him they manage to affect him, though he has no hope of breaking the spell. Until…

A man breaks into his greenhouse of roses and when caught, offers his daughter in exchange for his own life. The beast does not hesitate, hoping she may be THE one. He reasons that she would be better off with him than with a father that would sell her off to save his own life. It is here that he meets Lindy, or they meet again. Lindy is none other than the nerdy girl who he gave the rose to at the prom. There might be hope yet! As they spend time together the two both blossom wonderfully into very rich and endearing characters.

I’d say this one is well worth a read. It’s definitely worth a day of having your nose in a book! And I’ve just learned there is the regular edition and a deluxe edition that contains Lindy’s journal, giving you the story from her perspective. I might have to pick up the deluxe for myself this Christmas.

The Movie
I actually saw the movie before I read the book. I caught it on Showtime and recognized that it was fairytale based almost immediately. It was an interesting movie to watch, but like most movies based on books, there were some glaring differences. Even not having read the book yet I could feel there were some serious things either missing or changed not for the better. After reading the book, I realized that the changes made in the movie crippled the impact the story. I don’t plan to get into the details because there are so many.

However, Neil Patrick Harris is in the movie as a secondary character. He’s WELL worth watching in any movie, really. So, if you want to see NPH, see the movie. Otherwise, pass and just read a really good book.