I read this modern retelling of the classic Beauty and the Beast fairy tale only because I've heard such good things about the upcoming film based on the novel. I went in with pretty high expectations, and, for the most part, it didn't disappoint. Alex Flinn takes all of the elements normally used in the different variations of the tale (the arrogance of the “prince,” the witch who is scorned by him, the intelligent girl abandoned by her father, the idea that beauty comes from the inside out) and weaves them into a modern day New York private school. For her first time adapting a fairy tale, she does a great job. There are only a few small things that bothered me.

The big thing that I couldn't get used to was that the novel was just too formal. I found myself often wondering just what teenager talked like that. For being told from Kyle's point of view, someone who doesn't really consider himself all that smart, it's odd that the speech, as well as the narration, is so formal most of the time. Flinn tries to explain this away by having Kyle comment on his surprise at his choice of words a couple of times, after he's being tutored and after he's started reading the classic monster, as well as love, stories like Frankenstein and Jane Eyre. While the formality definitely intensifies at that point in the book, it exists from the beginning of the story. It just didn't sit well with the rest of the story, since it is supposed to be a modern interpretation.

One aspect of the novel that is really fun though is the support group Kyle joins online after becoming the beast. It's a group moderated by a normal human, but the rest of the members are all those who have had experience with witches, most of them cursed. There is a frog who used to be a prince, a mermaid who wants to become human because she believes her true love is, and a grizzly bear who used to be a guy living with two sisters in the woods. Their chatroom conversations separate each of the six sections of the book, and its a good way to divide it. It's interesting to see how Kyle interacts with the outside world when he's so used to only talking to the people he lives with.

Though the book is predictable, if you've read the fairy tale or seen the Disney movie, you know what's coming, it is an enjoyable read. It has made me excited to see just how they adapt the novel for film when the movie is released.