Beastly by Alex Flinn

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 came out a long time ago and I always wondered what it was about so I picked it up. I have always live the story of Beauty and the Beast so I was intrigued to find out that there was a retelling of the book from the beast's point of view.

This book was very heart wrenching in my opinion because you see Kyle getting kicked out of his home and his life and being completely left alone except for a maid and his blind tutor. This book really opened up my eyes to what the experience would have been like for the Beast, not just Beauty.

The only problem I had with this book was that he was really, really whiny throughout most of the book which I guess was warranted some of the time but not all of the time. Overall a good book!

4/5

(Make sure to check out the movie coming out in 2010!)

Stormbreaker by Anthony Horowitz

Summary
When his guardian dies in suspicious circumstances, Alex Rider goes from schoolboy to superspy within days as his world is turned upside down. Forcibly recruited into MI6, Alex must discover the truth about the Stormbreaker computer.

Review
The first time I encountered this book was not through a book at all. I had seen the movie "Alex Rider Operation Stormbreaker" I really liked the move and thought nothing more if it. Then a couple of weeks ago I heard about this series and I was interested but when I started reading Stormbreaker I was surprised to feel like I had read this book before. After I had finished the book I remembered the movie.

Ok on to the book, I really like the idea of a teenage James Bond character and Alex really fits the bill. He was a likable character who really endeared himself to me through his sarcasm and just plain earnestness.

The problem I had with it was that the mission part for me only took up a minimal part of the book so I was kind of disappointed hopefully it will be better in the sequels. Overall a fun book!

3.5/5