Kyle Kingston
is your typical spoiled brat. He enjoys coveted good looks—blonde hair, blue
eyes, chiseled body, and above average height—his father’s money, and the
arrogance that goes along with his elevated social status. Kyle takes pleasure
in tormenting his less popular classmates. When he pushes the new girl too far,
she turns him into a beast.
But not an
animal like a lion or bear, or even some combination of animals; Kendra turns
Kyle into a sasquatch-esque creature with hair all over his body, claws, and
the roar of a wild animal. He is given two years to find a girl who can love
him despite his appearance, and to seal the deal with a kiss.
Kyle is stuck
in his beauty-dependent mindset and unsure of how he could possibly beat this
curse. But when his father abandons him with the maid, Kyle negotiates for a
tutor and everything he could want to live his isolated life.
After a year
Kyle begins to change.
He finds a
passion for gardening, and—when a man breaks into his greenhouse—a new friend
who might break the curse. Lindy hates Kyle at first—he kidnapped her from her
home and her father and the school she fought so hard to get into—but after a
while she begins to enjoy her new home.
Like most
“Beauty and the Beast” tales Kyle and Lindy find their happily ever after,
though in a non-traditional way. Their story isn’t Disney’s version but neither
is it the darker Grimm horror story: Kyle and Lindy are teens in the modern world,
complete with an online support group and pressures they must fight daily in
their relationship.
Beastly focuses on building a
relationship based on caring for another person despite appearances or ability,
and showing that caring through actions and behaviors. Readers as young as
middle school may enjoy the story.
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