Beastly by Alex Flinn

Beastly is the classic fairy tale Beauty and the Beast set in modern NYC.  Despite Kyle's goth transformation in the movie, in the book he really is a beast.  Not quite lion, wolf, or bear, he walks upright but looks like an animal.  That slightly major detail is more true to the fairy tale and far less believeable as a love story.  I couldn't decide if I liked his beastliness or not.  Other than that I thought this was an enjoyable read.  Super fast- definitely an airplane book, but entertaining.  The language and writing is on a 14 or 15 year old level but some of the subject matter is too mature for 14 year olds (at least in my opinion).  Sex is alluded to a couple of times.  The beast also spends his nights fantasizing about sleeping with his true love.  There are no details, but I wouldn't feel comfortable with my 13 year old daughter reading it.  The writing in this book is not nearly as good as any of the Jessica Day George fairy tales which include a great deal more character development and attention to detail.  Although Beastly is not very substantial it was fun refined sugar that only took about 2 hours to read and I would like to read more of Alex Flinn's fairy tales.

Book of a Thousand Days by Shannon Hale

I've put off getting and reading this for a couple of years.  I wish I hadn't.  Maybe I wouldn't have been so disappointed if I hadn't waited so long to read it.  The story is meticulously rendered like Hale's other fairy tales.  The details are evocative and consistent.  The setting is medieval Mongolia and she paints a believable, breathable picture.  That said, the story was just ho hum for me.  I was bored.  If you're going to read Shannon Hale I would recommend you skip this one and pick up something else she has written.  Not that this book wasn't okay.  It's just that the others are better.

Wicked by Gregory Maguire

I read this book cover to cover and for the first two days afterwards I couldn't even tell if I liked it or not.

The book is interesting, creative, and well thought out. I was intrigued by the histories, cultures, religion, and politics of the different ethnicities in Maguire's Oz. I particularly appreciated the way their many folktales offered an explanation for the various and incongruous accounts of the events and characters portrayed in the Baum books. I did not like the people of Maguire's Oz, however. I found them to be a morally bankrupt society on an apocalyptic level. The story was fraught with murder, intrigue, and sexual perversions of every sort. I found it offensive on many levels. It also took me a very long time to get into the story.

Elphaba, a.k.a.- the Wicked Witch of the West- goes through most of her life just trying to do what is right in spite of the wicked world in which she lives. She is constantly helping others and receives only the smallest portion of love from others in return. She is a tragic character and you hope that in the end she will go to some afterlife prepared for the inhabitants of Oz. This is not to be however, since there is no "After" for witches. Perhaps this is best, since it is her hope to cease a painful existance.

If this book were a movie, it would receive an "R"-rating at the very least. I understand that the musical is quite family friendly, so if you are interested in hearing the twist on the tale, I would buy tickets to a production and skip this one altogether.