Reader's Journal #6- Beastly by Alex Flinn

#6                                                         Reader’s Journal                                         10/3/11

Dear Mrs. Zrihen,

            This week I have finished the book, Beastly by Alex Flinn.  I really enjoyed it!

            A passage that really stood out to me was:

“’…I'm… well, not [perfect]. Guys who look perfect don’t generally go out with girls who are, you know, average. Maybe Adrian King loved me, but will Kyle Kingsbury stay around, or can he find better?’

‘Better?’ I went from holding her hand to hugging her. ‘Lindy, you loved me when I wasn’t even human. You kissed me when I had no lips. You saw what was deep down inside me when I wasn’t even sure about it myself. Believe me, there's no way I could do better. I think you're perfect.’

                        ‘Oh, if you say so.’ But she was smiling.

            ‘I do. I’ll look whatever way you want me to. But do you think this happens so everyone –being turned into a beast, then changed back because of true love? Most people wouldn’t even believe it could happen, but it happened to us. Magic. For the rest of our lives we will go to school and have jobs and eat breakfast and watch TV, but we’ll know that even we don’t see it, there's magic in the world. Face it, this is happily ever after, true love like in fairytales.’”

            This passage is significant to the story because it show the relationship between Kyle/Adrian and Lindy. It shows how much they love care about each other.

            I used many strategies before, during, and after reading this book. Before reading this book, I reviewed what I already read. Then I set a purpose. My purpose for reading was for my reader’s journal and for my own entertainment because I really enjoyed the book. During reading, I thought about what I already knew from reading the previous week and used it to help me understand what I was reading this week. I also wrote down all new vocabulary words and figurative language I indentified throughout the text. After reading, I reread parts I enjoyed like when Lindy kissed Kyle for the first time. I also thought about all the literary elements that changed and stayed the same.

            I found many literary elements while reading this book. The genre is folktale and the subgenre is contemporary fairytale, because it has fairytale-like characters in a modern day setting. The main characters are Kyle Kingsbury, Magda, Lindy, Will and Kendra. The protagonists are Kyle Kingsbury, who changes his name to Adrian King, Magda, Lindy, and Will. The antagonist is Kendra but at the end of the book you realize she wasn’t such a bad witch after all. All the main characters are round and dynamic. Some foil characters are Mr. Anderson, SilentMaid, Froggie, and Grizzlyguy. These characters are all part of Kyle’s Internet site for people who have transformed. They are very dynamic but not round enough to be considered protagonists or antagonists. The story takes place in New York City and then Brooklyn, New York in a “castle” in modern times. The weather conditions vary throughout the book, and one social condition is that a witch tested Kyle to see if he didn’t judge people by looks and he didn’t pass. He was transformed into a beast.

The exposition is when Kyle’s personality and the setting are explained. The rising action is when Kyle meets Kendra, goes to his school dance, and embarrasses her. The climax is when Kyle gets transformed into a beast and when Lindy’s father brings her to Kyle’s house in Brooklyn. The falling action is when he tries to make Lindy fall in love with him. The resolution is when Lindy kisses Kyle and his spell is broken. He is turned back into a human and they live “happily ever after”.

The theme is definitely not to judge a book by its cover. The tone is entertaining and the mood is amused. I hope to read more books by this author to find out his motif. The pattern of organization is climatic order and the author’s purpose is to entertain. The conflict is Man vs. Self because Kyle’s main conflict is that he has to find a girl to change him back to human and because it was his fault he was transformed. The author’s perspective is biased to whoever and whatever Kyle likes because the author’s point of view is written in first person.

I didn’t indentify so many different figurative language because since this was fairytale, some of the things the author included were actually real things. However I did find one, “happily ever after” which is a cliché. I was probably enjoying the book too much to have noticed anymore, if there were more included in this book.

Overall, I really enjoyed the book and recommend it to everyone looking for an easy read romance/fairytale. I rate it 10 out of 10 stars.

                                                                                    Your Student,

                                                                                                Bailey Levy 802