May Book Review: Beastly, Cloaked, and Towering

Hey, guys!

So while I was taking my mental health break, I did manage to read some books. Quite a lot of books, actually, as I read three in about two and a half days. 

Since I was still in a post-Lunar Chronicles slump, I went to the school library, desperate to find the next best thing. And as I'd just seen and maybe slightly obsessed over the school musical, Beauty and the Beast, I picked up Alex Flinn's Beastly. (It's been a month and I may or may not still be obsessing over the school musical...)

This, as it turned out, was a great decision. 

I will say, the first few chapters weren't my favorite. Kyle, the main character, was insufferably shallow and irritating. And yes, I realize that according to the story, he is supposed to be. Still Mr. Teen Prince here and his equally annoying girlfriend did not immediately catch my interest. 

But once I got into the book a bit-- which only took me a few hours-- the magic of the fairy tale really started to shine through. I wish I could tell you more, but I don't want to give you any spoilers. I mean, if you know the story (and after Disney, who doesn't?) then you pretty much know how it goes. Although I will say, there was one plot twist toward the end that actually surprised me a bit.

Unfortunately, there weren't any talking clocks or singing candlesticks, which was a little disappointing for me. Especially as I was-- and still am-- amazed by the performance of Lumiere and Cogsworth (mostly Lumiere) in my school's musical. 

So after I finished Beastly in about a day, I immediately went back to the library to turn in it and pick up the next few of Alex Flinn's books that I'd noticed on the shelf the first time. I walked out about five minutes later with Cloaked and Towering. 

Cloaked was not based on any particularly common fairy tales, except maybe The Princess and the Frog. But as it was a combination of several less well-known fairy tales, it felt a lot more like a new and unique story rather than a fairy tale retelling. 

Which is great, but slightly disappointing if you're on a Disney kick and were hoping for a really well-known fairy tale. 

Nevertheless, I really did enjoy this book and read it in about five hours. Yep. Five hours. Straight. And Alex Flinn, you didn't fool me with that plot twist this time! I mean, it was mostly a hunch based on the feeling that "if I was writing this, I would totally do that." Since, you know, I'm a writer. Sort of.

Towering, on the other hand, was-- as you might have guessed-- a retelling of Rapunzel. And a fantastic retelling at that. The plot, with all its classic fairy tale references, satisfied my craving for more Disney-style fairy tales, but it was completely not a Disney fairy tale at the same time. This book had such an interesting and unexpected plot, and I wish I knew how to describe it without giving too much away. Guess you'll just have to read it, right?

I would really recommend these books, particularly if you like fairy tales or romance. Even if you don't usually like fairy tales, I think these still have a lot to offer, particularly Towering. The other two are definitely a bit more fantasy, but all of them are modern and interesting and fantastic. 

Being a bit fairy tale obsessed just made them even better.

If you've read any of these books, want to read any of these books, or have any suggestions for what I should read next, feel free to let me know in the comments down below!