Kyle is the king of his high school: rich, popular, gorgeous, and dating the prettiest girl in school. He’s also a complete ass; he looks down on anyone who doesn’t share his qualities, makes fun of them relentlessly, and plays horrid pranks on them. His world upends, however, on the night of the school dance, when the ‘ugly’ girl he prank-invited to go with him turns out to be a witch. She curses him to look just as ugly on the outside as he is on the inside, which turns him into a beast. The spell, of course, is only reversable if he can find someone to love and who loves him in return.

I should have trusted my instinct to abandon this one early on, but I had hoped that it would improve. It didn’t. Lackluster writing, an overly-simplistic retelling of the original tale that belies a not-complete understanding of the point, and characters that are either wholly unlikeable, even once ‘redeemed,’ or so cardboard-like that there’s no depth to them at all. The Belle character is essentially a stand-in for the Necessary Female Character Here, in that she does the bare minimum of being trapped, feeling scared, then sus, then in love, with no nuance to her personality or feelings or actions. ( )

Witches

Romantilise “Kaunitari ja koletise” muinasjutu tõlgendus, milles kaasaegse New Yorgi rikaste ja ilusate laste lillelist elu kirjeldav sündmustik muutub kiiresti dramaatiliselt süngeks ja mõtlemapanevaks. Raamatu peategelane, eliitkooli staar Kyle, on tõeline tänapäeva maailma “prints”: ta isa on meediatäht ja raha on neil nagu raba. Ja otse loomulikult on ta pealiskaudne, enesekeskne, julm ja kiusab neid, kes pole piisavalt “ilusad”. Karistuseks muudetakse ta koletiseks – täpselt selliseks kihvade ja paksu karvkattega elajaks, nagu muinasjutuski. Ja päästa saab teda vaid tõeline armastus.
Kuigi loo käik on kõigile hästi teada ja kirjanikule võib nii süžee arendamisel (kohati liigne konstrueeritus, kust traagelniidid läbi paistavad) kui oma tegelaste motiveerimisel (eriti kangelanna Lindy puhul) nii mõndagi ette heita, julgen “Koletut” siiski soovitada. Lugu on kirjutatud väga hästi tabades kaasaegset keelt ja andes edasi noorte mõtteviisi ja suhtlemismalle, mis eriti nauditavalt on esitatud koletiste vestlusgrupi veebilogides, kus Koletis arutab oma probleeme samuti moondatud Grislipoisi, kusagil Euroopas asuva näkitüdrukuga (kes peab plaani armastuse nimel loobuda oma häälest, et saada jalad ja lahkuda merest) ning muudegi veidrate olevustega.
Eraldi väärib äramärkimist Alex Flinni loost koorusv nn teine moraal klassikalise ja ilmselge “oluline on sisemine ilu, mitte väline” kõrval – nimelt on ilus Kyle kasvanud sisemiselt koletiseks oma vanemate hoolimatuse tõttu, narkomaanist isa tütar Lindy on aga tema vastandina suutnud sellest hoolimata seesmiselt kauniks jääda. Raamat tõstatab teravalt ühe praeguses ühiskonnas palju kõneainet leinud probleemi vanemate vastutusest oma laste ees.
( )

so a few weeks ago I watched the movie version of this book and that in turn made me curious about the book. I actually adored this book. Given that it had it's total cheesy moments, it was still a lovely little, quick read. There are some changes with characters, but that's to be expected when dealing with a "novel-to-film" work. There were moments in this story when I just wanted to snuggle the characters with love. My only thing with this book (and it's not major or anything) is the "chat room" experience. I've seen some reviews saying that they don't like it, or that it's distracting and whatnot, but I actually became more curious as to the whereabouts of those characters once the story was over. I'm still trying to find out who the bear was though. And what happened to the mermaid (Ariel)? Is her story based on the original book where she turns to foam (I know it's mentioned, but did it HAPPEN?) or was she able to swoon her prince in the last minute and have happily ever after (like in the animated film - though I seriously doubt it). Cute, modern day twist on one of my favorite Disney movies. I will be continuing the story.

I give the writing two stars, but the readability four stars, which averages out to three. As a re-telling of the classic "Beauty and the Beast" tale, it definitely honors tradition while adding a lot of modern shenanigans (most notably, online chat rooms scenes where the Beast commiserates with other transformed fairytale characters through a kind of support group).

Honestly, I don't know why I liked this as much as I did. It's really not that great, but I couldn't put it down. It's kind of like a less offensive Twilight. ( )