Beastly by Alex Flinn

No. of pages: 300
Rating: 5/10

Synopsis: I am a beast.

A beast. Not quite wolf or bear, gorilla or dog but a horrible new creature who walks upright—a creature with fangs and claws and hair springing from every pore. I am a monster.

You think I'm talking fairy tales? No way. The place is New York City. The time is now. It's no deformity, no disease. And I'll stay this way forever—ruined—unless I can break the spell.

Yes, the spell, the one the witch in my English class cast on me. Why did she turn me into a beast who hides by day and prowls by night? I'll tell you. I'll tell you how I used to be Kyle Kingsbury, the guy you wished you were, with money, perfect looks, and the perfect life. And then, I'll tell you how I became perfectly . . . beastly.

Review: Kyle Kingsbury is handsome, rich and has a perfect life as the king of his highschool. But then he decides to play a cruel prank on Kendra Hilferty, a new girl who Kyle deems fat and ugly. But it's Kyle that gets the surprise when Kendra turns out to be a witch, and puts a spell on Kyle, so that he will be as ugly on the outside as he is on the inside. Kyle must find true love within two years, or be forever stuck as the beast, but can he do it...?

I have to admit, I feel quite torn about this book. I did read it in one sitting, and it was a quick, easy read and it was entertaining enough that I wanted to carry on reading it, but there were quite a few things I disliked about the book. Firstly, it's cheesy, and I really mean cheesy, and I found myself cringing at sections of the book, because it was just too much. Secondly, the author kept dropping brand names, which annoyed me because it was just totally unnecessary, it just seemed like she was trying too hard to show how hip and cool she was. The whole book just seemed so unrealistic to me. I know it's meant to be based on a fairytale, but it's meant to be a modern retelling set in the real world, so it ended up just being very silly. For people wanting to read a Beauty & the Beast style story, I'd point them in the direction of Robin McKinley's Beauty, which I thought was a great story and far better than this.

The Passion by L.J. Smith

No. of pages: 240
Rating: 5/10
Series: Dark Visions (Book 3)

Synopsis: Nearly escaping from the evil, Kaitlyn Fairchild and her psychic team are dismayed when Gabriel defects to the evil side, and Kaitlyn pretends to betray the group as well in an effort to save her friend.

Review: When Gabriel decides to leave the group and is drawn back to the evil influences, the group is devestated, especially Kaitlyn. So she decides to go back too, pretending she's gone to the bad side in order to save Gabriel and bring him back safely.

For some reason I felt like this book dragged a lot, the plot although not written badly, just didn't grip me at all. I was quite disappointed because the series started out so well with the first book, but just gradually got worse from the beginning of book two, which is a shame as it had such premise. The ending seemed like it was massively rushed, all perfectly wrapped up in the last few pages, which just didn't seem to fit the story or the characters up to that point. It was an okay series to read and overall I give the series a 3/5.

The Struggle by L.J. Smith

No. of pages: 187
Rating: 5/10
Series: Vampire Diaries (Book 2)

Synopsis: Elena is torn between her boyfriend, Stefan, and his brother, Damon. But these brothers hide dark secrets and a tragic past that threatens them all. Damon wants to lead Elena astray - and he’d rather kill Stefan than let him possess her...

Review: Even though Stefan is now her boyfriend and she loves him, she can't help but feel drawn to his brother Damon, and so start the secrets that tear Elena's world apart...

The story line did pick up a lot more in this book, which made it a lot easier to read, but the characters are still pretty unlikeable. The plot is still really predictable, and I can guess where the next two books are going go, but as I've already bought them I may as well carry on with them. I'd say this series is more suitable for teens too young to read the House Of Night series, which I think is much better if you're looking for a teen vampire series like this one.