A Kiss In Time by Alex Flinn

Genre: YA Fiction, Fairy Tale Re-Imagining

Author Site: www.alexflinn.com

First Line: “If I hear one more syllable about spindles, I shall surely die!”

One Word Review: Charming

My Review: This was a fun retelling of the Sleeping Beauty fairy tale. I’m not sure if it has been done before, but the idea of a modern day teenager waking up a princess who has been asleep for three hundred years was genius. Talia lives a very sheltered life due to the curse that was placed on her as a baby. In order to prevent the curse from being fulfilled her parent’s ban the use of spindles in their kingdom and Talia is never left alone. She starts out kind of bratty, which is understandable knowing where she came from, but as the book progresses so does Talia. She really turns into a lovely girl on the inside to match her beauty on the outside. Our young hero, Jack is your typical teenage boy. He is shipped off to Europe for the summer. Instead of being amazed by the beauty and history all around him, he is bored. Destiny intervenes and he soon stumbles upon an enchanted castle where he happens upon the sleeping princess. And that is where the fun begins. After Talia awakens she soon realizes she is no longer in 1709 and has a lot of catching up to do.

Watching Talia experience the 21st Century for the first time is fun, as well as her relationship with Jack. I also loved the take on our evil witch Malvolia, her motives were clearer and it was a fun twist on the original story. I liked that the book still had that fairy tale feel to it. It was a great re-imaging and would make a very fun movie. If you like Flinn’s Beastly then you will enjoy this as well.

Beastly by Alex Flinn

“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.” –GoodReads

This is a modern-day retelling of Beauty and the Beast which takes place in New York City. The story is told from the perspective of Kyle aka Beast. B&B is one of my favorite fairy tales and this modern twist was a delight to read. At the beginning Kyle is a normal teenage boy, okay maybe more like perfect (at least in his own mind). He is super hot, popular, rich, and of course dating the hottest girl in school. He has just been made Prom King and feels on top of the world. That world is soon turned upside down when a fellow class mate (real life witch) places a curse on him turning him into a beast, until he can find true love. A year later enter our Beauty…Linda, turns out Linda was once a classmate of Kyle’s, though he never gave her the time of day before. She comes to live with Kyle and friendship blooms (pun-intended). They both have a love of learning and of roses, and slowly they build a real relationship of trust, respect, and love. And I have to add, I have a bit of “library-lust” when Finn describes the library that Kyle builds for Linda!

I loved this book! It was such an entertaining read and may be one of my favorite retellings! Flinn creates new characters in a familiar story. Smart writing, moves along quickly and I LOVED the IM chats throughout the book with other fairytale characters, so creative. I’m excited to hear a movie is being made; I can’t wait to see it. If you haven’t yet, read this book!