Once, I put a curse on a beastly and arrogant high school boy. That one turned out all right. Others didn't.
I go to a new school now—one where no one knows that I should have graduated long ago. I’m not still here because I’m stupid; I just don’t age.
You see, I’m immortal. And I pretty much know everything after hundreds of years—except for when to take my powers and butt out.
I want to help, but things just go awry in ways I could never predict. Like when I tried to free some children from a gingerbread house and ended up being hanged. After I came back from the dead (immortal, remember?), I tried to play matchmaker for a French prince and ended up banished from France forever. And that little mermaid I found in the Titanic lifeboat? I don’t even want to think about it.
Now a girl named Emma needs me. I probably shouldn't get involved, but her gorgeous stepsister is conniving to the core. I think I have just the thing to fix that girl—and it isn’t an enchanted pumpkin. Although you never know what will happen when I start . . . bewitching.
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This has been the first book I have read for the year, and if truth be told, I could no longer remember the last time I read one and actually enjoyed it. Been so busy for the past few days...I mean months. Since I haven't been really reading much lately, I have lost track about today's best sellers, new released stuff, etc. Glad we stopped by at a bookstore and luckily my friends discussed books so I was introduced to Bewitching and the rest was history.
I liked Beastly. Aside from the fact that the lead star was a real hottie, I love the way the story deviated from the fairy tale. Upon finishing Bewitching, I came to a conclusion that this type of twist is Alex Flinn's signature. And I oh so love it!
So the story was about Kendra, my beloved cool witch (anyone who have seen Beastly before should know her) who was reluctant in helping our protagonist Emma. In Kendra's defense, not that she's being mean and witchy as witches are usually portrayed but she's rather cautious about the gravity of the possible aftermath in case her magic backfires---which according to her, happens (most of the time?). :P Her super pretty step sister Lissette had to move in when her mother died. She thinks Emma had stolen everything from her, like his dad, which was actually silly since Emma was only 3 when her mother and Lissette's dad married (like Emma has a choice). You can imagine how the story went. Here's Lissette trying to get everything from Emma---their father's attention, material things, even Emma's boyfriend (I don't know whether to pity him or be glad he got dumped in the end because he was jerk enough to be fooled by skin-deep beauty). Although this was rather the usual Mean-Girls-and-the -like plot, I loved that Alex Flinn didn't make Emma the usual super good girl to the point that you'd hate her thinking she was some stupid girl or what. Emma was kind-hearted and her actions made sense.
One thing that made my eyebrow raise was during the party, when Travis' attention was caught by Emma. I find it rushed, a bit more exaggerated. I don't really believe in love at first sight so, to the fans, forgive my biases. And the kiss was a little too soon. Or am I just being conservative here? The book still got a good grade from me though.
This is the best re-telling of fairy tales I have read. As most of us have read on books and seen on TV, we have known a lot of versions of our all-time favorite bedtime stories. The stories in this book----Prince Louis, having a manipulative mother, having hard time securing a bride which turned out to be The Princess and the Pea; Kendra and his brother trying to stay alive from the plague of 1666 which later became a story of Hansel and Gretel; Doria, the mermaid, is of course about The Little Mermaid, which was made cooler since she has incorporated Titanic in it (Uhmmm, when was The Little Mermaid first told? Was it later than 1912?); and of course our very own Emma which told us about Cinderella with a twist---were superb!
I wasn't expecting about the ending. I thought things would go smoothly as Emma planned. I'm glad it didn't. I love how it went. Everything happens for a reason. Coincidence is nearly a myth. And beauty? Who cares if you're not the fairest? Who is? I mean, everyone is flawed. As the cliche goes, "Nobody's perfect." Although we may not be as pretty as the superstars, we all have our own strengths that not everybody has, might as well make the most out of it. Good things often happen when we don't pretend to be somebody else. At least it's the 'real' us who earns the credit.
And as for witchcraft and wizardry? Let's leave it to Harry Potter and friends and Kendra. Success can be best enjoyed when we know we've work hard to get it. At the end of the day, it's still the kindhearted who rules!
I love the book. I will definitely recommend it to those who are into this genre.
(Originally posted on May 07, 2012.)
