Beastly

SUMMARY
Kyle Kingsbury, rich, handsome and popular, plays a mean practical joke on an outcast girl
in his class, who is really a witch named Kendra in disguise. The witch then curses him for
his cruelty. He starts to turn into a beast; however, because he performed a small act of
kindness shortly before his transformation when he gave an unwanted rose corsage to a
girl working a ticket booth, she gives him two years to break the spell, or remain a beast
forever. The only way he can turn back to normal is if he truly loves a girl and gets her to
love him in return, proving the love with a kiss. Kendra later offers Kyle further aid by giving
him a magic mirror that shows him whomever he wishes to see. He is locked in a mansionlike apartment by his shallow, image-obsessed father. His only company is his housekeeper,
Magda, and, at his request, a blind tutor named Will. After a year of being in this state, and
trying and failing to find love, Kyle changes his name to Adrian to reflect his feelings of being
a completely different person from the conceited, materialistic boy he used to be. When a
robber stumbles into his garden Adrian offers him a deal; he won't report the robber to the
police if the robber brings Adrian his daughter, Linda. She is Adrian's last chance to break
the spell before his two years are up.
Adrian realizes that Linda is the same girl to whom he gave the rose corsage. He fixes up a
room for her, leaving roses and books for her to amuse herself with. When she arrives, she
at first wants nothing to do with him as she feels he kidnapped her. As time passes, she
slowly warms up to him and he finds himself falling in love with her. The two begin to have
tutoring sessions together and during winter they go to a lodge. Shortly before the last year
is up, Linda wishes to see her father once more. Adrian lets her see him with the magic
mirror and she finds that he has become sick through drug use. Adrian quickly lets her go
to him and offers for her to return to the apartment in the spring if she desires, this time as
a friend and not a prisoner. On the last day of the second year, Adrian looks for Linda in the
mirror and sees her being dragged into a building by a man. He rushes to her rescue and is
shot in the process. As he lays dying, he asks Linda for a kiss. She kisses him, breaking the
spell and turns him back to normal. He explains everything to Linda and the two go back
and live in the apartment together. Adrian had also made a deal with Kendra, and because
of which, Will regains his sight and Magda is allowed to return to her family. Kendra reveals
that she is Magda, punished to remain a servant forever because of her careless spell but
she can now return home as well.

CHARACTERS

Kyle Kingsbury "Adrian" is the son of Rob Kingsbury. He is tall, blonde, rich, and handsome.
He is the most popular guy in school and dates the hottest girls; however, starts the book
as a shallow and lonely bully, feeling abandoned by his father and regularly dishing out
cruelty to people less well off than himself. When Kyle asks an unappealing new student,

Kendra, to the upcoming dance as a practical joke, Kendra, who is revealed to be a beautiful
witch, transforms Kyle into an ugly beast with fangs, claws, and fur. Kyle's father is ashamed
of his son's appearance and locks him in a large apartment in downtown New York so no
one will see him. Kyle's only company is his housekeeper, and, later, a blind tutor named
Will and his dog, Pilot. He changes his name from Kyle (which means "handsome") to Adrian
(which means "dark one") and over the course of the two years becomes a completely
different person (becoming much more kind and sensitive). His only happiness comes from
the rose garden he plants and maintains in his small backyard, encouraged by Will. Adrian
has two years to break the witch's spell by falling in love and being loved sincerely despite
physical appearances.

Linda "Lindy" Owens is the modern version of "Beauty". She is described as not the most
beautiful girl with red hair, green eyes, and crooked teeth. She often talks about how she
'dug a tunnel' out of her life and applied for Kyle's school, Tuttle, the most expensive private
school in the city. Kyle, when he first saw her, called her a total zero. When he gets the
mirror, he keeps watching her, and slowly falls in love with her. Lindy comes into
Kyle/Adrian's life again when her drug-addicted father offers Lindy to Kyle so that Kyle
wouldn't contact the police about his crimes, and at first Lindy resents Kyle for taking her
from her father. After a few days she comes out and tutors with Will and Adrian (Kyle's
alias). She loves the roses in the greenhouse. She misses her father, but when she goes back,
she is sold again for money and drugs. When they both go back to school, she and Kyle are
dating, to the confusion and disapproval of the other students. Lindy is described as very
smart and tolerant of her father's drug-filled life.

Kendra Hilferty is a Witch who had used her powers too frequently in her youth and, as
punishment, is sent by the witch elders to New York City to work as a servant. She disguises
herself as a new student at Tuttle to spy on Kyle. She introduces herself as Kendra Hilferty,
bearing green hair and dark clothes, and is overweight and ugly. However, before she
transforms Kyle, her "ugliness" disappears and she is described as a beautiful witch. She also
is disguised as Magda, the Kingsbury's maid, to serve and, at the same time, spy on Kyle
during his two years as a beast. At the end, Kyle finds out everything about the witch, but
lets her go as a part of the deal they made earlier, so Kendra returns to her fellow witches.

Rob Kingsbury is Manhattan's most popular news anchor. He has a son, Kyle, who he
neglects. He is rich and handsome and lives in a large apartment with his son and the maid,
Magda. Mr. Kingsbury works 24/7 and barely spends time with his son. When he finds out
about Kyle's transformation, he locks him up in a luxurious five-floor apartment because he
is embarrassed by him and doesn't want anyone to know that his son is a monster. Rob also
had a wife that lives in Miami married to a plastic suergeon, but she left him(Rob) for
unknown reasons many years ago (she is not named in the book). Overall, Rob is a shallow
and unsympathetic man who cares more for his image than he does for his own son.

Will Fratalli is in his late twenties, tall and slender with curly hair. Will is also a kind person
who has a love of literature and had Kyle read books such as The Hunchback of Notre
Dame and The Phantom of the Opera. He is hired to tutor Kyle after Kyle's transformation.
He is blind, and has a dog, Pilot, who serves as a helper and a watchdog. At first, Pilot feels

uncomfortable around Kyle but as the time passes, he starts to become fond of him. In the
end, Kendra restores Will's eyesight as a part of her deal with Kyle, and he becomes an
English teacher at Tuttle while studying to become a professor.

Mr. Anderson and the Support Group Members are members of a special online support
group for people who have gone through transformations. Mr. (Chris) Anderson is the 1800s
fairy tale author, Hans Christian Andersen, who wrote stories like Thumbelina and The Little
Match Girl. Froggie is the frog prince. Grizzlyguy is the prince from Snow-White and RoseRed. Silentmaid is Hans Christian Andersen's Little Mermaid. Kyle/Adrian uses the screen
name BeastNYC on it.

Daniel Owens is Linda's sickly and drug addicted father. Linda is sympathetic toward him,
despite the fact he was willing to give her up to avoid legal persecution for breaking into
Kyle's greenhouse and has hit her more than a few times. It is mentioned that Daniel did try
to clean up his act, quit drugs, and get a job, but it only lasted for about a week before he
went back to his own ways.