Curses! by J.A. Kazimer

Title: Curses!
Author: J.A. Kazimer
Publisher: Puffin Books
ISBN: 978-0-7582-6912-6
Pages: 292
Series: F***ed-Up Fairy Tales #1
Type: Adult Humour
Source: Received for Review
Goodreads


RJ is no hero, in fact he is quite literally a card carrying villain. Until recently he was constantly plotting evil deeds and the downfall of young maidens but now a horrifying curse has shattered his dastardly life. Now, no matter what, RJ has to be nice. So when Cinderella is murdered and her not-so-ugly sister Asia calls on RJ for help he has little choice. Soon RJ finds himself in the kingdom of Maldetto trying to discover who (besides himself) would want a beloved princess dead.

This is one of those books that as soon as I heard about it, I knew that I would love it. I'm a big fan of fairy tales and will happily read pretty much any take on them so when I heard about a parodied version from the perpective of a villain cursed with niceness, I had to have it. The book is incredible and totally lived up to my expectations. The storyline is packed with twists and turns, most of which I didn't see coming and I was glued to the page throughout.

Obviously humour is incredibly subjective and in writing this review I am aware that what I find hilariously funny may not be even slightly amusing to someone else. That said the author does an incredible job of twisting every fairy tale possible to give a fresh angle on an old classic. The three deaf mice (notorious cousins of the three blind mice), an entirely new take on the ugly sisters, a questionable Prince Charming and even villains using bluebirds as murder weapons. I laughed out loud multiple times and found the entire book to be outrageously funny.

RJ is a great lead character with a great perspective. The curse only means he has to act nicely so it's brilliant to be able to read his villainous thoughts and then see how the curse changes his actions. He can't even shake someone - it turns into a hug. Asia was awesome as the ugly stepsister who is also dealing with a curse of her own and potential love interest for RJ.

All in all this was a great read and I'll definitely be picking up a copy of the sequel (Froggy-Style) next year.

Plot: 10/10
Characters: 9/10
Ending: 10/10
Enjoyment: 10/10
Cover: 7/10

Overall: 46/50

Movie Monday - Beastly

There are so many movies being made out of books these days that I've decided to create a feature where the two will be compared. On the first Monday of each month, I'll take a book I've read that's been adapted and compare it with the movie version. As with all my reviews I have tried to avoid using spoilers, although some minor ones may slip through.

First up is Beastly by Alex Flinn, made into a movie staring Vanessa Hudgens and Alex Pettyfer.

I really enjoyed the book, and I loved the movie too although it is pretty different. Like most book-to-movie adaptations the story has been glossed up and compressed, so the most obvious difference is that Kyle gets one year to break the curse not two as in the book.

The plot stays pretty true to the major parts of the book, although Kyle doesn't have his magic mirror and Lindy's father sends her to him to keep her safe rather than so he can get his drugs back. Lots of little things have been changed though - the school in the movie is Bucksford Academy not Tuttle, Kyle likes roses because Lindy does not because Will shows him and, other than one scene, there is barely any reading in the movie whereas it's a big deal in the book.

Alex Pettyfer is an almost perfect match to how I imagined Kyle and he captures the arrogant nature perfectly. However the beast is pretty different in that he is a "self-mutilated tattooed frankenskank" rather than an actual hairy beast. The other big changes is that he goes from Kyle to Adrian in the book and Kyle to Hunter in the film.

Vanessa Hudgens is a great personality match for Lindy, but looks nothing like how I imagined. In the book she is described as "a sort of mousy-looking girl with a red braid and freckles" so that's pretty different from Vanessa Hudgens' dark hair and olive skin.

Kendra wasn't what I expected, although Mary Kate Olsen did an incredible job of bringing the character to life. In the book she is supposed to be fat at first, and then appear to get thinner when Kyle realises that she's a witch whereas in the movie she is slim throughout with some awesome shoes. Her curse has also been changed from "" in the book to "embrace the suck" in the movie.

Neil Patrick Harris is a perfect match for Kyle's tutor Will, although I was disappointed his seeing eye dog Pilot is absent from the movie. Magda in the book is Zola in the movie, but other than making her Jamaican she is also a great match for the book as is Kyle's TV anchor father.

The ending is a bit different with Kendra's story continuing in a different way to the book, and Kyle and Lindy's ending being less dramatic but far more romantic. In some ways I prefer the sweet romantic ending of the movie, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't slightly miss the drama and action of the book.

All in all I think it was a fair adaptation and while I miss some parts that didn't make the jump from book to movie I did enjoy watching it.

So have you watched or read Beastly? What did you think?

Guest blog (2)

My latest guest blog post has just been published over at the awesome E&K Family Book Review where I reviewed Beastly by Alex Flinn. If you'd like to see what I thought, click here.