Customer Reviews
Courtesy of Teens Read Too - By: TeensReadToo.com, 05 Sep 2007 
If you like the Sci-fi channel offered by your local cable company, you will want to read BEAST by Ally Kennen. Its mysterious beginning will grab your attention, & the rest of the book will have you on the edge of your seat.
Stephen has been living in foster homes for years. The family he has been with the past four years hasn't been half bad, but he's reached the age limit for foster care & is about to be sent packing. He's got to get packed, find a decent job, & if that's not enough, he needs to take care of a "little" problem he's been dealing with for years.
It's the Beast - a twelve-foot crocodile he's raised from a baby. His father gave it to him six years ago for his birthday. No one knows the thing is still alive. Stephen has been keeping it in a watery cage near the local reservoir. Now that he is leaving his foster home, he's got to do something with the Beast. Its cage is becoming dangerously unsafe & finding food is an increasing problem. What can he do? Should he let someone else know about the creature? Can anyone else even help?
Kennen's early chapters leave room for speculation that soon change to a frantic, desperate tone. BEAST contains the stuff of nightmares & is sure to entertain even the most reluctant reader.
Reviewed by: Sallly Kruger, aka "Readingjunky"
A gripping tale - By: D. Boschi, 26 Apr 2007 
Surprisingly gritty - swearing & drugs - so not reallly suitable for younger kids.
It's an excellent, well written story though. A very enjoyable read.
Good story, strange plot but lots of swearing... - By: Campbell, 06 Dec 2006 
A good book about a foster child who as a young child had a pet crocodile, but now the crocodile is fully grown & has escaped he needs help & goes to his homeless Dad for the answers.
Although this sounds like a children's book there is lots of swearing & rudeness. Probably more suitable for teenagers.
Review by Campbell aged 11
terrific thriller by stunning new novelist - By: A. Craig, 14 Nov 2006 I fell in love with Beast's narrator on the first page when he lists alll the bad things he's done. Most of these, which have led to him being "in care", are pretty minor but two are not - & one might kill him. This is the existence of the monster growing in the marsh, which he must feed. Each week it grows stronger, & more likely to break out of its cage....
The monster is very real (and an urban legedn) but also a metaphor for Stephen himself. Is he going to make a future, or become a crook like his father? How can he atone for his involvement in his brother's death? What is he going to do to his foster-sister?
The author apparently grew up with foster children, & it shows. If you're the kind of reader who gets shocked by a few swear-words, don't bother. But if you want a wonderful, well-written, realistic, seat-of-the-pants thriller about a teenager, this is it.
In response to recent negativity... - By: Penny4em, 30 Jul 2006 Hi there. The last reviewer, Harver, gave this book one star because it was too mature for his/her son. I don't see how this is a reason to slate a book. Beast is a Young Adult novel & the protagonist is 17 years old. Rate it on the writing not the fact that someone too young for it managed to get their hands on it. I guarantee they hear worse in the playground anyway.
Beast has an intense stream of conciousness feel & Stephen is a very likeable narrator despite law-breaking tendencies. I enjoyed it very much.
