Stephen, 17, is a boy with many secrets and his biggest, most deadly is getting out of control. Hidden, at the side of a reservoir, his secret is fighting to get out and the rusting bars of the cage it’s trapped in won’t hold it much longer.

Stephen doesn’t have what you’d call a normal life: his parents are divorced, his dad a drunken tramp living on the streets and his mother has gone mad. His face is well known to the police and he’s about to be kicked out of his current foster home. With his life crumbling around him he finds that he has nowhere to turn and the beast is growing hungry all the time …

When I first picked up Beast I was expecting an excellent read: the cover and title were eye catching and it had received amazing reviews. I soon, however, found myself bored and easily distracted; reading it only because I had to. It lacked certain qualities and was very repetitive. I give this book 5/10 because it started well and the characters were good. I would say its reading age is about 12–15.