I'm participating in today's Top Ten Tuesday, hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week's prompt is:
Ten Fairytale Retellings I've Read
I've always been a big fan of fairytales, so naturally I've read several retellings. Here are a few that I've read with some corresponding thoughts, and a few that are still on my TBR list:
I'VE READ:
This Beauty and the Beast retelling is my most recent fairytale read, and it's also the best I've read in a long, long time. This ain't no kids story, but that's one of the reasons I looooved it.
This Beauty and the Beast retelling falls on the other end of the spectrum for me. I did not respond well to this novel, and haven't been so relieved to finish a book in a long time. (To be fair, most of the world seems to disagree with me, so maybe you'll love it, too. I, personally, would not recommend it, however.)
This story retells the Celtic Swans myth, made famous with Hans Christian Andersen's The Wild Swans. Though I feel like this book could have easily been about 200 pages shorter, I still thought it was a lovely slowburn of a novel. Plus, Sorcha is one of my favorite ever names for a protagonist.
As far as fairytales go, Snow White is not my favorite. So it's saying something that this Snow White retelling completely gripped me. I loved how haunting this story was, combined with how much I cared for the characters.
Phantom of the Opera will always be a favorite of mine, so I knew I was going to read this book as soon as I heard of it, no matter what any reviews said. Luckily, I ended up loving this story just as much as I wanted to. Can't wait for the sequel!
This Robin Hood retelling, however, is not on my good list. I was alternately annoyed and exasperated the whole time I was reading, and do not plan to continue the series. (A love triangle featuring Robin and Little John?? Yeah, no thanks.)
This book is based on the fairytale A Thousand And One Nights, which I was not familiar with before reading this book. I think that was a good thing, though, because I had no idea what to expect, and was totally captivated from the very first page. I loved this book so hard.
3. Cinder by Marissa Meyer
Cinderella is one of the more popular fairytales, and has been retold a thousand different ways, but I can't think of any quite like this one. A cyborg-Cinderella story is either going to be terrible or freaking awesome. This one was freaking awesome.
2. Beauty by Robin McKinley
I have no link for this book since I read it before the B-Drag, but this was one of the first fairytale retellings I've ever read, and will always be a favorite. Definitely written for younger audiences in mind, this Beauty and the Beast retelling is a great one to introduce young teens and pre-teens into the vast and lovely world of fairytale retellings.
1. Book of a Thousand Days by Shannon Hale
This story is based on a little known fairytale from the Brothers Grimm called Maid Maleen. I think more people may have read this book than the Brothers' Grimm story. It's a cute book, but not my favorite fairytale, and certainly not my favorite of Hale's work. (Though I really, really love some of her other books, so the bar was pretty high.)
ON MY RADAR:
Bitter Greens by Kate Forsyth
I've heard nothing but good things about this Rapunzel fairytale, and although it's quite large, I definitely want to read it.
Entwined by Heather Dixon
I believe this book is based on the Twelve Dancing Princesses, which was one of my favorites as a child. I don't think I've ever read a retelling of this particular fairytale, so I'm looking forward to this one!
Princess of the Midnight Ball by Jessica Day George
Speaking of the Twelve Dancing Princesses, this one is another retelling. I've never read George before, and have been wanting to give her a try, so I figure this is probably a good choice to begin with. Yes?
What are your favorite fairytale retellings? What would you recommend to me? Any I should skip? And has anyone else noticed that fairytale retellings have predominantly red cover images?? Tell me your thoughts!
I love Jessica Day George's books! I hope you enjoy her books as well!
ReplyDeleteThanks! I'm really looking forward to starting.
DeleteCinder is my favorite retelling so far. I also loved Stitching Snow, which is a retelling similar to Cinder in the sense of being sci-fi and fantasy, but of Snow White.
ReplyDeleteYou've really been making me want to read Stitching Snow lately! I can tell you really liked it from your comments. I'll have to check it out.
Delete