Everyone has enjoyed First Line Fridays so much (YAY!) that I decided to try another new – and hopefully fun – thing each week. Most of the time, this blog is about my opinion lol. And, while I’m ever so grateful that you enjoy what I have to say, I want to know what YOU think too 🙂
So, each week on Sunday, let’s have a little book club. Not talking about a specific book really but discussing a bookish topic that might be on my mind.
This week’s topic is : Fairy tale retellings
I. LOVE. fairy tales. I also LOVE a good fairy tale retelling! This past week I reviewed Cinderella by Jenni James, and this coming week look for my review of her version of Rapunzel. My favorite reteller of fairy tales is Melanie Dickerson (no surprise to anyone who’s been around the blog a while, I’m sure), but I have a handful of other go-to retellers as well. On the other hand, I’ve also read some retellings that were very disappointing.
Ok. Enough from me.
What are YOUR fave fairy tale retellings? And/Or what’s a fairy tale you wish someone would retell?
Melanie Dickerson is the best. I’ve read 2 by her and have another to read coming up. My favorite fairy tale is Beauty And The Beast. Has Melanie written a retelling of that? Any others you’d recommend?
Fun post. ?
Oh Beckie – she HAS!! And it’s my FAVORITE of hers! The Merchant’s Daughter. It’s a must-read.
How about Rapunzel? Anyone retold her story yet? Or Hansel and Gretel?
I don’t know of a Hansel and Gretel retelling (good idea though!) but Melanie Dickerson has a beautiful retelling of Rapunzel – The Golden Braid! And I’m getting ready to review Jenni James’ version of Rapunzel later this week.
Jenni James has a Hansel & Gretal retelling, I haven’t read it yet.
ah yes!! I should have thought of her! She is quite prolific – love it
I LOVE fairy tales too!!! Soooo much!!! And I love a good retelling. Melanie Dickerson has been my favorite so far. Even though I have only read a couple they rest are high on my TBR. Love this idea BTW 😉
YAY!! Thanks 🙂
I’ve only read Melanie’s books but now I feel like I MUST check out Jenni James. I really want to read the series (what’s it called?) that starts with Cinder. The covers of those are so compelling.
Oh! Yes! The Lunar Chronicles! They are on my “must-reads” for this year….
I’ve always loved re-tellings! My love for them started back with Beauty by Robin McKinley – it’s a Beauty and the Beast re-telling. Heather Dixon’s Entwined is a gorgeous re-telling of the Twelve Dancing Princesses, as is Wildwood Dancing by Juliet Marillier.
The Healer’s Apprentice is probably my favorite of Melanie’s. 🙂
that’s one of my faves by Melanie too! I still need to read Beauty by Robin McKinley. I’ve heard great things about Entwined but still need to read it – adding Wildwood Dancing to my TBR list!! 😀
Ooohh, thanks for those two new-to-me titles. I just put them on hold at my library.
yay!!
Sunday Book Club = success!! 🙂
My next book is a fairy tale retelling…..sort of. I was driving down the road one day, thinking about the popularity of the fairy tale retellings, and I wondered, what fairy tales aren’t being retold?
So I put parts of Aladdin and Scrooge together. Because why not? Though you can’t lump me into a retelling. I should get on that….
I do like fairy tale retellings, if done far enough off the expected plot to make it feel fresh, so I’d rather it make a nod to the story rather than be faithful. I’m actually trying to remember any of them that I really enjoyed, I can’t say I have a wow one that I can remember, but I’m a sucker for Beauty and the Beast. Like, one of the few fairy tales that gives the couple more than a few hours of face time to fall in love. 🙂
Oh, can I throw in a movie? Ever After is my favorite Cinderella retelling.
ahhhhhhhhhhh Melissa! YES! Can’t wait to read that one 😀 And I agree – even though Drew Barrymore is one of my least favorite actresses on the planet, Ever After is my favorite Cinderella adaptation. “….is that they lived.” <3
Yes, it’s the best. I took my girl to the new Cinderella (her first movie theater experience) and the whole time I was thinking, Ever After is so much better, the only thing the new one had going for it is it’s beautiful, G rated, and a pretty faithful adaptation (of the Disney movie anyway). It was probably the prettiest movie I’d seen, but that’s about it. So, I went straight home and popped in the Ever After movie and made her watch it. And since she LOVES Leonardo Da Vinci, it’s now her favorite too. Though I had to talk her down off her fangirl ledge when I told her the actor wasn’t the real Da Vinci (a little fangirl fantasy/reality confusion going on there. 🙂
hahahahah!! Love it!
Fun concept, Carrie! I love the fairytale retellings too. Love a new spin on a familiar story.
thanks! Hopefully it will be fun each week 🙂 At some point I might run out of ideas LOL.
I LOVE fairy tales retellings but I never really found a book of the sort that I liked 🙁 What do you recommend?
I recommend all of Melanie Dickerson’s retellings, particularly The Healer’s Apprentice (Sleeping Beauty) and The Merchant’s Daughter (Beauty & The Beast). I’ve heard good things about Jessica Day George’s retellings too – Princess of the Midnight Ball, Princess of Glass, Princess of the Silver Woods – but I’ve not read them yet. Jane Nickerson’s books are really good as well!!
I LOVE fairy tale retellings. And yes, to all of Melanie Dickerson’s!!!
Two I can add to your list off the top of my head — Goose Girl by Shannon Hale, A Curse Dark as Gold by Elizabeth Bunce, Sisters Red by Jackson Pearce — that one has a bit of language.
Maybe you can help me find a book I’ve been trying to remember for years. It’s a retelling of Sleeping Beauty set around the Holocaust. If I remember correctly, it’s a dual timeline story — and a grandchild is piecing together his grandmother’s war story? The whole barbed wire around the camp represented the briars that grew around Sleeping Beauty’s Castle. Funny, the bits I remember. And I think the author was a man. That’s all I’ve got — any ideas?
And I’d love to see some of the Irish fairy tales retold. There’s a beautiful one called The Children of Lir about a wicked stepmother queen who casts a spell on her stepsons — turns them into swans and their sister can only see them in once a year until she figures out how to break the spell.
Goose Girl has been on my list for a while – need to find MORE TIME lol. I shall add the other two to my list. Was the Sleeping Beauty story Briar Rose by Jane Yolen? And oooo that Irish fairytale sounds fascinating… you should pitch it to Melanie!!! 😀
No — not Jane Yolen, though I’ve read some of hers. Hmmm…might have Briar Rose in the title come to think of it. Must do another check again. Yes — Melanie could move away from German and head to Ireland! 🙂
Nuts. That synopsis sounded dead-on like what you described!
I’ve read all of Melanie Dickerson’s fairy tale retellings and loved them all. I can’t recall reading any by any other author.
Hers are my favorite for sure 🙂
Regina Doman (Chesterton Publishing) has a whole series of Fairytale novels, and those are the only ones I’ve read (although I plan on reading Cinder by Marissa Meyer at some point).
Regina’s early books appealed to teen girls, well, I guess they all do, but some of the later books tackle more adult, modern issues
I haven’t heard of those but will definitely be checking them out!!
I love fairytale retellings. (LOL Obviously, or I wouldn’t be commenting!) My favorite thing about them is how the author takes something that we all know, something that is ‘common’ and adds their own twist on it to make it unique.
You know, interestingly enough, the last book I finished was Stitching Snow by R.C. Lewis which is a retelling of Snow White – but in space! Loved the book, too, by the way. Other favorites include:
A Wicked Thing duology by Rhiannon Thomas (Sleeping Beauty retelling.)
Princess series by Jim C. Hines (Mix, but mostly Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella and Snow White.)
Feyland series by Anthea Sharp (the first is a retelling of Tam Lin!)
Beauty and the Beast by K.M. Shea (Beauty & the Beast, obviously.)
The Isle of the Lost by Melissa de la Cruz (the Disney-fied version of several villain’s offspring – ties in to Disney’s Descendents movie.)
oooo thank you, Amy! You’ve given me lots of great new-to-me retellings to check out!! And that’s such a good point, too – that they take something that we all know and love and add their own twist to make it unique to them.
My favorite fairy tale retelling is Belle by Robin McKinley. OH my gosh–so lovely. 🙂
that one has been highly recommended to me many times! I really must read it soon!!
I’ve recently “found” Melanie Dickerson and am hooked! I think I’ve read 3 so far. 🙂 I’ll have to check out these others, too!
ahhhhhh LOVE HER!! so much! Her newest one is amazing!