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Recommended Retellings
Shattered Snow
Rachel Huffmire
“What If Snow White’s coffin was a capsule that froze time?”
The question hit me as I cleaned a mirror in my home. It sent me running to my keyboard. 30 days later, I had a completed draft.
Time travel is a perfect ingredient for the Snow White fairy tale... and plenty others for that matter.
This retelling is based on the real-life history of Margaretha von Waldeck, a 16th century German Countess who is thought to be the inspiration for Snow White. I loved researching the time period, the castle she grew up in, the events in her life, and the Grimm brothers rendition of this story.
I hope you enjoy!
The question hit me as I cleaned a mirror in my home. It sent me running to my keyboard. 30 days later, I had a completed draft.
Time travel is a perfect ingredient for the Snow White fairy tale... and plenty others for that matter.
This retelling is based on the real-life history of Margaretha von Waldeck, a 16th century German Countess who is thought to be the inspiration for Snow White. I loved researching the time period, the castle she grew up in, the events in her life, and the Grimm brothers rendition of this story.
I hope you enjoy!
Cinder
Marissa Meyer
This is one of my all-time favorite book series. I genuinely couldn’t put this book down and tore through the whole series in less than a month. Marissa Meyer is easily one of my favorite authors. Her pacing is stellar, the romance is swoony, and the dialogue is so natural! Everything about this retelling was unexpected and beautiful. The characters are so natural and vivid. If you take any of my book recommendations, let it be this one. Read this book!
Ella Enchanted
Gail Carson Levine
I discovered this story in my Elemenary school library in 5th grade and was completely blown away when I realized it was a Cinderella retelling. It was my first exposure to this lifelong favorite genre. I got to read it to my 5th grade son last year and loved that I was just as enchanted as an adult as I had been all those years ago. Not only that, but my son also loved the story and had the same jaw dropped reaction I did when I was his age. This book is a must read for any fairytale reader out there!
Entwined
Heather Dixon
Entwined by Heather Dixon was such a fun representation of the 12 dancing princesses fairy tale. I loved the sister relationships and the depth behind the story. There was so much background driving every decision, and while I was familiar with the fairytale, was genuinely surprised by the fun twists and turns the plot took. There was sweet bits of romance, genuine concern for the dangerous situations the girls found themselves in, and I loved how strong the oldest sister became in facing the magic. Being the oldest of nine siblings myself, I really connected with a lot of the family aspects of this story.
Heartless
Marissa Meyer
Oh man. This book was so delightfully tragic, as any good villain origin story should be. Despite knowing it was about the future queen of hearts, the author got me attached anyway. Unlike many fairytales where there are twists to the original, this book twists the origin of each character and is completely enchanting to follow. I found myself rooting against fate because I was so caught up in the character's motivations. The elements of Wonderland were absolutely whimsical and charming to the very end. I loved the additional insight to who the characters were before Alice stumbled across them. It was perfectly, heartbreakingly, wonderful.
The King's 100
Karin Biggs
I fell in love with this book instantly. This story started out feeling very similar to Cinder by Marissa Meyer, then quickly whisked me away into a land of ball gowns, performers, and perfectly authentic teenage flirtation. I could not eat it up fast enough. It took me back to my high school madrigal days, spending time in practice rooms, performing onstage, and all the delicious drama that comes with it. Karin manages to get teenagers so right without them being overly angsty (annoying) or melodramatically romantic (“I would die for you, Riley”). Instead, the characters explore themes of what makes healthy friendships, value in emotional expression, and loyalty. It was very much a Cinderella-esque retelling, with all the charm you'd hope for. I loved every moment with this book.
Belle
Cameron Dokey
I wish this book were longer! It was both flavorful and vibrant and felt very reminiscent of Robin McKinley's book, Beauty. There were some really beautiful changes to the original that I felt added a lot to a sometimes troublesome plotline. It seemed to focus primarily on Belle's life before the Beast, and once she arrived at the beasts home however, the story wrapped up far too quickly. I would have really enjoyed staying in the story much longer, but that is usually the way it is with novella's. I recommend this as a light afternoon, feel good fairytale.
Feel free to come back again soon.
More retellings are added weekly
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