Retelling of: Sleeping Beauty
With: steampunk fashion & technology (such as airships, an android that is sort of amusing, shifters, a surprise creature (which I will not name because it's a spoiler)
I really like the ending with a surprise (to me anyway) creature. (This is part of a four-book series but it can be read as a standalone.)
Retelling of: Snow White
With: magic, magicians/witches/wizards, medicine, women's rights, 7 mythical creatures
The ending could be a little more expanded, maybe it could used a little more interactions between the main characters but overall, a good read. (This is a part of a series but it can be read as a standalone.)
Retelling of: Beauty and the Beast
With: magic, apparitions, curses, calligraphy, magic mirrors, a castle
The beast aka Anluan is a bit too mysterious and we sort of get to know him but not a lot. It is Caitrin's (aka Beauty's) story and we only get her perspective with the occasional insight (through a mirror) into the back story of the curse. Beware: there is a sex scene with details and sexual innuendos here and there.
Retelling of: Beauty and the Beast
With: curses, horses, magic, sisters, family
Beauty is a mostly true to the original story with the expected ending. I think this was one of the very first Beauty and the Beast retelling that I had read and I guess that's why I still think of it as a favorite even though I may not like it as much as before.
Retelling of: Beauty and the Beast
With: magic, frying pans, giants, beastly men
It's a fun read and I like the banters between the two main characters (Beauty and James aka Beast). There is two romances going here which I didn't mind but the second romance was probably unnecessary but some of the romantic antics is kind of fun.
Retelling of: East of the Sun and West of the Moon
With: white bears, magic/enchantments, trolls, mythical beings (such as centaurs, gargoyles, selkies), a wolf pet, traveling
Not enough of the bear's story and the romance is a bit rushed but this is a young adult book so that may to be expected. I really like Hans Peter (the main character's older brother) - he was the bear in his own backstory and I would have like to read his story. The ending is a bit rushed but it ended happily.
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~ Honorable mentions ~
Retelling of: Cinderella
With: realistic poverty, domestic abuse, sentimentality, a ball, a prince, no magic
There's no magic or fairy godmother or pumpkins but there is a sort of magic-like feel. Basically, Cinderella (Ella) stripped down to the most basic of all - just a poor girl struggling to live and finding her own happiness. And there's Will (who is not the prince) also trying for the same thing. It really is sort of a down-to-earth kind of retelling and there's a happy ending which is a little sappy but sometimes sappy is good.
Retelling of: Beauty and the Beast
With: magic, books, magicians/witches/wizards, maybe an earthquake
I enjoyed the relationship between Rosalind (the beauty) and Jason Cameron (the beast) and also, there's a dragon somewhere. I like the magic but it's just not lot of it but there a lot of talk of it as Rosalind is being educated about magic. I really hated reading Paul DuMond's point of view - he's the reason this book is not family-friendly. The ending seemed a bit rushed but we get a happy ending. Beware: there are some unpleasant r-rated things and also an assault on Rosalind. (The cover is crappy but it is better than the other version but definitely do not judge the book by this cover. And there's no such bizarre lizard/alligator hybrid in the book. This book is a part of series but it can be read as a standalone.)
Retelling of: Beauty and the Beast
With: ghosts, steampunk fashion & technology (such as airships), shifters, vampires
I may have read this book three times and sort of skimmed through in the second read the vampire (also refer to as vamps) parts but you really cannot avoid them in the second half of the book. (I do not like reading about them.)
I really liked the romance and they seemed to be a good match. But the heroine aka beauty aka Lucy is so strong-willed that she can live through any bodily harm done to her including falling into a hole and breaking some ribs and injuring her entire body. The beast aka Blackwell is not as gloomy as he seems but his sister and wife died in the same year, he has a heart that may be dying and PTSD from a war he served plus being a shifter (he shifts into a wolf) that forces him to be away from his family a couple of times a year - add them all up and you wonder why this guy isn't in therapy but I like to think he is just as strong-willed as the heroine and so he can survived all these mental and physical assaults. I actually do like this book though I must admit, I still think it would have been better if there were no vamps in the book. (This is part of a four-book series but it can be read as a standalone.) Beware: There are some brief bloody gore imaginary and a violent end to a certain character that might be drastic.
Retelling of: East of the Sun and West of the Moon
With: white bears, winter, magic/enchantments, trolls, traveling
East is similar to the book #6 but with many perspectives and little storylines that distracts from the central story. It also lacked the bear/prince's back story. We get his point of view but it's lacking and he seemed to lack some personality. The sequel West continues the story but a few years later and is basically the same story and written in the same multi-perspective way and again, sadly it's not the bear's story. I like these books but I don't understand why they bother with the sequel if they aren't going to tell the bear's story. Note: East was also published as North Child.
Do you have a favorite fairytale or fairytale retelling?
I can't say I've read any fairytale retellings, but I love retellings of mythology. There's Rick Riordan's YA novels about Percy Jackson (Greek myths) and Magnus Chase (Norse myths) that are very good. I love Madeline Miller's novels "The Song of Achilles" and "Circe," both from Greek mythology. I'm currently reading Pat Barker's new trilogy retelling the story of the women in the Trojan War -- "The Silence of the Girls," "The Women of Troy," and "The Voyage Home." I'm also fond of Margaret Atwood's "The Penelopiad" which retells the story of Ulysses' wife, Penelope, as she waits for her husband to return from the Trojan War.
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