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Top Ten Tuesday (2): Fairy Tale Retellings

Tuesday, November 06, 2012 § 10 Comments


Hosted by The Broke and the Bookish:
This week is freebie week, so we get to choose our own topics. I've been reading quite a few fairy tale retellings lately and started thinking back to the others that I've read over the years.
  1. Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine (1997): This seems to be quite a popular pick when it comes to retellings (the fact that it's a Newbery Honor book should be proof of why). It's definitely one of the first I've ever read. It's a lovely retelling of Cinderella, but with ogres and elves. No question about it, this was my absolute favourite book in junior high; I even nicked it from my teacher's classroom bookshelf. Shh.
  2. Till We Have Faces by C. S. Lewis (1956): I learned during my Classics courses that the myth of Cupid and Psyche was actually considered more of a fairy tale than a myth. It's similar to Beauty and the Beast, which is said to be a variant of Cupid and Psyche. This retelling by C. S. Lewis is one of my favourite books ever, and if you're into Roman or Greek mythological elements, then I highly recommend this book.
  3. Cinder by Marissa Meyer (2012): Fairly new, but wow. Such an amazing take on, again, Cinderella. For one thing, I love that it took place in China, and second, there are cyborgs and androids. A sci-fi retelling of a classic fairy tale? Count me all the way in. Plus the cover is super pretty.
  4. Snow Whyte and the Queen of Mayhem by Melissa Lemon (2012): I read an ARC of this book, obviously a retelling of Snow White, and I was floored. I loved every bit of it. The narrative was so creative and there were some twists that made me sit up (I mostly read it before going to bed). Definitely look out for this one.
  5. Hook & Jill by Andrea Jones (2009): Twisted, twisted retelling of Peter Pan. I read this one a few years back and have never looked at the fairy tale the same way again. I'm sure Barrie never meant for this tale to be sexy at all, but... I don't know. I blame this book. Also it was just made worse (better) by Colin O'Donoghue jumping on board (ha!) as Captain Hook on ABC's Once Upon A Time. Look at that mug and tell me he isn't lovely.
  6. Beastly by Alex Flinn (2007): I wasn't a huge fan of the chats, but I loved the modern take on the story. Beauty and the Beast is one of my favourite fairy tales, so my expectations were pretty high. I didn't want to like Beastly, no idea why, but I ended up enjoying the read! ...Terrible movie, though.
  7. Wicked by Gregory Maguire (2000): Wait, is Wizard of Oz considered a fairy tale? I'll just go with it. I love this book. Not a lot of people do as I've come across, but it was one of the first books I read a few years ago that really kick-started me getting back into reading as a hobby. Plus this book inspired one of my favourite musicals (of the same name), whose soundtrack I may or may not be listening to right now.
  8. A Tale Dark & Grimm by Adam Gidwitz (2010): This book was so weirdly awesome. It was creepy, funny, smart, and just plain old entertaining. It's got Hansel and Gretel and many more Grimm fairy tales... written the way Grimm tales should be. I've always loved how odd and disturbing Grimm tales were, and this book kept on with that. It's also a children's book, which makes it even better. Definitely something for all ages.
  9. Fairest by Gail Carson Levine (2006): I mean, it's no Ella Enchanted, but Levine really knows how to engage a reader in this genre. This is another Snow White retelling, but usually where I find the queen terrible, I actually quite liked her in this one. The book is one of those "beauty is on the inside" ones, big time, but I enjoyed it a lot.
  10. Beauty by Robin McKinley (1993): I never knew this book existed until after I read McKinley's Sunshine a few years ago (which I loved). Another Beauty and the Beast retelling, and this one is simple and sweet. The ending was alright, but from what I remember of my reading progress, I finished quite quickly and found it really enjoyable.

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