Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine: This is one of my all-time favorite books. An enchanting Cinderella retelling about a girl cursed with obedience who faces many sacrifices on her quest to find the fairy with the power to undo her curse.
The Cinder Series by Marissa Meyer: This entire series is worth reading. Each book follows a different fairy tale with a dystopian, sci-fi twist. They are all delightful!
Book of a Thousand Days by Shannon Hale: We’ve all heard the more popular, common fairy tales (Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, etc.), but sometimes it’s refreshing to read a book based off a lesser-known fairy tale. Shannon Hale explores the tale of Maid Maleen–two girls trapped in a tower in ancient Mongolia in this book. What an exotic and lyrical retelling!
Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik: This is a retelling of another lesser-known fairy tale–Rumpelstiltskin–set in an icy village. This book has been showing up in almost all my book lists lately, so you know it must be good ;). (See my full book review here).
Beauty by Robin McKinley: A lovely look at the story of The Beauty and the Beast from the perspective of a courageous teenager any girl can relate to. A classic telling told in a beautifully unique way.
The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale: Shannon Hale excels at breathing life into lesser-known fairy tales in a way that captures your heart from the first page. This entire series (four books) is worth reading and rereading!
Heartless by Marissa Meyer: Confession–I haven’t actually read this one yet. But I’ve loved everything I’ve read by Meyer thus far (mostly the Cinder series), so I expect this retelling of Alice in Wonderland to be good, if a bit dark.
Splintered by A.G. Howard: This book was a little dark and confusing in parts (why are Alice in Wonderland retellings usually grim?), but I nonetheless enjoyed exploring the mystery of Alice and her family and the brilliant world of Wonderland where nothing is as it seems. Be prepared to continue the journey into the rest of the books in the series (which I still have yet to read… ;).
What are some of your favorite fairy tale retellings?
