Fantasy is a wide and complex genre that envelopes a lot. But at its heart, fantasy is usually based in folklore and fantasy, passed down through oral traditions and old books. These old stories usually only provide a model; giving ideas for tropes and frameworks. But what happens when authors decide to use those fairy and folk tales as more direct inspiration for their own stories? Here are 5 books that retell classic fairy and folk stories.
I’m going to be honest, I don’t know what specific folk tale this is based off of, or if it is based off of one specific tale. But with its strong folk influence and ghostly lore, it seemed fitting for this list. The story follows sixteen-year-old Shady Grove, a fiddle player living in a trailer park in Florida, as she navigates the grief of losing her father and the arrest of her brother for a murder she’s sure he didn’t commit. Not only is she haunted by the ghosts of her past, but by real ghosts as well. Her father’s fiddle can summon ghosts, and Shady’s communications with the dead end up uncovering some long buried secrets in her own family’s past. This book is haunting and intriguing, drawing you in with every page. Between the ghosts and the drama, this book is a great one to read if you’re looking for a haunting ghost story with a little bit of romance and highschool drama thrown in.
This book was popular on booktok a while back, and for good reason. This story is a creative imagination of the backstory of the classic Queen of Hearts character in Lewis Carol’s Alice in Wonderland. The main character, Catherine Pinkerton, is the daughter of a noble family in the kingdom of Hearts who has never lived up to her mother’s expectations. All she wants is to open a bakery with her best friend Mary Ann, but when she gets a marriage offer from the King of Hearts, her dream seems even more impossible to achieve than before. Enter Jest, the King’s mesmerizing new jester. He shows Catherine a world of new possibilities, showing her the confidence, bravery, and talent she’s possessed all along. But most importantly, Jest gives her hope and makes her believe in the possibility of a future beyond what she thought possible. This book made my heart hurt in that way only books can. I seriously wanted to throw this book against the wall (I didn’t, it was a library book after all). I think this book hurts so much because you know how its going to end the whole time, but you hope anyways. Meyer creates characters you can’t help but fall in love with, even when you know the story can’t end the way you want it to. I highly recommend this book, but be warned, you may want to scream (or cry) by the end.
I feel like Cinderella retellings aren’t exactly rare in the fantasy genre, but I can confidently say that I’ve never read a retelling quite like this. Rather than focusing on Cinderella, this book follows Isabelle, one of Cinderella’s ugly stepsisters. Isabelle has been told her whole life that she needs to be prettier, nicer, more submissive and less independent. She grew up playing swords and reading about the great generals of the world, but now all she wants is to be pretty like Cinderella. Cinderella who got the prince despite Isabelle, her sister Octavia, and most importantly, her mother doing everything they could to knock her down. With the family reputation scorned and their wealth gone, Isabelle has to fight to keep her family alive, all while trying to become pretty. Throw in chance, fate, and a witch named Tanaquill and this book grabs you and will not let you go. An amazing story about breaking stereotypes, being yourself, and not letting others define you. Stepsister is a really good retelling of a classic tale.
I recently finished reading this one, and let me start by saying that the worldbuilding is incredible. I want to live in this world, which to me is a sign that an author has done an incredible job. Hunted is a Beauty and the Beast retelling following Yeva, the daughter of a merchant who gave up hunting for his now-dead wife and moved to town. But when he loses everything, he’s forced to return to his old ways and move back to the cottage in the woods with his family. When he goes missing in the woods, Yeva goes looking for him and discovers a lot more than she bargained for. The subtle enemies to lovers romance hidden by grief and threats of revenge is impeccable and I love the take on the Beast’s curse. A book filled with struggle, grief, love, and a burning need for something more accompanied by a fairytale ending, Hunted is one I highly recommend.
This book technically doesn’t fit on this list because it isn’t a fairytale or folk tale retelling. However, it is closely inspired by a classic story, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne, and is written by my favorite author, so I’m sticking it in here as a bonus book. The story centers around Ana Dakkar, a student at the elite 5-year high school Harding-Pencroft Academy, which graduates the top marine scientists, naval warriors, and underwater explorers in the world. Ana attends with her brother and only surviving family, Dev, and life is hard but good. At the end of her freshman year, Ana and her classmates set out on the traditional weekend trial at sea, which turns out to be an adventure no one was expecting. With a rival school and a 150 year cold war turned hot, twists and turns, friendship and betrayals, this book has everything you could ask for and more. Daughter of the Deep is just as intriguing as Riordan’s other novels, pulling you in with the plot, characters, and worldbuilding.
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