instant to-read; the fairytale retelling edition

If you’ve been following my blog for a while, you might have noticed that I love fairytale-retellings. I love the Disney versions for most of them too, and the stories from which they are taken – or at least as far as I know them.

But my one true weakness when it comes to books? Fairytale-retellings.

If the back of the book – or the front! – boasts anything about the story being inspired by or a take on any fairytale ever, the likelihood of my reading it is Very High.

Of course, there are some fairytales I veer towards more than others. I love them all, don’t get me wrong, but I’m more likely to buy these retellings than just borrow them from the library.

I just – really, really love fairytales and the hope that comes with a happy ending.

• There don’t seem to be as many Cinderella re-tellings as I would expect, if I am honest. I love her, especially more over the years as I think about how she was treated in her house and yet never broke. It takes a quiet sort of strength to find some happiness in simply going to a ball, and another to forge a place beside a Prince.
  The only two versions of this I can think of are Marissa Meyer’s Cinder and Lili St. Crow’s Wayfarer. Both are quite vastly different, and if anyone can recommend me more, I would love it.
• I will admit, when I was younger, I did not really enjoy Snow White as a story. It wasn’t until the show Once Upon A Time and the movies Sydney White and Mirror Mirror came out that I started looking at her story differently. The re-tellings I have come across for this particular tale definitely have me looking at her in a different light, and I love them.
  There is, of course, Lili St. Crow’s Nameless, from the same series as the above mentioned story. There is Marissa Meyer’s Winter and R.C. Lewis’ Stitching Snow which I own but have yet to read. And then, there is Julie C. Dao’s Forest Of A Thousand Lanterns, which is more about the Evil Queen than it is Snow White, but still. I am definitely sure there are loads more, but I have yet to come across them.
• This last fairytale on the list was, growing up, not one I heard or saw often. But it is always fun to read, in my opinion, and I think there is a lot of potential for more stories to be told here. The Twelve Dancing Princesses has more characters than maybe manageable if the writer isn’t careful, but I am still waiting for a desi version of it because! Princesses! And dance! And the story potential!
  I read Princess Of The Midnight Ball by Jessica Day George years ago, and then again recently because I love the story so much. And then, of course, if you’ve seen my bookstagram, there’s Heather Dixon’s Entwined. It’s not just the cover I absolutely adore.

I am not so fond of retellings that try and turn the fairytales too dark, however. I read fairytales for the happy endings, not because I want to be told that everything sucks and everybody dies.

Someone very wise – Snow White, it was Snow White in the first season of OUAT – once said, “Believing in even the possibilty of a happy ending is a very powerful thing.”

What are your favourite fairytales?

Honestly though, as much as I love these books, I would love to read more diverse retellings, so if you have any recommendations at all, please comment and pass them to me!