Fairy Tales Reimagined

Okay, so I've seen quite a few fairy tale stories floating around out there. I'll admit that I've kind of held them at bay, because I'm afraid I'll get sucked right in and never be able to get out! After all, I devoured the first season and a half Once Upon A Time, and yeah. Wasted a lot of hours there!

Not that I actually think enjoying good books, movies, or TV shows is a waste, but you know. So today, I want to talk fairy tales. Have you read any reimaginings?

Here are a couple I'm starting with (already loaded on the Kindle! Yay!):

A BEAUTY SO BEASTLY by RaShelle Workman.

About: For your vanity, your cruelty, and your cold unfeeling heart, a curse I leave upon you . . .”

What happens if the beauty is also the beast?

The stunning Beatrice Cavanaugh is considered American royalty. She has everything except the ability to love. Cursed on her eighteenth birthday, she becomes more beastly than ever, having a newfound craving for raw meat, and an undeniable yearning for the night. Bitterness is her only companion.

After accusing a maid of stealing, a disgustingly kind and exquisitely handsome guy named Adam shows up asking Beatrice to drop the charges against his mother.

Infuriated by his goodness, Beatrice vows to break him. Destroy him. Make him hurt the way she hurts. So she agrees. On one condition: Adam must take his mother’s place as a servant in the mansion.

Because Beatrice won’t stop until he’s more beastly than she is.


RaShelle said this about where she got the inspiration for A BEAUTY SO BEASTLY: "My inspiration came from the fairy tale, Beauty and the Beast. I’ve always loved that story but I thought it would be fun to have the beauty also be the beast. And A Beauty So Beastly was born. =)"

RaShelle writes a lot of fairy tale retellings, so be sure to check out her other work!

I'm also looking forward to DOROTHY MUST DIE by Danielle Paige. I mean, the title is enough to peak anyone's interest (and is this technically a fairy tale? It's definitely a retelling, so I'm going to go with it), but here's what the book is about.

I didn’t ask for any of this. I didn’t ask to be some kind of hero. But when your whole life gets swept up by a tornado—taking you with it—you have no choice but to go along, you know?

Sure, I’ve read the books. I’ve seen the movies. I know the song about the rainbow and the happy little blue birds. But I never expected Oz to look like this. To be a place where Good Witches can’t be trusted, Wicked
Witches may just be the good guys, and winged monkeys can be executed for acts of rebellion. There’s still the yellow brick road, though—but even that’s crumbling.

What happened? Dorothy. They say she found a way to come back to Oz. They say she seized power and the power went to her head. And now no one is safe.

My name is Amy Gumm—and I’m the other girl from Kansas. I’ve been recruited by the Revolutionary Order of the Wicked. I’ve been trained to fight. And I have a mission:

Remove the Tin Woodman’s heart.

Steal the Scarecrow’s brain.

Take the Lion’s courage.

Then and only then—Dorothy must die!

And a friend of mine just sold her Alice in Wonderland retelling too! Be sure to check out her announcement on Facebook and say congratulations!

What fairy tale retellings have you read?? What are you excited for?



4 comments:

Amie Borst said...

My fairy tale retellings are for the middle grade readers but eek! I'm excited about the upcoming release of Little Dead Riding Hood this October! Thanks for a great post. Dorothy Must Die has been on my to read list but now I will be adding RaShelle's book too!

Jaime Morrow said...

I have DOROTHY MUST DIE sitting on my coffee table right now. Must get to that soon! One of my recent fave retelling is OF BEAST AND BEAUTY by Stacey Jay. It was a fantastic SF/F retelling of Beauty and the Beast.

Bonnie @ A Backwards Story said...

Your friend's FB page is unavailable! Do you know the title or the author name she's using? I want to TBR it!!

I agree with teh poster who mentioned Stacey Jay.

I particularly love Kill Me Softly by Sarah Cross as a lesser-known but awesome tale.

I'm also a huge fan of Heart's Blood by Juliet Marillier for a historical B&B. And, well...I love fairy tales so much that I do a two week event every April, lol. I could go on forever. But I won't bore you!

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