YA fairytale retellings
It's Tell A Fairytale Day! And to celebrate, I've created a list of young adult fairytale retellings. From feminist to queer retellings, you'll be reading long after the day is done.
Wish of the Wicked by Danielle Paige
A mash-up of Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty with added inspiration from the Salem Witch Trials.
For centuries, the enchanted members of the Entente used their magic to keep the Thirteen Queendoms in harmony. Until the day that Queen Magrit outlawed magic, executed the Entente, and plunged the queendoms into war. Only one Entente survives. Alone and magicless, Farrow dreams of nothing but revenge. And the best way to reach the queen is through her son, Prince Mather, who is nearing the age when he will need a bride. But the closer Farrow gets to the prince, the more she finds herself drawn to him. To reclaim her magic and destroy the queen, Farrow will have to question what-and more importantly, who-she’s willing to sacrifice.
A Spindle Splintered by Alix E. Harrow
A feminist retelling of Sleeping Beauty.
It’s Zinnia Gray’s twenty-first birthday, which is extra-special because it’s the last birthday she’ll ever have. When she was young, an industrial accident left Zinnia with a rare condition. Not much is known about her illness, just that no-one has lived past twenty-one.
Her best friend Charm is intent on making Zinnia’s last birthday special with a full sleeping beauty experience, complete with a tower and a spinning wheel. But when Zinnia pricks her finger, something strange and unexpected happens, and she finds herself falling through worlds, with another sleeping beauty, just as desperate to escape her fate.
Six Crimson Cranes by Elizabeth Lim
A beautiful retelling of The Six Cranes.
Shiori'anma, the only princess of Kiata, has a secret. Forbidden magic runs in her veins. And on the morning of her betrothal ceremony, Shiori loses control. Her stepmother, Raikama turns her brothers into cranes, and warns Shiori that she must speak of it to no one: for with every word that escapes her lips, one of her brothers will die.
Penniless, voiceless, and alone, Shiori searches for her brothers, and uncovers a dark conspiracy to seize the throne. Only Shiori can set the kingdom to rights and must embrace the magic she's been taught all her life to contain - no matter what it costs.
Cinderella is Dead by Kalynn Bayron
A completely new take on Cinderella.
It’s 200 years since Cinderella found her prince, but the fairytale is over. Sophia knows the story though, off by heart. Because every girl has to recite it daily, from when she’s tiny until the night she’s sent to the royal ball for choosing. And every girl knows that she has only one chance. For the lives of those not chosen by a man at the ball … are forfeit.
But Sophia doesn’t want to be chosen - she’s in love with her best friend, Erin, and hates the idea of being traded like cattle. And when Sophia’s night at the ball goes horribly wrong, she must run for her life. Alone and terrified, she finds herself hiding in Cinderella’s tomb. And there she meets someone who will show her that she has the power to remake her world …
A Curse of Salt by Sarah Street
Pirates of the Caribbean meets Beauty and the Beast with just a dash of Moana.
Bodies are washing ashore and everyone knows who's to blame. Legends of the Heartless King shroud the continent in fear; they call him a pirate, a monster, a god. When his mercenaries raid her father's merchant ship, Ria's family is faced with a horrifying demand. They will spare his life, in exchange for one of his daughters. Determined to save her sisters, Ria launches herself into the world of pirates. Face-to-face with the Heartless King, she finds he is far more than the stories told. Battling creatures of the deep alongside those that reign its surface, Ria discovers how to love a heartless man and that some curses aren't so easy to break.
Defy the Night by Brigid Kemmerer
A refreshing retelling of Robin Hood.
In a kingdom where sickness stalks the streets and only the richest can afford a cure, King Harristan and his brother Prince Corrick are forced to rule with an iron fist. Tessa Cade is a masked outlaw marked for death, but she likes it that way. Together with the mysterious, handsome Weston, she robs from the rich to help the poor, distributing food and medicine to those who need it most.
As it becomes clear that the only way to save her people is to assassinate the King, Tessa must face a deadly mission that will take her to the dark heart of the kingdom … and force her to work with the very people she intended to destroy.
Everything Under the Moon edited by Michael Earp
Twelve fairytale retellings.
Think you know fairy tales? Think again. These twelve fairy tales have been spun through a queered lens to reflect our world in stories as old as time.
Beginning with a beautiful foreword from Earp, this anthology is a love letter to every queer person who just wants to read about characters they can relate to getting the happy endings they deserve. An incredible line-up of some of Australia’s YA royalty including Lili Wilkinson, Gary Lonesborough, Alison Evans, Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner, as well as much-loved international YA authors like Maggie Tokuda-Hall, Abdi Nazemian, and so many more.