A few weeks ago, Will and I picked The Princess Bride for family movie night. Selecting the right movie to satisfy six very different viewers is no easy task, but all of my kids loved this 1980s classic. I have my theories about why The Princess Bride makes for such a satisfying family movie experience. For one, the story is familiar, reminiscent of the fairytales we’ve heard over and over. Yet it offers enough subversions to keep the viewer’s interest—not to mention the perfectly-timed, hilarious moments and wordplay.
Around the world, every culture has myths, legends, and fairytales we tell over and over. We use a familiar pattern because they’re better remembered that way.
As an adult reader, I still enjoy fairytales, though I rarely open a collection of the original Grimm Brothers versions. (And I mean original original—because I studied German, I read those in the original language!) These days I’m fond of retellings that put a new twist on familiar tropes with unexpected settings, gender-swapped roles, or surprising plot changes. The results illuminate overlooked themes and interesting connections to our modern world. The stories are familiar, but the lessons we learn from retellings feel fresh.
Today I’m sharing a mix of my favorite fairytale retellings, plus some enchanting books on my To Be Read list. I’ve included a mix of Grimm Brothers retellings, folklore, and fable-inspired stories with a distinct fairytale feel.
20 fairytale retellings to enchant every reader
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Cinderella is Dead
Spindle’s End
Thorn
Once & Future
The Wrath & the Dawn
Forest of a Thousand Lanterns
Blanca & Roja
The Princess Will Save you
Cinder
House of Salt and Sorrows
The Snow Child
The Girls at the Kingfisher Club
The Bear and the Nightingale
Spinning Silver
The Hazel Wood
Gods of Jade and Shadow
A Curse So Dark and Lonely
Geekerella: A Fangirl Fairytale
Girl, Serpent, Thorn
A Blade So Black
Do you have a favorite fairytale retelling, or perhaps a myth or legend? Do share in the comments, and help us build our TBR lists.
P.S. Want a magical escape that’s still grounded in the real world? Try one of these 15 fantasy novels that are grounded in reality. Or take an armchair vacation to England or New York City with our literary tourism book recommendations.
92 comments
I absolutely recommend any of Kate Forsyth’s historical fiction/fairytale retelling hybrids. Each one is amazing, but my favorite is Bitter Greens, her Rapunzel retelling.
I wholeheartedly agree with this. Bitter Greens was one of the best books I ever read. I recommend it to everyone 🙂
I’m excited to check this out. Thanks for the recommendation!
Thanks for that … just added it to my TBR list!
I am listening to this now. Very entertaining. At first I couldn’t understand the narrator bc she pronounces the French words very French like but you get used to her.
Tender Morsels by Margo Lanagan is a retelling of Snow White and Rose Red that left me haunted. I read it years ago, but still think about it weekly.
Fairest by Gail Carson Levine is one of my favorites. It’s a lovely Snow White retelling. Excellent on audio with a full cast of narrators.
And ‘Ella Enchanted’!
I love The Snow Child! I got caught up in the novel early on, and it held my attention and imagination all the way through. It keeps you guessing what’s real and what’s not until you realize there are more important questions than reality. I’ve recommended this book to several friends!
I agree! The Snow Child was captivating! It’s a book you want to talk about with someone to get their take on it. I recommended it for my book club, and I can’t wait until we discuss it in January.
One of my favorite books! I also really enjoyed one of the author’s other books – To the Bright Edge of the World.
Yes! I absoulutely loved the Snow Child. I couldn’t put it down. It is the perfect read for long winter nights.
Yes! I love that you shared The Snow Child here.
Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson is one of my favorite books out there. It’s so haunting and beautifully written, and is one of my favorite book gifts to give any reader.
Goose Girl by Shannon Hale! Absolutely loved it! It is a Brother’s Grim tale that I haven’t seen or read an adaptation of until this year.
Second this – Goose Girl is one of my all time favorite books!
I loved the Goose Girl and was going to put it on the list. I read all of them in the series. So fun!
I think my family’s favorite fairytale retellings have been The Books of Bayern by Shannon Hale (first one is loosely based on The Goose Girl), which both my girls and my boys have loved, Princesses of Westfalin by Jessica Day George, Tyme series by Megan Morirrison (fun new twist on several different fairy tales), Hunted by Megan Spooner and Enchantment by Orson Scott Card.
And I actually enjoyed Uprooted by Naomi Novik better than Spinning Silver
i love Enchantment!
Amen! I mentioned it after somehow missing it in your comment. I think it’s a perfect addition to this list!
Seanan McGuire’s works are mysterious, magical, and will completely envelope you. I recommend starting with Every Heart a Doorway, the first book of the Wayward Children series.
Oooh, I had this on my list, but going to move it up my TBR pile. Thanks for the recommendation!
That series is a great addition here!
Hilary McKay’s Straw into Gold: Fairy Tales respun is well worth a mention here. Fantastic author.
The Beholder series by Anna Bright is a FANTASTIC YA fairy tale mashup! Cannot recommend highly enough!!
The Girls at the Kingfisher Club is a stunning, joyous book, ticks almost every box on ‘fiction I wouldn’t normally pick up’ but I thoroughly enjoyed it.
I love pretty much every fairytale retelling from Robin McKinley and Juliet Marillier. I can’t wait to read The Princess Will Save You.
Thank you for this list! Detective novels and fairy tales have been my go to comfort reads during this crazy year! Some of these will definitely be added to my TBR.
Sometime I would love some recommendations on myth retellings along the lines of Neil Gaiman’s “Norse Mythology.”
Loved that but don’t know where to go next.
Try Stephen Fry’s two books ‘Mythos’ and ‘Heroes’, which are retellings of Greek myths. And ‘Circe’ by Madeline Miller!
Maia Chance has some mystery novels that feature characters from fairy tales.
I recently read Dust by Kara Swanson, a retelling/continuing story of Peter Pan. It’s one of my top 5 of 2020. She does an amazing job of creating new characters in the world we know, and creating depth in familiar characters.
Adam Gidwitz: A Tale Dark and Grimm. Written for young readers, it’s fantastic! A mashup of several fairy tales, with an intrusive narrator, dark humor, and quotable lines galore.
I just read The Snow Child and a book about The Princess Bride! I’ll share officially on the fifteenth, but here’s a sneak peek: https://carolinestarrrose.com/quick-lit-what-ive-been-reading-lately-4/
I’d add Daughter of the Forest to your list. It’s a retelling of The Six Swans.
Inkheart!
The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker is a wonderful fantasy tale with a lot of reality in it too.
Piranesi by Susanna Clarke is another fantasy reality tale that I loved.
Another Marissa Meyer novel that I loved was Heartless. It’s basically an origin story for Wonderland’s Queen of Hearts. I think it is a bit underrated compared to The Lunar Chronicles, which I also loved.
I bought this book, pretty much because of the cover. It’s still on my unread shelf, but I’m excited to read it! I haven’t read the Lunar Chronicles yet either, but it’s on my list.
The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale. My teen loves the others in that series as well, Enna Burning, River Secrets, and Forest Born, but I’m still reading them and don’t know how they are yet.
She also enjoyed Jessica Day George’s Princesses of Westfalin series Princess of the Midnight Ball (a 12 Dancing Princesses retelling), Princess of Glass (which takes one of the 12 dancing sisters and gives her her own story in a Cinderella retelling), and Princess of the Silver Woods (another of the 12 dancing princess sisters in a Red Riding Hood retelling). Jessica Day George also does a retelling of the Nordic tale East of the Sun, West of the Moon in her book Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow. My daughter could not put that one down.
In college I encountered and adored Robin McKinley’s Beauty, a retelling of Beauty and the Beast.
And Heather Dixon’s Entwined was an enjoyable visit to the story of 12 Dancing Princesses after their mother’s death.
Heather also wrote a retelling of the Nutcracker, titled Enchanted Sonata, but I haven’t read that yet.
While Beauty Slept, by Elizabeth Blackwell, one of my all time favorites!
So many good recommendations on this list. This is a favorite genre of mine. A perfect, lovely gem of a book that is little known is M.M. Kaye’s The Ordinary Princess. It’s usually published with some horribly unappealing juvenile cover, but the original illustrations are sumptuous and the story is charming. It’s probably my favorite fairy tale book of all time. A book I would recommend for fans of The Bear and The Nightingale and Spinning Silver is Enchantment by Orson Scott Card. It is an Eastern European / Jewish retelling of Sleeping Beauty / Baba Yaga. It is so good! To continue the Shannon Hale / Robin McKinley rec’s Book of a Thousand Days (Hale) and Beauty (McKinley) are great. I also enjoyed The Snow Child and Gods of Jade and Shadow (the latter is more fantasy than fairy tale…and a little macabre but definitely not horror like Mexican Gothic. I liked it much better than MG. It’s so original and I loved the setting). And finally, I can’t recommend Goldman’s book The Princess Bride enough! It is hilarious (more comedy than fairy tale, so maybe not for this list)! Cary Elwes’s we memoir As You Wish is also excellent for fans of the movie. I highly recommend the audiobook (read by Elwes) as untold numbers of the cast make cameos. I love this topic so much and am excited to try some of the books you recommend!
I just looked up The Ordinary Princess and it looks delightful! I loved The Far Pavilions, and didn’t know she wrote anything for children.
I’m re-reading “His Fair Assassins” trilogy by Robin Lafevers. Set in the dukedom of Brittany with the old gods disguised as saints at a time of great struggles for the very young duchess trying to protect her dukedom and her people. With the assistance of a nunnery of highly trained assassins.
I definitely recommend the Ravenspire series by C.J. Redwine. It’s YA and I think it would be great for younger readers as well. There are no “romance” scenes as I find in a lot of YA these days. The first book is The Shadow Queen – a snow white retelling. Other books in the series include retellings of Cinderella, Rumpelstiltskin, and The Prince and The Pauper. All of the books are standalone, but do read in order if you want to catch Easter eggs in later stories.
I recently read and loved All the Ever Afters: The Untold Story of Cinderella’s Stepmother by Danielle Teller
Everland Series by Wendy Spinale! The audiobooks are awesome! This is a steampunk style Peter Pan retelling. And not really for young kids, it’s more like the original Peter Pan as opposed to the Disney Peter Pan.
One of my favorite fairy tale retellings ever is Angela Carter’s short story, “The Bloody Chamber,” a retelling of Bluebeard. Definitely dark and not for kids, but then neither were the original fairy tales.
Ah thank you so much for this list! I second the Bear and the Nightingale, and if you’re into Russian folklore I recommend Deathless as well. It’s about the Koshei the Deathless and incorporates Baba Yaga.
And like another commenter said, I think Uprooted is better than Spinning Silver. Love it so much. Finally, I reread Ella Enchanted every year. It’s just such a magical and beautiful story.
That’s so funny as I LOVED Spinning Silver compared to Uprooted. I think the sexual power dynamics in Uprooted were just too ugh for me where Spinning Silver allows Miryem to be the one making all the difficult decisions instead of being yanked around by an ancient wizard.
Heads up, Novak came out with a new book this month and it is NOTHING like Uprooted and Spinning Silver. I was deeply disappointed in it for several reasons (veering on horror, poorly paced, racist language and depictions). I wouldn’t have believed Novak wrote it if not for her name on the cover as it is such a departure.
I agree completely on Spinning Silver and Uprooted. I liked the protagonist but hated the sexual power dynamics. I think Uprooted was a stronger book overall, but I enjoyed Spinning Silver more.
I agree with Katie – Carter’s whole collection, The Bloody Chamber, is beautifully written, whip-smart, chilling, and the perfect blend of the traditional and the contemporary. My favorite story from it is “The Company of Wolves,” a retelling of “Little Red Riding Hood” (but it’s hard to choose just one). Perfect for All Hallow’s Read!
I’m not familiar with these titles. Thank you for sharing!
I just recently read the Twelve Dancing Princesses series by Jessica Day George and really liked it. Both of Robin McKinley’s retellings of Beauty and the Beast are terrific. And it’s middle grade, but Ella Enchanted will forever be one of my favorite books. (If you didn’t like the movie, don’t let that stop you. They’re not the same story at all.)
This was the book list I didn’t know I needed — thank you! I’ve read two of the 20 and want to read the remaining 18!
I just read Elizabeth Lim’s Blood of the Stars Duology (Spin the Dawn and Unravel the Dusk). Another favorite was Jane Yolen’s Briar Rose – which combined the story of Sleeping Beauty and the Holocaust. Fairytale/folktale/mythology retellings are one of my favorite genres and I am enjoying expanding into those mythologies and folktales that I don’t know as well from other cultures.
I recently finished Girl,Serpent, Thorn from our SRG. It was excellent!
I especially enjoyed reading the author’s notes. She researched her own Persian heritage and utilized language and symbols from the ancient culture in her story. So clever.
I would recommend Winter Rose by by Patricia A. McKillip is a retelling of the Scottish fairytale, Tam Lin. Her writing is magical. I also love Tam Lin by Pamela Dean which is set at college in the 1970s.
I’d add The Arrow and the Crown, which has elements of Beauty and the Beast in it, although not the way you’d expect. Great list!
I loved “Far Far Away” by Tom McNeal. I think I learned about it on this podcast and listened to it on audiobook. It is SO delightful!! I actually went out and bought it because I new I would want to read it again.
I loved Far Far Away too!
I really like the Disney Hyperion Twisted Tale series. They are YA. I would say ages 9-12 would love them. I read them as quick reads in between super serious stuff. My favorite is Reflection: A Twisted Tale by Elizabeth Lim. In the Disney animated Mulan movie, Milan saves her commander who is near death. This tale imagines if Mulan went to the underworld and with the help of her ancestors actually saved her commander from death by bargaining and battling spirits.
Here is another fairy-tale-esque story. I think it is a young adult. It was fun. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20708810-egg-spoon
Another fantasy set in real-world place with on mythical/fairy tale creatures https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15819028-the-golem-and-the-jinni
Okay, I read all the comments and didn’t see this one – “Echo North” by Joanna Ruth Meyer. I read it more than a year ago, and it still is with me! The story is based on the legend of the Four Winds with a little Beauty & The Beast thrown in. I loved it, the characters were very engaging and the writing was lyrical and moving. Look it up if you have the chance!
This title is new to me; thank you for sharing!
I love a good fairytale retelling!
Add to the list EVERYTHING by Gregory Maguire.
I have to give a shout-out to The Woodcutter Sisters series by Alethea Kontis. The first is Enchanted, in which Sunday (the sisters are named after the days of the week) does the Princess and the Frog. A delightful series.
i just want to say that I absolutely love your book “i’d rather be reading!” it spoke to my heart! I read it in one day and want to re read it already! 🙂
Thank you so much, coco!
The Fairy Godmother by Mercedes Lackey. It’s my favorite retelling of the Cinderella story. Her prince turns out to be too young and she decides to do something about it.
I agree: I like pretty much all of the books in the 500 Kingdoms series and I’ve learned a few more legends and fairytales while I’ve been reading.
Beauty by Robin McKinley is still my all-time favorite.
These look wonderful! What about Angelfish by Laurence Yep? I have not re-read it in years but I remember enjoying it quite a bit as a teenager. It plays on the themes of Beauty and the Beast with some interesting changes.
East by Edith Pattou is also a fun read–a re-telling of the East of the Sun, West of the Moon fairy tale (of which there are a few variants in Grimms.)
Legendborn is a King Arthur retelling!
Angela Carter is a given – but so is pretty much anything by Tanith Lee. Start with Red as Blood (Tales from the Sisters Grimmer)
I recommend the amazing book, “Briar Rose” by Jane Yolen. It is a retelling of the Sleeping Beauty story. The main character is an old woman who is a Holocaust survivor. Her family does not know her history, but as her granddaughters grow up, she tells them the story of Briar Rose. When she dies, she tells her granddaughter that she is really Briar Rose and encourages her granddaughter to seek the truth in the fairy tale. Her truth is revealed layer by layer. I read this book long ago, and it has never left me. A beautiful, haunting story!
The Beast’s Heart by Leigh Shallcross is a retelling of Beauty and the Beast, from the Beast’s perspective. I’m a middle school reading teacher so I thought the juxtaposition of the Beast’s perspective with the original story was so fascinating!
Anne, if you’ve not read it I’d recommend Joseph Campbell’s Power of Myth. It illustrates how certain themes that show up across cultures – like the hero’s journey – reflect common beliefs and aspirations. It’s not that these themes repeat to make them easy to remember; they reflect central concerns of being human. No matter when and where you live.
I have it on my shelf and have dipped in and out but haven’t yet read it cover to cover. Thanks for reminding me it’s there!
What a great list! I’m going to add two Australian fantasy fables that I’ve recently devoured, ‘Flyaway’ by Kathleen Jennings and ‘The Rain Heron’ by Robbie Arnott.
I’d describe ‘Flyaway’ as “Australian bush Gothic magical realism creepy folksy fantasy fairytale fable infused with wildlife”!’The Rain Heron’ is an equally magical and moving mixture of fantasy, myth and horror.
Hope they both make their way to the US soon…
The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly is certainly missing from this list. A beautiful, dark and uncanny story mixing a lot of different fairy tales. Plus the cover is stunning!
I love Jennifer Donnelly. She has a new book out that fits into this category: Poisoned. If it’s as good as her previous writing, it will be worth reading!
Bloodleaf by Crystal Smith! A retelling of Goose Girl. The sequel just came out this fall.
Have to add ‘Ash’ by Malinda Lo, a Queering of the Cinderella fairytale, an early And important one for that particular genre. And Sarah J. Maas’s ‘A Court of Thorns and Roses’. Both are technically YA, though all Sarah J. Maas books push that boundary! Both are so good and such deft retellings!
I’m so happy that Cinder is your first recommendation! I read that book reluctantly but then I had to get every single book in the series right away. I also loved Spinning Silver. I love your lists, and my TBR is getting out of hand!
This list isn’t complete with out Angela Carter. She was an English academic and social critic and wrote several original works. Her “Bloody Chamber” is a short collection of stories with “twisted” fairytales. She wrote a few of her own, as well. “The Magic Toyshop” is wonderfully dark and thrilling.
She writes like a painter.
Timeless Fairytale series by KM Shae is my favorite many retellings with an overarching plot.
P.J. Brackston’s A Brother’s Grimm mystery series. So funny! The audiobooks are great with Kate Reading.
I love all of Gregory Maguire’s books, especially Mirror Mirror.
Heart of the Fae: A Beauty and the Beast Retelling (The Otherworld Book 1) by Emma Hamm is a fantastic series
Breath (Pied Piper) and The Magic Circle (Hansel and Gretel), both by Donna Jo Napoli, are wonderful!
A new favorite of mine is Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson. Perfect for those Princess Bride fans. He explores a storyline where Buttercup (Tress) goes after Wesley (Charlie). It’s written within his Cosmere universe but you don’t have to know anything about that to enjoy this book. It’s all fairytale.
KM Shea’s Timeless Fairytales ties them all together with an overarching plot. I love them.