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TTT: Favorite Fairy Tale Retellings


This week's TTT topic: Favorite Books in X Genre

I decided X=Retellings

Tam Lin Retellings (I know it's a ballad but it's old and there are faeries. I count it)


 Cinderella:

 12 Dancing Princesses and Frog Prince (a two for one!):
Sleeping Beauty:

 All things Hans Christian Anderson, but particularly The Snow Queen:

My favorite fairy tales are "Beauty and the Beast" and "East of the Sun, West of the Moon", both of which derive from the myth of Cupid (Eros) and Psyche.  Consequently, I judge retellings of these much harder than any others. Here are my favorite retellings of all three:


What are some of your favorite retellings?

Comments

KateCoombs said…
A very old one based on Rumpelstiltskin and the nursery rhyme about the man in the moon: The Silver Curlew by Eleanor Farjeon.
Anonymous said…
Great list! Thank you for sharing
Anonymous said…
Love the genre that you picked! I would have included Beauty by Robin McKinley, The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale, Enchantment by Orson Scott Card and Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier if I listed my fairy tale retelling favorites.
Milka said…
I have heard quite a lot about Cruel Beauty - really looking forward to reading that at some point. :)

Have a good day!
Charlotte said…
Like Chachic, my list would have to include Beauty--the one fairy tale retelling I've read to pieces!
Unknown said…
I've been wanting to read Cruel Beauty for a while! Retellings are one of my favourite genres too. I love it when authors take the lesser known fairy tales! :)
Brandy said…
I need to look for that one. Interesting combination of things!
Brandy said…
I like all of those, but don't love any of them. My favorites of the ones you mention is Enchantment, but I really like The Goose Girl.
Brandy said…
It is excellent!
Brandy said…
I didn't love Beauty when I read it. I think Robin McKinley and I just weren't meant to be. It may be because my first book by her was THE HERO AND THE CROWN and I had such a negative reaction to it. I tried Beauty and didn't have the same issues, but just couldn't be enraptured.
Brandy said…
I too love when authors take on lesser known tales.

Cruel Beauty is very good and it has more than just Beauty and the Beast. It's like a fairy tale treasure trove.

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