M.A. Nichols

There is a hyperactive six-year-old buried in my heart. It’s the part of me that still gets giddy over the idea of going to Disneyland. Scratch that. It’s the part of me that gets so giddy that I can’t sleep the night before going to Disneyland. It’s the part of me that loves singing along to animated film soundtracks at the top of my voice as I drive to and from my exceptionally adult job. It’s the part of me that still obsesses about fairy tales and myths.

 

As I've gotten older, my tastes now include an avid love of retellings. Let's face it--the original fairy tales and myths have tons of plot holes and zero character development. As far as the bones of the stories, they're great, but they're even better when someone comes along and fleshes the stories out and makes them new.

 

Before I get to my list, I want to give a brief caveat--these are only fantasy versions of retellings. No real-world retellings. Must have magic. To me, a real-world retelling takes out the bestest parts of fairy tales and myths and are generally not worth picking up. I'm not saying I don't enjoy them from time to time, but mostly they're boring.

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Fairy Tales

The Princess Series by Jessica Day George

Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge

Gilded Ashes by Rosamund Hodge

Fairest by Gail Carson Levine

The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer

 

Mythology

Abandon Trilogy by Meg Cabot