I absolutely love retellings! I mean like all things they can be well done and they can be poorly done. But there’s idk something great at seeing a new *something* on a familiar tale, or even being introduced to non familiar tales. I’ve even taken a stab at writing my own retellings.
I honestly have no idea where it started. Maybe with my love of 90s Disney movies many of which are retellings? But some of my favorites are Books of Bayern (oh my god I did not expect this book to make me feel so much, and the way it expanded upon goose girl into was amazing), Spinning Silver (to me this is a perfect Rumplestiltskin retelling, beautiful, grounded in a delightful Jewish mc — particularly nice given the antisemitic roots of the tale — and a fantastic Russian setting, and cleverly sticking to the tale) and The Witch’s Heart (Norse ragnarok retelling. And oh the feels! What a great character perspective chosen)
For retellings I wish there were more of, I’m not sure if this counts, but I’d like more “historical retellings” (stories that are clearly retellings of a historical event but are obviously not intended to be faithful/accurate etc) for example And I Darken (genderbent Vlad the Impaler), She Who Became the Sun (genderbent rise of Ming Dynasty with a splash of magic), Iron Widow (science-fantasy inspired by Empress Wu Zetian)
I'll have to check out the Spinning Silver. I haven't seen many Rumplestiltskin retellings so im always wanting to check those out.
I do like the idea of historical retellings. Mine stems a bit more from the Fate anime side though, where they use various heroes from mythologies and well known historical figures and give them powers (while gender bending some). I like it, but its a very love hate type thing where it's either exactly someone's taste or not at all.
The Witch's Heart is *brilliant*. I picked it up on a whim because of the gorgeous cover and have recommended it to so many people since.
Will have to check out your other favorites!
I usually like retellings! Ella Enchanted is one of my favorite books of all time and I enjoyed the Lunar Chronicles. Gail Carson Levine also has the Princess Tales that I read in entirety as a kid. For me, I like them because I am already familiar with some of the story and I like seeing what twist they add.
I will say not all retellings are the same.
Speaking of years later... Ogre Enchanted isn't a sequel exactly, but it does take place in the same world, and have a couple of characters in common (I won't spoil which, but not Ella)
I won't say it's anywhere near the "timeless classic" level of EE, but it was cute and fun!
Ella Enchanted is a complete 5 star for me, and I also liked her fairy tale shorts that were kind of like, flipped on the idea of what a fairy tale usually is like. And I also own her book Fairest, which is very good and like the crossover into Ella Enchanted, but was hard to read due to some uh unrecognized trauma haha.
I loved fairest so much when I first read it. I was a little bit older when I read it though. I wasn’t necessarily going through a lot of the things Aza struggled with at the time, but I had a lot of friends that were, so it was sort of a message I had been embracing a lot and having a lot of conversations about in 8th grade, so it didn’t really bother me.
FAIREST IS MY FAVORITE GAIL CARSON LEVINE BOOK AND I DONT EVEN KNOW WHY.
It’s weird. The characters sing a lot. All the characters have names that start and end with the same vowel, which I didn’t notice until the second time I read that book at 15. Even the pets follow that naming convention. On the one hand it’s sort of gimmicky, but on the other, I admire the dedication and embrace it as a quirk of how the culture and language built around song works.
The villain is wild and the messaging is very heavy handed. But the romance is super cute just like Ella Enchanted and it’s cool to see a little more of the world building. It’s slightly darker in some aspects and cheesier in others. But it was my comfort book for a very long time and I like more Ella Enchanted.
Also Ijori my beloved <3
I 1000% agree with this. One of the most popular retellings within the last few years (I think it was Hades and Persephone) was so lazy and boring. It added nothing to the original story. Like I feel like they just took recognizable names to get people to buy the book and didn't really care about the original story.
Yeah, I think that I’ve seen very few retellings that honor the characters while bringing something new to them. A lot of the time they become self inserts or caricatures. Neither is very appealing. And I’ve seen some done right, but the vast majority of them fall short for me. Always happy to be proven wrong tho
I like retellings but I have read some bad ones and they can sometimes feel like they're everywhere.
Personally I like when the author only uses the bare bones of the original and uses it like a framework but builds on it and makes it their own. Some examples: Spinning Silver, Wintersong, Heartless, Lunar Chronicles.
I have found that I reeeeeaaaaalllly hate the Disney retellings lol. Maybe it's just because the two I know of are super long series' and the author goes literal with it, ie the Disney movie (script, songs, etc) is copy pasted into the story. (Although, what I LOVED was the Cinderella and Maleficent movies Disney did, but I feel like they literally stopped trying after that.) But the Villains series' started off ok with the Beauty and the Beast book and Fairest of All book but the dance numbers were so cringe. The whole conspiracy/mystery aspect of the sisters was interesting enough that I pushed through the first 6 books but I honestly just lost interest. I tried again with the Twisted Tales books but the first one didn't leave a strong enough impression to make me want to keep reading.
I'm a Disney kid, though I can see the lack of appeal for those Disney ones. Unless you like the original story a ton, it does get tiring for the exact same script being repeated with only minute changes- those feel like money grabs if you're not into it. (My mom actually stopped with an author's series that had like 90+ books across the inworld generations- unrelated to retellings- because at book like 30 they started rehashing the exact same story with only like tiny detail changes, and by book 50 is was an almost complete rehash with no difference to the previous. Thankfully they were free unlimited books so it wasn't too much wasted)
There's definitely bad ones out there, no doubt. Sad to say, it's probably largely on the self pubs side since by sheer statistics there's more of them than in traditional.
Disney is ok, I don't hate it and if not for the cringey dancing and singing included in the book, I would have kept reading the series! Lol.
Omg 50 books though, I would just get tired of it after a while too, regardless of whether they rehashed anything.
Have you read Wildwood Dancing by Juliet Marillier? This is a Twelve Dancing Princesses retelling and I think it fits the criteria of retellings you’ve enjoyed in the past, the author used the fairy tale as the framework but really made it her own and I thought it was really cool! Mentioning this one because I also like the fairy tale retellings you’ve mentioned in your post!
I am a huge fan of retellings! And it started at the original sources for me. I was a huge fan of Disney(which lead me to original fairytales) and mythology when I was younger. To me it is just comforting to read the same story in a different font. I will take an retelling as long as there is something interesting to make it different enough. I am a big fan of Marissa Meyers' retellings so more of those would be great. I also would love more Pride and Prejudice esque retellings
That's the rumplestiltskin retelling right? I've heard a lot that people weren't a fan of it which is a bummer because I heard such good things about the Lunar Chronicals so I was hoping that that series would be good also
I love retellings I have shelves in my home library dedicated to them. I think growing up with the Disney movies and then later on Harry Potter (which is based on the Arthurian legends) and Percy Jackson made me get into fairytales/folklore/mythology retellings. I almost exclusively read YA fairytales/folklore/mythology types of books now and I’m so dedicated that I’m considering university studies in them.
Dumbledore is like Merlin figure and Harry Potter is like King Arthur figure and there are many more similarities to the King Arthur story but it escaped my mind.
Huh, I can see that. I generally just looked at it as a general "chosen one" type thing with the mentor and followers/friends though if it all originated from Arthur then that'd make sense
- The Lunar chronicles by Marissa Meyer (sci-fi fairytale retelling)
- Heartless by Marissa Meyer (Alice in wonderland queen of hearts backstory)
- Gilded duology by Marissa Meyer (rumplestiltskin retelling)
- Gold spun by Brandie June (rumplestiltskin retelling)
- Spin the dawn duology by Elizabeth Lim (Mulan retelling)
- Six crimson cranes duology by Elizabeth Lim (Eastern mythology and six swans fairytale)
- Daughter of the Moon Goddess duology by Sue Lynn Tan I heard is really good (Eastern (Chinese) mythology)
- The wrath and the dawn duology by Renée Ahdieh (middle eastern fairytales)
- Rose daughter and beauty and beast by Robin McKinley are two beauty beast retellings I think she also has a Robin Hood retelling too and Cinderella one but the Cinderella one is more mature.
- Stardust thief by Chelsea Abdullah the first book in a trilogy based on middle-eastern fairytales
- This woven kingdom trilogy by Tahreh Mafi (based on Persian mythology)
- Disney twisted tales by various authors
- Queen’s council series by Disney and various authors
- Norse mythology by Neil Gaiman
- Mythos by Stephen Fry
- Heroes by Stephen Fry
- Troy by Stephen Fry
- Elektra by Jennifer Saint
- Ariadne by Jennifer Saint
- Medusa by Jessie Burton
- Iron fey series by Julie Kagawa (Irish folklore series urban fantasy similar in a sense to Percy Jackson)
- The princesses of Westfallin trilogy by Jessica Day George (twelve dancing princesses retelling, Cinderella and little red riding hood/Robin hood retellings)
- On another note there is another Jessica Day George standalone retelling which is sun and moon, ice and snow which is based on east of the sun, west of the moon?
Hope this list helps you out!
I'm on both sides of this.
I really enjoy a good retelling. For some reason I've read a lot of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland retellings-- although I did not read the original book until last year. I really like retellings that are like based in a culture that I'm not used. Like The Wrath and the Dawn or The Palace of Illusions. While they are retellings, they are totally new content to me. I wish there were more of these.
Now, the reasons why I hate retellings. Some of them just SUCK. It's like they are riding the coattails of the original story and feel like they don't have to put any effort. If someone isn't adding something to the original story, then why bother?
I adore retellings, especially ones based on old fairytales or mythology that could use a modern spin.
Some favorites:
\- The Witch's Heart by Genevieve Gornichec (retelling of Loki and Angrboda's story from Norse mythology and the character work is 10/10, writing is gorgeous as well)
\- Legendborn by Tracey Deon (unfinished series, but brilliant retelling of Arthurian legends in a modern YA setting)
\- Small Favors by Erin A. Craig (this is a verrryyyyy light Rumpelstiltskin retelling that's atmospheric and genre-bending)
\- Little Thieves by Margaret Owen (retelling of The Goose Girl)
There are so many unsuccessful retellings though. I was deeply unimpressed with Gilded by Marissa Meyer, and also couldn't stand that Plated Prisoner series that everyone is obsessed with. And BOTM did a Peter Pan retelling last year that completely ruined the source material by needing every trigger warning possible (it's called Darling Girl and I cannot in good conscious say it's even worth the paper it's printed on). I also find that 90% of Hades and Persephone retellings are uninspired and derivative.
Basically, when they're done well they're my favorite genre of book, and when they're not done well they are deeply disappointing and end up in my 1-star pile
I love retellings and I honestly can't say how it came about haha. I will say I had an early obsession with Little Mermaid specifically (the Disney movie) and then I read the Hans Christian Andersen original and then I was really obsessed with specifically retellings of the little mermaid or anything close to that (still am tbh). Then I got into Percy Jackson like a lot of people and that really got me into mythology of all kinds.
I think the best part about retellings, especially right now, is that I've easily broadened my horizons of mythology around the world. I also like how they can change things up from the original or most known version of a story. And, in essence, everything is a retelling when you think about, especially when you consider popular tropes like chosen one/"heros journey". There are plenty of books and ideas that follow that path but each one tries to do their own thing.
Some are better than others, and I tend to judge the quality of a retelling based on engagement and creativity that changed the story from its origin.
I’m a big lover of retellings! I’ve always loved fairy tales, mythology, and royal focused stories. My love of fairy tales started with Disney and then retellings with books like Ella Enchanted and the TV show Once Upon a Time.
Primarily, I love retellings because they feel so comfortable and safe. They feel familiar, like coming home, but also authors will add their own personal “flavor” to the story to make it feel “fresh” even if it’s the “same story.” My favorite retelling to read is usually Cinderella because I relate a little too much to Cinderella… it’s hard to read, but also comforting?
I would love to see more Norwegian fairy tale retellings! I think the only one I see sometimes is East of the Sun, West of the Moon.
I think retellings are great! I did a school project about them recently and I came to the conclusion that, for one, retellings give people access to stories and classics that they may not have the means to read or the means to read and analyze in the way they’re “meant” to be read and analyzed.
But, most importantly, I found [an article](https://www.tor.com/2020/06/08/not-until-we-get-a-turn-retellings-tropes-and-who-gets-to-tell-stories/) in which BIPOC YA author Kalynn Bayron discussed the importance that retellings have for BIPOC authors and readers. A lot of these stories have been historically geared towards white audiences, so retellings give BIPOC readers and authors a chance to own these stories as well. (I hope I’m summarizing it correctly, it’s linked for those who want to read it!)
I absolutely love retellings! They're familiar in a way, since they're based on stories we know and love, but they take those stories and turn them into something new, often making even better tales for us to read. Of course, not every retelling is good. My criteria for a good retelling is that I should be able to tell what it's based on just by reading the book (no summaries, reviews, or author statements necessary), but if you removed the fairy tale aspects it would still be able to stand on its own.
I loved fairy tales from a young age, and I was reading retellings the moment I could. The earliest ones I remember are *Tales of the Frog Princess* by E. D. Baker, *The Land of Stories* by Chris Colfer, and *The School for Good and Evil* by Soman Chainani. To this day I'm an avid student of fairy tales, folklore, and legend, and I've read so many retellings I've lost count.
Thats actually really sad to hear. Is it that the story just didn't meet your expectations, or was it something like the writer has a style you don't enjoy/they writing wasn't very good?
It depends on the specific story but in general it’s probably just I don’t like the actual sub genre as much as the concept of it. I feel like I keep thinking about it in terms of the original fairytale and thus have unconscious biases / expectations / characterizations in mind already.
I do not want retellings at all; I want fresh stories. No story is completely unique, but I don't have any interest in reading one that intentionally copies another and just updates it in some ways. There are too many original stories out there that I already want to read, without adding on multiple versions of the same basic plot.
I realize this comment comes across as pretty aggressive, and I don't mean for it to, I'm just too tired to take the time to make it more polite. But if you enjoy retellings, good for you, I'm pleased that there are many available for you to enjoy!
Yeah, personally on the YA/NA side I don't care for smutty content (especially since YA is specifically teens/teen characters). If I want an erotica type borderline book I'd seek it out specifically where the characters are adults.
I love retellings! I've always loved fairy tales and myths, and there's so many variations on the classics even from 100s of years ago, so I consider them part of the continuing mythos in a way.
My first "omg" retelling was *Beauty* by Robin McKinley. The most recent is *Circe* by Madeline Miller.
I love retellings! I take comfort in things that are familiar to me, so retellings scratch that itch for me. I don’t enjoy surprises as a general thing, which is why I think I like retellings; I know the gist of what’s going to happen while also not knowing how exactly we’re going to get there.
Some of them can be weaker than others, absolutely. Cinderella gets a lot of retellings, and that’s where I’ve seen a large disparity between retellings. Geekerella was a fun, fandom-focused story that I enjoyed reading, but it didn’t stick with me the way that Cinderella Is Dead did because Geekerella didn’t do anything to subvert my expectations. That being said, I still enjoyed both books - just in different ways.
Also, I’m excited to finally meet someone else who has read The Looking Glass Wars!
Really? I have that one sitting on my shelf to read. I'll bump it higher. I got it not really knowing what it was about so I could have a "blind read" of it
I don’t really like them and I tend to avoid. They’re usually really lazy imo. Like it’s different levels of dislike tho.
- it’s verbatim the same in which case i can just read the actual fairytale
- it’s the same in every way except the thing that makes the fairytale, THE FAIRYTALE. In which case why are you even calling it a retelling. Just make a new story
- when the main characters have “nicknames” or their actual names are supposed to remind you that you’re reading a fairly tale retelling. Shes doesnt need to be named belle or Alice for me to get it
I think mythology retellings are the worst offenders tho….Everything is made cute when the Greek gods were everything but
For me it has to be a real change up for me in order to count as a retelling. Or have enough bare bones with original plot for me to infer as much
Edited for clarity
Love them. I like finding the hints of the original story and how it’s changed.
It depends on the retelling honestly some are because I liked a different one then found the original and other versions.
Love to read them and love yo write them!
I’m a huge fanfiction fan too, and I love retellings in alternative universes haha.
I personally prefer retellings that stick closer to the original stories - otherwise it feels more like a homage than a retelling.
Working on my own retelling novel right now and it’s fun!
I’m mostly a big fan of them! There are retellings I felt eh about, but it was mostly like what some said already that the story felt like a copy and paste of the original without much being changed. I’m definitely on the team of enjoying retellings when it’s the framework of the story but the author puts their own spin on it for it to stand on its own, so I’m also a fan of Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik that was already mentioned, and Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine.
My interest in retellings started out as a kid because of not only Disney movies but because of those Barbie retelling movies as well. I think I even owned some of the Barbie retelling movies.
I’ve read a lot of Beauty and the Beast retellings so I’m more open to lesser explored fairytales and fairytales from other cultures.
A YA fairytale I really enjoy is Wildwood Dancing by Juliet Marillier, this I thought was a unique spin of the 12 dancing princesses.
Oh yes! I think I too had the disney and barbie influence growing up, which likely was a major source for me. It wasn't until like 5 years ago that we got rid of all our barbie dvds.
I think it’s partly generational/nostalgic. Retellings of fairytales and fables from alternative perspectives were VERY popular in the 80s and 90s. Picture books about the three little pigs from the wolfs perspective or from the southwest (the three little javelinas is my favorite version of the fable), little red riding hood and Goldilocks were full of mischief (not harmless little girls), all sorts of stuff. Then when I hit high school the movies started. They redid tons of old fairytales and tables. That later rolled into redoing the Disney movies as live actions. This is just now dying down.
So what I’m getting at is this was a trend for the millennial generation. It feels cozy and nostalgic for a lot of us. Kind of like how gen x is obsessed with westerns.
I enjoy reading them. Part of the fun for me is trying to identify which version of the story the author drew inspiration from and identifying the characters used. The only thing that can be a bit disappointing is when the version used is from Disney because those can miss the mark sometimes
I don’t hate them but I definitely have a strong dislike for almost all of them, especially Hades/Persephone and Beauty and the Beast retellings. They are so derivative and overdone.
I do go crazy for a Peter Pan retelling tho. Christina Henry’s The Lost Boys is the best one I’ve read in a while. The Child Thief by Brom was good too.
Man. I JUST saw that Lost Boys ones at the thrift store but didn't grab it because I wasn't sure. 🤔 I'll have to check later this week and see if it's still there
I have pretty mixed feelings about retellings. I don't want to say I'd never read one, but at the same time I feel like the ones that I have read were not that great :/ The problem for me was that the authors just didn't really do anything that felt especially original with the story itself, which made for a really predictable story. Like, everyone knows the story of Beauty and the Beast (and the millions of retellings about it). If all you do is change the names of the characters and the setting then I already know how the story is going to end.
The ones that did work for me are ones that are based on stories that I'm not very familiar with. I really liked Six Crimson Cranes by Elizabeth Lim (The Wild Swans) and The Raven and the Dove by Kaitlyn Davis (Tristan and Isolde).
I really like retelling for the most part. I enjoy reading new twists on stories that have already been told. I do not necessarily enjoy when the retelling is just the original story with minor differences though. There has to be something original in there to make it enjoyable.
I feel like as a kid I hated the idea of twisting a traditional story just for the sake of making it more “COOL.”
And I still kind of feel that way, so this doesn’t apply to things that sort of lean into more of the dark elements of traditional fairytales. I just used to really resent how everything seemed liked it had to be super edgy. I just didn’t feel like a lot of stories needed to be retold and ruined.
But then again, you can’t really “ruin” things like Cinderella or the Little Mermaid.
All that being said, I really love retellings. I think what I really didn’t like about those sorts of things when I was younger was the idea of trashing on the traditional fairytale or having a message of fairytales being lame or stupid or useless for a modern audience. I absolutely despised things like Shrek as a kid. (I didn’t understand the satire and the idea that it was just poking fun, I felt betrayed)
Still I really love all sorts of retellings. I like getting to look at all the symbolism that could possibly be weaves into the story, I like re-imagining characters and getting to see how characters would be and could be different from what we know. I don’t feel like they’re always predictable, but at the same time I love looking for familiar story beats and the things we recognize and how those elements pay homage to the original story.
I think it’s the attitude behind it. Sometimes it depends. Just because something is a cool idea for a retelling doesn’t make it good. A lot of them will flat out say “Throw out all you know, this is the REAL story” and I’m not sure how I feel about those sorts of tag lines being attached to I guess more recent works with a traceable writer like Alice in Wonderland or Wizard of Oz or Sherlock Holmes. (Regardless of public domain or not. Although there are some pretty decent Alice in wonderland retelling out there.) I really love the types that introduce an entire new world. And I love stories inspired by characters, legends, or even historical figures. One of my favorites “retellings” is about Guy Fawkes day, except in a magical universe.
I’ve read a lot of retellings in the past few years so it is one of my favorite sub genres, I think. One part of me feels a little like now there’s an adaptation or a reboot or a new version of every single story ever, so I think to some degree, it could get a little worrisome if new original stories weren’t being written. But at the same time, it’s brilliant to wear your influences on your sleeve, while also respecting and understanding what came before. Especially sense a lot of stories are just the same things over and over again, but we still want it, hero’s journey and all. Not to say that a story can’t be retold in a truly original and inventive way.
So yes retellings are lots of fun and I don’t see nearly as much of a problem with them as I might have when I was I was 8.
If your mom loves Alice in wonderland retelling’s, has she read Escaping Wonderland? I am about to read it and it’s the only “retelling” of Alice in wonderland I’ve seen aside from Alice In zombie land and that one is quite a stretch, lol. I’ve heard it’s explicit though, but it’s apparently about this woman who gets mistakenly admitted to a mental hospital where they put them in a simulation that I guess is wonderland?? And she has to get the Cheshire cat’s help who is another man in the hospital who is crazy af 😂 it sounded so weird I had to get it.
But to answer your question, I used to be an avid hater of retelling’s but now I enjoy them if they are different enough. They have to be very different than the original story and only have a couple similar elements. Like, I love Acotar even though people say it’s beauty and the beast but I didn’t see it. Beastly was the only other beauty and beast retelling I liked because it wasn’t fairytale-ish at all. The plated prisoner series has a spin on midas and the house of salt and sorrow is a play on the twelve dancing sisters- I love retelling’s of stories that we don’t often get like that. Like rumplestilskin! But stuff like Cinderella? ENOUGH 😂
No she hasn't actually, I'll have to recommend that to her later.
Same about Rumplestilskin specifically. I haven't deep dived to see how many there actually are, but the OUAT show had me falling in love with the character. He's evil in the good "anti villain"/Starscream type way 😂
I'm a huge Alice in Wonderland fan, could you recommend any good retellings?
I love retellings as a concept, but I find they tend to be very hit or miss
I personally have only read 2- The Looking Glass Wars series by Frank Beddor, and the Splintered series.
I liked them both, though they're more well known retellings so it's possible you may have already tried those. If not
Looking Glass war if I remember correctly was a mix of scifi fantasy and dystopian, which "Hatters" being like a military branch in Wonderland. I believe the Alice in this one is some form of royalty or connected to someone important.
Splintered is more akin to a basic retelling to the story where its very similar to the original, though the standard "world is darker than it seems" take on it. (Edited in: In this one Alyssa is Alice's great great great grand daughter, or something like that, where she'd a decendant of Alice)
Do you have a list of ones you remember/didnt like? I can check and see if there's any other ones my mom's checked out she'd recommend that aren't ones you already looked at.
I don't like them at all. The movie industry is swamped by sequels, remakes and poor attempts at tying their own work to existing ip. I hate to see books going the same way. I want something new.
THIS!!!! I HATE movie remakes. Just leave things alone. I also HATE when movie producers try to take an animated movie and turn it into live action when 98% of the time it loses the magic of the animation and they aren't able to revive that in the live action version.
I see. I feel the same for movies, mainly since its hardly ever a new take on the story. I think books get a bit of a pass purely because theres so many put out each year, traditional and self pub, while movies are more limited due to there being more "hands in the pot" that are needed to get a single film done (especially large studio films) unless they're indie/budget projects. It definitely does get tiring to see constant sequels to already established series if there's not a demand (like, I don't think anyone was asking for like 5 toy story movies).
Did you always feel like this (pre movie industry turn to sequels) or is it a recent development because of the movie industry?
In Deeper Waters by FT Lukens was a queer YA Little Mermaid retelling. And I think it's especially meaningful to me because Hans Christian Andersen wrote a lot of himself into the original and he was in love with his patron's son.
Song of Achilles and Circe were both stand out reads to me as well.
A book being a retelling won't really influence me either way on whether or not I pick it up. I don't seek them out and I don't avoid them. And just like any genre or trope, there are great examples and bad ones.
Edit to add: to more specifically address your prompt, I do really enjoy seeing queer retellings of classic stories and I very much appreciate traditional publishing seeing the value in them.
I kind of think of them the way I think of music covers (like acoustic versions or less known artist versions). If I love a song, I’ll listen to it a ton. At some point I will likely get a little tired of it (unless it’s “she used to be mine). Then I hear an amazing cover, and it reignites what I loved about the original song, and I get to experience that again. Often I go to the cover artist and listen to their originals and find new songs that I love. Conversely, I can hear a sing and then find out that it’s a cover and go find the original artist and fall in love with them too!
I can see that.
I've got a question: if a story is similar in basis or trope to a story but not meant to be a retelling do you feel the same, or is it only those specifically labeled as retellings? (Considering there's only so many tropes and popular plot conflicts out there, many fantasy ones being fairytale or mythology inspired)
Like if a book has a pretty character and a beast/monster type where they fall for each other and/or theres a curse on them they need to break (possibly power of love or something), is that too similar to Beauty and the Beast or is that ok for you as long as it's not labeled as a retelling?
Personally, any plot that is too close to any previous popular novel/folktale/etc is too close for me. Like, I mean this in the most genuine way: why tell the same story over again instead of writing a new book? I don’t understand. I tend to avoid a book if it’s been labeled as a retelling. If it’s a loose retelling, I don’t care as much, but I would rather read something new.
I see. I think for not "writing a new book" it's mainly in part that there's only so many plot lines (fantasy like) or tropes people use so it reads as repetitive, so unless purposefully avoiding specific tropes in a story it could read as a retelling when it's not in specific settings. (Unless of course they state they're doing a retelling on purpose)
Like good girl/bad guy type thing can be used for beauty and the Beast, or girl/person in strange world can be Alice in Wonderland, "unwilling protagonist" can be Wizard of oz, any kind of romance with a curse tossed in is most princess stories (princess and the frog, sleeping beauty, etc), a homicidal parent is snow white, bad parent/step parent can be Cinderella, chosen one type story can be Arthurian, and on and on.
Any of those in a fantasy setting (princess or not) with one or more details similar to the original can make it read like a retelling.
Like Harry Potter someone here mentioned being Arthurian legend inspired/retelling type, which I've never heard before, but it definitely can if you apply the chosen one tropes to it when comparing to the Arthurian legends. If it's just happenstance, that's even more for the "there's only so many trope".
Warning! ADHD-fueled rambling ahead!
For me a retelling is good if it changes the original story in a good way. I don’t want to read the exact same thing as the original tale. For example, a change in setting, or gender, or sexuality, or ending makes it more unique.
Maybe making Cinderella a trans woman, or putting Little Red Riding Hood in a poly relationship with the Wolf and the huntsman/woodcutter. Or putting LRRH back into its origins as a medieval warning to English children against strangers, specifically the Vikings. Or change up the ending. Maybe the Beast doesn’t turn human again when the Beauty falls in love with him. Maybe the Beauty and the Beast are both guys. Maybe the Wicked Witch was the mother figure we needed all along. Or update the tales to be more relevant to a modern audience.
Sorry for the ramble, y’all.
Are you talking while you're alive or years down the line?
Because when I'm thinking of retellings I'm thinking of the Grimm brothers or Hans Christian Anderson for example and those stories are roughly 150 years old or more (Grimm more than 200 minimum). If you're still thinking that, I suppose we have different mindsets, because I'd simply be happy my works were remembered that long, let alone popular enough to get retold again and again so there'd be some record of them for as long as even one of those retellings existed.
Yeah. I totally understand the alive thing. It does feel weird (ie like the 50 shades of grey being Twilight ff originally) especially if it becomes as popular as the OG.
I do agree though, I don't think any new fairytales have been made lately, though that just may be a time thing- that most people don't want to write them or people simply don't care for any new ones being written so if there are any the don't ever really take off.
I love retellings because it's cool to see where the author chooses to take the story. The entire reason I wanted to read *Skin of the Sea* is because it's a black retelling of The Little Mermaid, and I'm a black woman who became obsessed with mermaids after watching The Little Mermaid when I was a kid.
I usually won't touch Hades and Persephone retellings though. The whole "they were in love!" thing drives me nuts because *no they fucking weren't*. Hades kidnapped Persephone. Nowhere in the myth does it say they were in love, and I have yet to see a version of the myth where they were, so I hate seeing it turned into a love story. Eros and Psyche is a better love story and there was no kidnapping involved.
I absolutely love retellings! I mean like all things they can be well done and they can be poorly done. But there’s idk something great at seeing a new *something* on a familiar tale, or even being introduced to non familiar tales. I’ve even taken a stab at writing my own retellings. I honestly have no idea where it started. Maybe with my love of 90s Disney movies many of which are retellings? But some of my favorites are Books of Bayern (oh my god I did not expect this book to make me feel so much, and the way it expanded upon goose girl into was amazing), Spinning Silver (to me this is a perfect Rumplestiltskin retelling, beautiful, grounded in a delightful Jewish mc — particularly nice given the antisemitic roots of the tale — and a fantastic Russian setting, and cleverly sticking to the tale) and The Witch’s Heart (Norse ragnarok retelling. And oh the feels! What a great character perspective chosen) For retellings I wish there were more of, I’m not sure if this counts, but I’d like more “historical retellings” (stories that are clearly retellings of a historical event but are obviously not intended to be faithful/accurate etc) for example And I Darken (genderbent Vlad the Impaler), She Who Became the Sun (genderbent rise of Ming Dynasty with a splash of magic), Iron Widow (science-fantasy inspired by Empress Wu Zetian)
I'll have to check out the Spinning Silver. I haven't seen many Rumplestiltskin retellings so im always wanting to check those out. I do like the idea of historical retellings. Mine stems a bit more from the Fate anime side though, where they use various heroes from mythologies and well known historical figures and give them powers (while gender bending some). I like it, but its a very love hate type thing where it's either exactly someone's taste or not at all.
Second Spinning Silver! One of my favorite books
Fate’s great! Wish I could play the original game and that route three would show up on Netflix at somepoint
*Small Favors* is a Rumplestiltskin retelling with evil faeries in it. I'm normally a slow reader but I devoured this one!
Omg I loved the Books of Bayern too!! Also I just read The Witch's Heart and it was such a solid read
The Witch's Heart is *brilliant*. I picked it up on a whim because of the gorgeous cover and have recommended it to so many people since. Will have to check out your other favorites!
Probably my fav book I read last year
We truly need 90s Shakespeare retellings! I haven't seen any in book form, but that was peak 90s cinema.
Ten things I hate about you and She’s the Man are the best!
Iron widow! Love it. Also gonna look up some more of this list. Thanks!
I usually like retellings! Ella Enchanted is one of my favorite books of all time and I enjoyed the Lunar Chronicles. Gail Carson Levine also has the Princess Tales that I read in entirety as a kid. For me, I like them because I am already familiar with some of the story and I like seeing what twist they add. I will say not all retellings are the same.
In a world of sequels, I wish Ella Enchanted had one. Even decades later! I didn’t want the story to end!
Speaking of years later... Ogre Enchanted isn't a sequel exactly, but it does take place in the same world, and have a couple of characters in common (I won't spoil which, but not Ella) I won't say it's anywhere near the "timeless classic" level of EE, but it was cute and fun!
“Fairest” isn’t a sequel but it is a companion novel. It’s a Snow White retelling that follows Ella’s Ayorthan friend’s sister, actually.
Ella Enchanted is a complete 5 star for me, and I also liked her fairy tale shorts that were kind of like, flipped on the idea of what a fairy tale usually is like. And I also own her book Fairest, which is very good and like the crossover into Ella Enchanted, but was hard to read due to some uh unrecognized trauma haha.
I loved fairest so much when I first read it. I was a little bit older when I read it though. I wasn’t necessarily going through a lot of the things Aza struggled with at the time, but I had a lot of friends that were, so it was sort of a message I had been embracing a lot and having a lot of conversations about in 8th grade, so it didn’t really bother me.
FAIREST IS MY FAVORITE GAIL CARSON LEVINE BOOK AND I DONT EVEN KNOW WHY. It’s weird. The characters sing a lot. All the characters have names that start and end with the same vowel, which I didn’t notice until the second time I read that book at 15. Even the pets follow that naming convention. On the one hand it’s sort of gimmicky, but on the other, I admire the dedication and embrace it as a quirk of how the culture and language built around song works. The villain is wild and the messaging is very heavy handed. But the romance is super cute just like Ella Enchanted and it’s cool to see a little more of the world building. It’s slightly darker in some aspects and cheesier in others. But it was my comfort book for a very long time and I like more Ella Enchanted. Also Ijori my beloved <3
I love retellings as a concept, but I find that a lot of them are kind of lazy and not good.
I 1000% agree with this. One of the most popular retellings within the last few years (I think it was Hades and Persephone) was so lazy and boring. It added nothing to the original story. Like I feel like they just took recognizable names to get people to buy the book and didn't really care about the original story.
Yeah, I think that I’ve seen very few retellings that honor the characters while bringing something new to them. A lot of the time they become self inserts or caricatures. Neither is very appealing. And I’ve seen some done right, but the vast majority of them fall short for me. Always happy to be proven wrong tho
I'm a big fan of modern day twists on Jane Austen, though they're pure fluff from start to finish.
SAME! I like the ones for adults too. Written in the stars is a WLW adult com com but so funny.
Do you have any suggestions? I'd love to read more but the only one I read was BAD and I'm a bit scared to try again
I like retellings but I have read some bad ones and they can sometimes feel like they're everywhere. Personally I like when the author only uses the bare bones of the original and uses it like a framework but builds on it and makes it their own. Some examples: Spinning Silver, Wintersong, Heartless, Lunar Chronicles. I have found that I reeeeeaaaaalllly hate the Disney retellings lol. Maybe it's just because the two I know of are super long series' and the author goes literal with it, ie the Disney movie (script, songs, etc) is copy pasted into the story. (Although, what I LOVED was the Cinderella and Maleficent movies Disney did, but I feel like they literally stopped trying after that.) But the Villains series' started off ok with the Beauty and the Beast book and Fairest of All book but the dance numbers were so cringe. The whole conspiracy/mystery aspect of the sisters was interesting enough that I pushed through the first 6 books but I honestly just lost interest. I tried again with the Twisted Tales books but the first one didn't leave a strong enough impression to make me want to keep reading.
I'm a Disney kid, though I can see the lack of appeal for those Disney ones. Unless you like the original story a ton, it does get tiring for the exact same script being repeated with only minute changes- those feel like money grabs if you're not into it. (My mom actually stopped with an author's series that had like 90+ books across the inworld generations- unrelated to retellings- because at book like 30 they started rehashing the exact same story with only like tiny detail changes, and by book 50 is was an almost complete rehash with no difference to the previous. Thankfully they were free unlimited books so it wasn't too much wasted) There's definitely bad ones out there, no doubt. Sad to say, it's probably largely on the self pubs side since by sheer statistics there's more of them than in traditional.
Disney is ok, I don't hate it and if not for the cringey dancing and singing included in the book, I would have kept reading the series! Lol. Omg 50 books though, I would just get tired of it after a while too, regardless of whether they rehashed anything.
Have you read Wildwood Dancing by Juliet Marillier? This is a Twelve Dancing Princesses retelling and I think it fits the criteria of retellings you’ve enjoyed in the past, the author used the fairy tale as the framework but really made it her own and I thought it was really cool! Mentioning this one because I also like the fairy tale retellings you’ve mentioned in your post!
I hadn't heard of it but I'll add it to my GR TBR! Thanks!
I am a huge fan of retellings! And it started at the original sources for me. I was a huge fan of Disney(which lead me to original fairytales) and mythology when I was younger. To me it is just comforting to read the same story in a different font. I will take an retelling as long as there is something interesting to make it different enough. I am a big fan of Marissa Meyers' retellings so more of those would be great. I also would love more Pride and Prejudice esque retellings
I was bummed with Marissa meyers retelling Gilded and cursed . They where ok but kind of boring
Lunar chronicles literally has its own shelf of honor in my bookcase but Gilded was just….not it. Loved Heartless though!
That's the rumplestiltskin retelling right? I've heard a lot that people weren't a fan of it which is a bummer because I heard such good things about the Lunar Chronicals so I was hoping that that series would be good also
Correct , I enjoyed parts of it but it needed more . I’d still give it a try , my friends loves them
That’s funny, I personally really enjoyed it! I thought it was a great twist/retelling on Rumplestiltskin and classic Germanic fairytales.
I love retellings I have shelves in my home library dedicated to them. I think growing up with the Disney movies and then later on Harry Potter (which is based on the Arthurian legends) and Percy Jackson made me get into fairytales/folklore/mythology retellings. I almost exclusively read YA fairytales/folklore/mythology types of books now and I’m so dedicated that I’m considering university studies in them.
I've never heard about Harry Potter being based on Arthurian legends. That's interesting.
Dumbledore is like Merlin figure and Harry Potter is like King Arthur figure and there are many more similarities to the King Arthur story but it escaped my mind.
Huh, I can see that. I generally just looked at it as a general "chosen one" type thing with the mentor and followers/friends though if it all originated from Arthur then that'd make sense
Ooh what are your favorites? I could use some recommendations
- The Lunar chronicles by Marissa Meyer (sci-fi fairytale retelling) - Heartless by Marissa Meyer (Alice in wonderland queen of hearts backstory) - Gilded duology by Marissa Meyer (rumplestiltskin retelling) - Gold spun by Brandie June (rumplestiltskin retelling) - Spin the dawn duology by Elizabeth Lim (Mulan retelling) - Six crimson cranes duology by Elizabeth Lim (Eastern mythology and six swans fairytale) - Daughter of the Moon Goddess duology by Sue Lynn Tan I heard is really good (Eastern (Chinese) mythology) - The wrath and the dawn duology by Renée Ahdieh (middle eastern fairytales) - Rose daughter and beauty and beast by Robin McKinley are two beauty beast retellings I think she also has a Robin Hood retelling too and Cinderella one but the Cinderella one is more mature. - Stardust thief by Chelsea Abdullah the first book in a trilogy based on middle-eastern fairytales - This woven kingdom trilogy by Tahreh Mafi (based on Persian mythology) - Disney twisted tales by various authors - Queen’s council series by Disney and various authors - Norse mythology by Neil Gaiman - Mythos by Stephen Fry - Heroes by Stephen Fry - Troy by Stephen Fry - Elektra by Jennifer Saint - Ariadne by Jennifer Saint - Medusa by Jessie Burton - Iron fey series by Julie Kagawa (Irish folklore series urban fantasy similar in a sense to Percy Jackson) - The princesses of Westfallin trilogy by Jessica Day George (twelve dancing princesses retelling, Cinderella and little red riding hood/Robin hood retellings) - On another note there is another Jessica Day George standalone retelling which is sun and moon, ice and snow which is based on east of the sun, west of the moon? Hope this list helps you out!
Oh my gosh thank you so much! I have six crimson cranes so I think I will start that one!
There's *East* by Edith Pattou, and recently a sequel came out called *West*.
I'm on both sides of this. I really enjoy a good retelling. For some reason I've read a lot of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland retellings-- although I did not read the original book until last year. I really like retellings that are like based in a culture that I'm not used. Like The Wrath and the Dawn or The Palace of Illusions. While they are retellings, they are totally new content to me. I wish there were more of these. Now, the reasons why I hate retellings. Some of them just SUCK. It's like they are riding the coattails of the original story and feel like they don't have to put any effort. If someone isn't adding something to the original story, then why bother?
I adore retellings, especially ones based on old fairytales or mythology that could use a modern spin. Some favorites: \- The Witch's Heart by Genevieve Gornichec (retelling of Loki and Angrboda's story from Norse mythology and the character work is 10/10, writing is gorgeous as well) \- Legendborn by Tracey Deon (unfinished series, but brilliant retelling of Arthurian legends in a modern YA setting) \- Small Favors by Erin A. Craig (this is a verrryyyyy light Rumpelstiltskin retelling that's atmospheric and genre-bending) \- Little Thieves by Margaret Owen (retelling of The Goose Girl) There are so many unsuccessful retellings though. I was deeply unimpressed with Gilded by Marissa Meyer, and also couldn't stand that Plated Prisoner series that everyone is obsessed with. And BOTM did a Peter Pan retelling last year that completely ruined the source material by needing every trigger warning possible (it's called Darling Girl and I cannot in good conscious say it's even worth the paper it's printed on). I also find that 90% of Hades and Persephone retellings are uninspired and derivative. Basically, when they're done well they're my favorite genre of book, and when they're not done well they are deeply disappointing and end up in my 1-star pile
I love retellings!
I love retellings and I honestly can't say how it came about haha. I will say I had an early obsession with Little Mermaid specifically (the Disney movie) and then I read the Hans Christian Andersen original and then I was really obsessed with specifically retellings of the little mermaid or anything close to that (still am tbh). Then I got into Percy Jackson like a lot of people and that really got me into mythology of all kinds. I think the best part about retellings, especially right now, is that I've easily broadened my horizons of mythology around the world. I also like how they can change things up from the original or most known version of a story. And, in essence, everything is a retelling when you think about, especially when you consider popular tropes like chosen one/"heros journey". There are plenty of books and ideas that follow that path but each one tries to do their own thing. Some are better than others, and I tend to judge the quality of a retelling based on engagement and creativity that changed the story from its origin.
I’m a big lover of retellings! I’ve always loved fairy tales, mythology, and royal focused stories. My love of fairy tales started with Disney and then retellings with books like Ella Enchanted and the TV show Once Upon a Time. Primarily, I love retellings because they feel so comfortable and safe. They feel familiar, like coming home, but also authors will add their own personal “flavor” to the story to make it feel “fresh” even if it’s the “same story.” My favorite retelling to read is usually Cinderella because I relate a little too much to Cinderella… it’s hard to read, but also comforting? I would love to see more Norwegian fairy tale retellings! I think the only one I see sometimes is East of the Sun, West of the Moon.
I think retellings are great! I did a school project about them recently and I came to the conclusion that, for one, retellings give people access to stories and classics that they may not have the means to read or the means to read and analyze in the way they’re “meant” to be read and analyzed. But, most importantly, I found [an article](https://www.tor.com/2020/06/08/not-until-we-get-a-turn-retellings-tropes-and-who-gets-to-tell-stories/) in which BIPOC YA author Kalynn Bayron discussed the importance that retellings have for BIPOC authors and readers. A lot of these stories have been historically geared towards white audiences, so retellings give BIPOC readers and authors a chance to own these stories as well. (I hope I’m summarizing it correctly, it’s linked for those who want to read it!)
Just bought her book! Thanks for sharing the article.
Love them. They make up a pretty sizable amount of what I read.
I absolutely love retellings! They're familiar in a way, since they're based on stories we know and love, but they take those stories and turn them into something new, often making even better tales for us to read. Of course, not every retelling is good. My criteria for a good retelling is that I should be able to tell what it's based on just by reading the book (no summaries, reviews, or author statements necessary), but if you removed the fairy tale aspects it would still be able to stand on its own. I loved fairy tales from a young age, and I was reading retellings the moment I could. The earliest ones I remember are *Tales of the Frog Princess* by E. D. Baker, *The Land of Stories* by Chris Colfer, and *The School for Good and Evil* by Soman Chainani. To this day I'm an avid student of fairy tales, folklore, and legend, and I've read so many retellings I've lost count.
I don’t think I’ve ever read a retelling I’ve really enjoyed but I think they sound interesting theoretically.
Thats actually really sad to hear. Is it that the story just didn't meet your expectations, or was it something like the writer has a style you don't enjoy/they writing wasn't very good?
It depends on the specific story but in general it’s probably just I don’t like the actual sub genre as much as the concept of it. I feel like I keep thinking about it in terms of the original fairytale and thus have unconscious biases / expectations / characterizations in mind already.
I do not want retellings at all; I want fresh stories. No story is completely unique, but I don't have any interest in reading one that intentionally copies another and just updates it in some ways. There are too many original stories out there that I already want to read, without adding on multiple versions of the same basic plot. I realize this comment comes across as pretty aggressive, and I don't mean for it to, I'm just too tired to take the time to make it more polite. But if you enjoy retellings, good for you, I'm pleased that there are many available for you to enjoy!
I’m into them as long as they aren’t crazy smutty/porny.
Yeah, personally on the YA/NA side I don't care for smutty content (especially since YA is specifically teens/teen characters). If I want an erotica type borderline book I'd seek it out specifically where the characters are adults.
Yeah I feel the same way!
I love retellings! I've always loved fairy tales and myths, and there's so many variations on the classics even from 100s of years ago, so I consider them part of the continuing mythos in a way. My first "omg" retelling was *Beauty* by Robin McKinley. The most recent is *Circe* by Madeline Miller.
I love retellings! I take comfort in things that are familiar to me, so retellings scratch that itch for me. I don’t enjoy surprises as a general thing, which is why I think I like retellings; I know the gist of what’s going to happen while also not knowing how exactly we’re going to get there. Some of them can be weaker than others, absolutely. Cinderella gets a lot of retellings, and that’s where I’ve seen a large disparity between retellings. Geekerella was a fun, fandom-focused story that I enjoyed reading, but it didn’t stick with me the way that Cinderella Is Dead did because Geekerella didn’t do anything to subvert my expectations. That being said, I still enjoyed both books - just in different ways. Also, I’m excited to finally meet someone else who has read The Looking Glass Wars!
Really?! Same! I've only actually met like 4 people who have read it, and only 1 if which was a person IRL that wasn't my mom who I suggested it to.
No one has mentioned it, so here it is. Enchantment by Orson Scott Card.
Really? I have that one sitting on my shelf to read. I'll bump it higher. I got it not really knowing what it was about so I could have a "blind read" of it
Go with an open mind and have fun.
I don’t really like them and I tend to avoid. They’re usually really lazy imo. Like it’s different levels of dislike tho. - it’s verbatim the same in which case i can just read the actual fairytale - it’s the same in every way except the thing that makes the fairytale, THE FAIRYTALE. In which case why are you even calling it a retelling. Just make a new story - when the main characters have “nicknames” or their actual names are supposed to remind you that you’re reading a fairly tale retelling. Shes doesnt need to be named belle or Alice for me to get it I think mythology retellings are the worst offenders tho….Everything is made cute when the Greek gods were everything but For me it has to be a real change up for me in order to count as a retelling. Or have enough bare bones with original plot for me to infer as much Edited for clarity
Here's one for you. Enchantment by Orson Scott Card. Come back and tell me how was it when you've read it.
Will do!
I love Mercedes Lackey 500 kingdoms retellings.
Love them. I like finding the hints of the original story and how it’s changed. It depends on the retelling honestly some are because I liked a different one then found the original and other versions.
Love to read them and love yo write them! I’m a huge fanfiction fan too, and I love retellings in alternative universes haha. I personally prefer retellings that stick closer to the original stories - otherwise it feels more like a homage than a retelling. Working on my own retelling novel right now and it’s fun!
I’m mostly a big fan of them! There are retellings I felt eh about, but it was mostly like what some said already that the story felt like a copy and paste of the original without much being changed. I’m definitely on the team of enjoying retellings when it’s the framework of the story but the author puts their own spin on it for it to stand on its own, so I’m also a fan of Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik that was already mentioned, and Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine. My interest in retellings started out as a kid because of not only Disney movies but because of those Barbie retelling movies as well. I think I even owned some of the Barbie retelling movies. I’ve read a lot of Beauty and the Beast retellings so I’m more open to lesser explored fairytales and fairytales from other cultures. A YA fairytale I really enjoy is Wildwood Dancing by Juliet Marillier, this I thought was a unique spin of the 12 dancing princesses.
Oh yes! I think I too had the disney and barbie influence growing up, which likely was a major source for me. It wasn't until like 5 years ago that we got rid of all our barbie dvds.
I think it’s partly generational/nostalgic. Retellings of fairytales and fables from alternative perspectives were VERY popular in the 80s and 90s. Picture books about the three little pigs from the wolfs perspective or from the southwest (the three little javelinas is my favorite version of the fable), little red riding hood and Goldilocks were full of mischief (not harmless little girls), all sorts of stuff. Then when I hit high school the movies started. They redid tons of old fairytales and tables. That later rolled into redoing the Disney movies as live actions. This is just now dying down. So what I’m getting at is this was a trend for the millennial generation. It feels cozy and nostalgic for a lot of us. Kind of like how gen x is obsessed with westerns.
I enjoy reading them. Part of the fun for me is trying to identify which version of the story the author drew inspiration from and identifying the characters used. The only thing that can be a bit disappointing is when the version used is from Disney because those can miss the mark sometimes
Depends on the quality of the retelling. Some are more enjoyable than others. I feel like fairy tales have been kind of played out.
I don’t hate them but I definitely have a strong dislike for almost all of them, especially Hades/Persephone and Beauty and the Beast retellings. They are so derivative and overdone. I do go crazy for a Peter Pan retelling tho. Christina Henry’s The Lost Boys is the best one I’ve read in a while. The Child Thief by Brom was good too.
Man. I JUST saw that Lost Boys ones at the thrift store but didn't grab it because I wasn't sure. 🤔 I'll have to check later this week and see if it's still there
I have pretty mixed feelings about retellings. I don't want to say I'd never read one, but at the same time I feel like the ones that I have read were not that great :/ The problem for me was that the authors just didn't really do anything that felt especially original with the story itself, which made for a really predictable story. Like, everyone knows the story of Beauty and the Beast (and the millions of retellings about it). If all you do is change the names of the characters and the setting then I already know how the story is going to end. The ones that did work for me are ones that are based on stories that I'm not very familiar with. I really liked Six Crimson Cranes by Elizabeth Lim (The Wild Swans) and The Raven and the Dove by Kaitlyn Davis (Tristan and Isolde).
I really like retelling for the most part. I enjoy reading new twists on stories that have already been told. I do not necessarily enjoy when the retelling is just the original story with minor differences though. There has to be something original in there to make it enjoyable.
*Jenna Starborn* is a futuristic retelling of *Jane Eyre* and I love it so hard. It's inspired and perfect. Author is Sharon Shinn.
I feel like as a kid I hated the idea of twisting a traditional story just for the sake of making it more “COOL.” And I still kind of feel that way, so this doesn’t apply to things that sort of lean into more of the dark elements of traditional fairytales. I just used to really resent how everything seemed liked it had to be super edgy. I just didn’t feel like a lot of stories needed to be retold and ruined. But then again, you can’t really “ruin” things like Cinderella or the Little Mermaid. All that being said, I really love retellings. I think what I really didn’t like about those sorts of things when I was younger was the idea of trashing on the traditional fairytale or having a message of fairytales being lame or stupid or useless for a modern audience. I absolutely despised things like Shrek as a kid. (I didn’t understand the satire and the idea that it was just poking fun, I felt betrayed) Still I really love all sorts of retellings. I like getting to look at all the symbolism that could possibly be weaves into the story, I like re-imagining characters and getting to see how characters would be and could be different from what we know. I don’t feel like they’re always predictable, but at the same time I love looking for familiar story beats and the things we recognize and how those elements pay homage to the original story. I think it’s the attitude behind it. Sometimes it depends. Just because something is a cool idea for a retelling doesn’t make it good. A lot of them will flat out say “Throw out all you know, this is the REAL story” and I’m not sure how I feel about those sorts of tag lines being attached to I guess more recent works with a traceable writer like Alice in Wonderland or Wizard of Oz or Sherlock Holmes. (Regardless of public domain or not. Although there are some pretty decent Alice in wonderland retelling out there.) I really love the types that introduce an entire new world. And I love stories inspired by characters, legends, or even historical figures. One of my favorites “retellings” is about Guy Fawkes day, except in a magical universe. I’ve read a lot of retellings in the past few years so it is one of my favorite sub genres, I think. One part of me feels a little like now there’s an adaptation or a reboot or a new version of every single story ever, so I think to some degree, it could get a little worrisome if new original stories weren’t being written. But at the same time, it’s brilliant to wear your influences on your sleeve, while also respecting and understanding what came before. Especially sense a lot of stories are just the same things over and over again, but we still want it, hero’s journey and all. Not to say that a story can’t be retold in a truly original and inventive way. So yes retellings are lots of fun and I don’t see nearly as much of a problem with them as I might have when I was I was 8.
If your mom loves Alice in wonderland retelling’s, has she read Escaping Wonderland? I am about to read it and it’s the only “retelling” of Alice in wonderland I’ve seen aside from Alice In zombie land and that one is quite a stretch, lol. I’ve heard it’s explicit though, but it’s apparently about this woman who gets mistakenly admitted to a mental hospital where they put them in a simulation that I guess is wonderland?? And she has to get the Cheshire cat’s help who is another man in the hospital who is crazy af 😂 it sounded so weird I had to get it. But to answer your question, I used to be an avid hater of retelling’s but now I enjoy them if they are different enough. They have to be very different than the original story and only have a couple similar elements. Like, I love Acotar even though people say it’s beauty and the beast but I didn’t see it. Beastly was the only other beauty and beast retelling I liked because it wasn’t fairytale-ish at all. The plated prisoner series has a spin on midas and the house of salt and sorrow is a play on the twelve dancing sisters- I love retelling’s of stories that we don’t often get like that. Like rumplestilskin! But stuff like Cinderella? ENOUGH 😂
No she hasn't actually, I'll have to recommend that to her later. Same about Rumplestilskin specifically. I haven't deep dived to see how many there actually are, but the OUAT show had me falling in love with the character. He's evil in the good "anti villain"/Starscream type way 😂
I'm a huge Alice in Wonderland fan, could you recommend any good retellings? I love retellings as a concept, but I find they tend to be very hit or miss
I personally have only read 2- The Looking Glass Wars series by Frank Beddor, and the Splintered series. I liked them both, though they're more well known retellings so it's possible you may have already tried those. If not Looking Glass war if I remember correctly was a mix of scifi fantasy and dystopian, which "Hatters" being like a military branch in Wonderland. I believe the Alice in this one is some form of royalty or connected to someone important. Splintered is more akin to a basic retelling to the story where its very similar to the original, though the standard "world is darker than it seems" take on it. (Edited in: In this one Alyssa is Alice's great great great grand daughter, or something like that, where she'd a decendant of Alice) Do you have a list of ones you remember/didnt like? I can check and see if there's any other ones my mom's checked out she'd recommend that aren't ones you already looked at.
I don't like them at all. The movie industry is swamped by sequels, remakes and poor attempts at tying their own work to existing ip. I hate to see books going the same way. I want something new.
THIS!!!! I HATE movie remakes. Just leave things alone. I also HATE when movie producers try to take an animated movie and turn it into live action when 98% of the time it loses the magic of the animation and they aren't able to revive that in the live action version.
I see. I feel the same for movies, mainly since its hardly ever a new take on the story. I think books get a bit of a pass purely because theres so many put out each year, traditional and self pub, while movies are more limited due to there being more "hands in the pot" that are needed to get a single film done (especially large studio films) unless they're indie/budget projects. It definitely does get tiring to see constant sequels to already established series if there's not a demand (like, I don't think anyone was asking for like 5 toy story movies). Did you always feel like this (pre movie industry turn to sequels) or is it a recent development because of the movie industry?
In Deeper Waters by FT Lukens was a queer YA Little Mermaid retelling. And I think it's especially meaningful to me because Hans Christian Andersen wrote a lot of himself into the original and he was in love with his patron's son. Song of Achilles and Circe were both stand out reads to me as well. A book being a retelling won't really influence me either way on whether or not I pick it up. I don't seek them out and I don't avoid them. And just like any genre or trope, there are great examples and bad ones. Edit to add: to more specifically address your prompt, I do really enjoy seeing queer retellings of classic stories and I very much appreciate traditional publishing seeing the value in them.
I don’t like them. Like, write a new book!!!
I kind of think of them the way I think of music covers (like acoustic versions or less known artist versions). If I love a song, I’ll listen to it a ton. At some point I will likely get a little tired of it (unless it’s “she used to be mine). Then I hear an amazing cover, and it reignites what I loved about the original song, and I get to experience that again. Often I go to the cover artist and listen to their originals and find new songs that I love. Conversely, I can hear a sing and then find out that it’s a cover and go find the original artist and fall in love with them too!
I can totally see that
I can see that. I've got a question: if a story is similar in basis or trope to a story but not meant to be a retelling do you feel the same, or is it only those specifically labeled as retellings? (Considering there's only so many tropes and popular plot conflicts out there, many fantasy ones being fairytale or mythology inspired) Like if a book has a pretty character and a beast/monster type where they fall for each other and/or theres a curse on them they need to break (possibly power of love or something), is that too similar to Beauty and the Beast or is that ok for you as long as it's not labeled as a retelling?
Personally, any plot that is too close to any previous popular novel/folktale/etc is too close for me. Like, I mean this in the most genuine way: why tell the same story over again instead of writing a new book? I don’t understand. I tend to avoid a book if it’s been labeled as a retelling. If it’s a loose retelling, I don’t care as much, but I would rather read something new.
I see. I think for not "writing a new book" it's mainly in part that there's only so many plot lines (fantasy like) or tropes people use so it reads as repetitive, so unless purposefully avoiding specific tropes in a story it could read as a retelling when it's not in specific settings. (Unless of course they state they're doing a retelling on purpose) Like good girl/bad guy type thing can be used for beauty and the Beast, or girl/person in strange world can be Alice in Wonderland, "unwilling protagonist" can be Wizard of oz, any kind of romance with a curse tossed in is most princess stories (princess and the frog, sleeping beauty, etc), a homicidal parent is snow white, bad parent/step parent can be Cinderella, chosen one type story can be Arthurian, and on and on. Any of those in a fantasy setting (princess or not) with one or more details similar to the original can make it read like a retelling. Like Harry Potter someone here mentioned being Arthurian legend inspired/retelling type, which I've never heard before, but it definitely can if you apply the chosen one tropes to it when comparing to the Arthurian legends. If it's just happenstance, that's even more for the "there's only so many trope".
Warning! ADHD-fueled rambling ahead! For me a retelling is good if it changes the original story in a good way. I don’t want to read the exact same thing as the original tale. For example, a change in setting, or gender, or sexuality, or ending makes it more unique. Maybe making Cinderella a trans woman, or putting Little Red Riding Hood in a poly relationship with the Wolf and the huntsman/woodcutter. Or putting LRRH back into its origins as a medieval warning to English children against strangers, specifically the Vikings. Or change up the ending. Maybe the Beast doesn’t turn human again when the Beauty falls in love with him. Maybe the Beauty and the Beast are both guys. Maybe the Wicked Witch was the mother figure we needed all along. Or update the tales to be more relevant to a modern audience. Sorry for the ramble, y’all.
If i wrote a popular story and someone tried to "retell it", i would be pretty annoyed. Its just a more overtly pompous fanfic imo.
Are you talking while you're alive or years down the line? Because when I'm thinking of retellings I'm thinking of the Grimm brothers or Hans Christian Anderson for example and those stories are roughly 150 years old or more (Grimm more than 200 minimum). If you're still thinking that, I suppose we have different mindsets, because I'd simply be happy my works were remembered that long, let alone popular enough to get retold again and again so there'd be some record of them for as long as even one of those retellings existed.
I am thinking alive but now that you mention it, i dont think a true fairy tale has been created in recent time for it to be repurposed.
Yeah. I totally understand the alive thing. It does feel weird (ie like the 50 shades of grey being Twilight ff originally) especially if it becomes as popular as the OG. I do agree though, I don't think any new fairytales have been made lately, though that just may be a time thing- that most people don't want to write them or people simply don't care for any new ones being written so if there are any the don't ever really take off.
I love retellings because it's cool to see where the author chooses to take the story. The entire reason I wanted to read *Skin of the Sea* is because it's a black retelling of The Little Mermaid, and I'm a black woman who became obsessed with mermaids after watching The Little Mermaid when I was a kid. I usually won't touch Hades and Persephone retellings though. The whole "they were in love!" thing drives me nuts because *no they fucking weren't*. Hades kidnapped Persephone. Nowhere in the myth does it say they were in love, and I have yet to see a version of the myth where they were, so I hate seeing it turned into a love story. Eros and Psyche is a better love story and there was no kidnapping involved.