Spellbinding fairytale retellings

Fairytale retellings are making a big resurgence this season. Into the Woods hits the big screen on Christmas Day, featuring Meryl Streep as the witch who teaches lessons to Little Red Riding Hood, Cinderella, Jack (from Jack and the Beanstalk), and Rapunzel. Fairytales have always held classic appeal for both children and adults. Retellings offer a little something more—a twist of the unexpected and/or unusual—offered in a compelling, timeless storyline. I have been hooked on retellings ever since discovering Gail Carson Levine’s Ella Enchanted in the late 90s, a novel (later made into a movie) based on Cinderella wherein Ella must navigate her curse of obedience.

Check out the following young adult titles for some spellbinding retellings.

Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge – 17-year-old Nyx Triskelion is sent to marry Ignifex, the demon who controls her land. She resents her family for writing away her fate and resolves to break free by destroying the curse that entraps her homeland. Unexpectedly, she finds herself torn between choosing her land, her family & everything she left behind and the husband she was determined to hate.

Entwined by Heather Dixon – Ever since the death of Azalea’s mother, there has been no dancing. Every night, Azalea and her eleven younger sisters slip away into the Keeper’s enchanted forest where they are free to dance. However, this bargain comes with a price. “The Keeper likes to keep things.” In this retelling of The Twelve Dancing Princesses, it is up to Azalea to fight to save her family—and herself—before it’s too late.

A Long Long Sleep (UniCorp #1) by Anna Sheehan – 16-year-old Rosalind Fitzroy opens her eyes to discover sixty years have passed and everyone she knew has passed away while she was in stasis, frozen in time. Heir to the multiplanetary corporation UniCorp, she must make sense of her new life before she loses it permanently.

Cinder (The Lunar Chronicles #1) by Marissa Meyer – In the future, humans and androids live side by side. Cinder, a mechanic and cyborg finds herself in the middle of a complicated web: she is resented by her stepmother, intrigued by Prince Kai, and at the center of an intergalactic struggle.

Author Spotlight: Cat Patrick

Every night at 4:33am, 16-year-old London Lane's memory gets reset.

Cat Patrick is one of my favourite author finds this year. Memento meets 50 First Dates in Forgotten, where London Lane copes with her memory loss by establishing a system of notes-to-self that help her get through the day like any other regular teenager. Her life is further complicated by mysterious “flashbacks” of the future. When London meets Luke Henry, she can’t help but be drawn to him; however, the fact that he doesn’t seem to exist in her glimpses of the future brings up both fear and questions.

As the novel unfolds, readers are drawn into London’s world as she figures out the puzzle pieces of her life. I found myself unable to put this book down, spellbound by the unusual plot details and mystery behind London’s life.

Cat Patrick’s other works include Revived and The Originals. Her novels are geared toward teens (although that didn’t stop this reader from devouring all her books!) and tend to involve a twist of a sci-fi in a way that makes for fresh and compelling storytelling.

In Revived, Daisy is part of a top-secret government program that can and has brought her back to life multiple times. As a result, she has undergone many moves and identities to keep the public from the truth. Her transient life keeps her from establishing any ties. When she starts to form emotional bonds with some new friends, she begins to question her mandated way of life.

The Originals finds 17-year-olds Lizzie, Ella, and Betsy all living the same life. Top-secret clones, they were raised as triplets until it got too dangerous and they began living as one Elizabeth Best. To everyone around them, they are one person. What happens when they each start to develop unique identities and long for a life of their own?