Top 5 Wednesday was created by Lainey @GingerReadsLainey on Youtube and is now hosted by Sam @ThoughtsOnTomes
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There’s a new topic every Wednesday, and you then list your Top 5 books related to the particular topic.
May is rewind month which means we can revisit old prompts.
My choice for this week is: Favourite Retellings
I’m late again with my Top 5 post (was working late last night so didn’t get a chance to write this up) but I really wanted to talk about my favourite retellings. You might say I’m a sucker for retellings – always have been, always will be. Whether it be a fairytale, myth or legend or even just a retelling of an old classic novel, I’m pretty much down for all of that!
1. Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier
‘Daughter of the Forest’ is a retelling of ‘The Six Swans’ which is a German fairy tale, one of the many collected by the Brothers Grimm. This is honestly a beautiful story. Juliet Marillier is a masterful storyteller and this is one of her very best.
2. Cress by Marissa Meyer
This is my favourite book in ‘The Lunar Chronicles’ series (although I love them all – such a unique spin!) Indeed, ‘Cress’ is a science fiction retelling of ‘Rapunzel’. I love the character of Cress and Carswell Thorne (her eventual love interest) is one of my very favourite book boyfriends. This series is just sheer perfection.
3. The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh
‘The Wrath and the Dawn’ was inspired by ‘A Thousand and One Nights’ but isn’t a strict retelling as such. I definitely think this is one of the most beautiful love stories I have read. Shahrzad and Khalid are just… well, let’s just say I wasn’t sold on their love story going into the book but I ended up absolutely loving it.
4. Uprooted by Naomi Novik
This is a hard one to categorize since it cobbles together a few different fairytales; notably drawing from Eastern European/Slavic folklore such as Baba Yaga with a dash of ‘Beauty and the Beast’ and ‘Rapunzel’ thrown into the mix. It is a marvelous book and definitely one of my favourites.
5. Heart’s Blood by Juliet Marillier
Another Juliet Marillier book (this list could pretty much comprise all of her books but one needs a bit of variety!) ‘Heart’s Blood’ is one of my favourites and I love the fact that it is a self-contained tale (as much as I love a series). This is loosely based on ‘Beauty and the Beast’ with a Celtic flair.
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Cress is my favorite installment of that series and I love how the author reworked the fairytale. 🙂
I loved Uprooted!!! It is one of my favorite books! I never really thought of it as a retelling before, but definitely noticed that it was fairy tale esque. But once I saw it on you list, I tried to guess what you had listed it as and came up with Rapunzel. Tho you are right, it does incorporate a bunch!
Oh man, Juliet Marillier’s books were my life back in highschool. I love the focus on the relationship between Sorcha and her brothers.
twatd is my favorite retelling too! the writing is just so atmospheric and immersive <3 i always want to try juliet marillier books, i've heard amazing things about them!
Baby Yaga was never on my radar until I read Vassa in the Night, and then I kept noticing retellings for it everywhere. I thought TWATD books was so beautifully written. I adored each and every word I read.
I absolutely loved The Wrath and the Dawn! And the sequel is great too if you haven’t read it yet. I’ve also come across Heart’s Blood and had high hopes for it, but couldn’t make it even halfway through for some reason. But retellings are so much fun!
I absolutely love the Lunar Chronicles. I am re-reading Cinder so that I can keep going with the series but it was one of my favorites of 2017!