Thorn – A Fairy Tale Re-telling

Title: Thorn
Author: Intisar Khanani
Source: from author for review
Rating: ★★★★☆
Review Summary: This book was darker and more violent than I expected from the pretty cover, but I was pleasantly surprised when the main character turned out to be a strong heroine you could really root for.

As I mentioned in my previous review of a Goose Girl retelling, the basic gist of both this book and the original fairy tale is as follows. A princess is sent to marry a prince in a foreign land and on the journey, her maid uses some form of magic to take on the princess’s identity. Once they reach the foreign capital, the princess becomes a goose girl and must decide if and how she wants to regain her place as a princess.

Bookends About The Goose Girl

Title: The Goose Girl
Author: Shannon Hale
Source: library
Rating: ★★★★☆
Review Summary: I really liked how true this book was to the style of a fairy tale and how well it fleshed out the original story.

I picked up this version of The Goose Girl planning on using it as an original to read before another re-telling. Further research suggests you’d need a children’s book (or the wikipedia page) to get the most original story, since the original is far too short for a book. The basic gist of both this book and the original fairy tale is as follows. A princess is sent to marry a prince in a foreign land and on the journey, her maid uses some form of magic to take on the princess’s identity. Once they reach the foreign capital, the princess becomes a goose girl and must decide if and how she wants to regain her place as a princess.

The Ugly Stepsister Strikes Back

Title: The Ugly Stepsister Strikes Back
Author: Sariah Wilson
Source: from publisher for review
Rating: ★★★★☆
Review Summary: Fun, cute, with an awesome heroine and characters with unique personalities, although definitely on the younger end of YA books.

Life’s not always fun and games when you’re the ugly stepsister. Mattie Lowe is sick of her perfect, beautiful, and (worst of all) genuinely nice stepsister. Not only is she more popular than Mattie; she’s also dating the boy Mattie’s had a crush on since she was nine years old. Fortunately, Mattie’s not the sort of girl to take things lying down and when she finally talks to her stepsister, it might turn out they have more in common than she thinks.

Project: Fairy Tale – Scarlet

Title: Scarlet
Author: A. C. Gaughen
Source: library
Rating: ★★☆☆☆
Review Summary: It’s a clever take on the original myth, but I was disappointed to see this fun adventure story turned into just another YA love triangle with an indecisive heroine.

As part of Alison at The Cheap Reader’s Project: Fairy Tale, I will be reviewing one original and three re-tellings of Robin Hood this month. Scarlet is the first re-telling I’ve  read and has the most unique premise among the re-tellings I’ve found. Told from the perspective of “Will” Scarlet, the author ponders the possibility that the young boy in Robin’s band was actually a young woman.  Adventure, and of course, romance quickly ensue.