FAIRY TALE RETELLINGS

FAIRY TALE RETELLINGS

YA Cinderella retellings- If you have older girls like I do, they never grow out of the magic of fairy tales. What's not to love about overcoming hardship, wrongs righted, balls, fairy godmothers, and sigh the prince! Recently I picked up a new retelling by Melissa De La Cruz. Cinder and Glass puts its own spin on things in that Cendrillon (Cinderella) doesn't fall in love with the crown prince, but his brother. Unfortunately, I quit this book because there were several parts of the book dedicated to Cedrillon's stepsister who is gay. All truth be told, I flipped to the end of the book, because even at my age you want to know if Cendrillon ends up with a fairy tale "Happily Ever After" ending. (I'm not telling!) So, I went on the hunt through our shelves to find a couple replacements. My girls had read the two books I found, but I hadn't. Since they are both away at college, I had to sit down and enjoy some more fairy tales!

The first one I read was Before Midnight by Cameron Dokey. What makes this retelling unique is the stepmother is not the nasty adult in Cendrillon's (Cinderella's) life. Someone else is! It really takes a little getting used to when the stepmother and stepsisters are helping her. This retelling is well-written and clean!

The second retelling is Cinder: The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer. I am not typically a sci-fi person, but this book hooked me. Cinder is a cyborg who has very little recollection of her past. That past, however, has a lot to do with Earth's future and a certain Prince Kai. Told in an Asian futuristic setting, don't expect to have all your questions answered in one book. Lunar Chronicles covers 4 main books, a bridge book, and a novella. As the series continues more fairy tale characters are put in the limelight. The first book does contain 2 d***s. Other than that it's a good read.