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1. Tangleweed and Brine by Deirdre Sullivan
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This absolutely beautifully collection of retold fairy tales by Irish author Deirdre Sullivan is as wonderful to read as it is to look at. Featuring lovely, feminist angles on your favourite fairy tales and beautiful full spread illustrations, it deserves a space on your shelf stat.
2. Cinder by Marissa Meyer
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Marissa Meyer's Lunar Chronicles series is loads of fun and perfect for fans of fairy tales. Meyers retells your favourite Grimms Brothers classics in a futuristic world where Cinderella is a cyborg, Little Red Riding hood is an amateur detective, and Rapunzel hacks space stations.
3. The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter
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Angela Carter's collection of dark, feminist fairy tales is absolute required reading. Complex, mysterious, and weird as the stories collected by the Brothers Grimm centuries ago, Carter's stories echo old fairy tales in their quest to explore society and humanity through superstition.
4. A Thousand Nights by E.K. Johnston
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This romantic and colourful novel inspired by the tale of Scheherazade is just what the storyteller ordered. A twisting page turner, it's bound to keep you reading as much as Scheherazade's tales kept her husband listening.
5. The Call by Peadar O'Guilan
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The Call offers a dark dystopian future based on Irish faerie tales, which are a far cry from Cinderella's fairy godmother. In O'Guilin's nightmarish imagining, a group of school children are fighting to survive in a world where race is dying out as faeries suck children into their realm to torture them.
6. Tender Morsels by Margo Lanagan
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Tender Morsels is a stunning reimagining of "Snow White and Rose Red". It tells the story of Liga, who raises her daughters in an alternate magical reality after enduring an abusive childhood. It's raw, beautiful, and original – you won't be able to put it down.
7. Because You Love To Hate Me edited by Ameriie
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Here's nastily delightful anthology of stories told from the perspective of some of your favourite villains, from the little mermaid's Sea Witch to Snow White's evil queen.
8. Lost Boy by Christina Henry
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This Captain Hook origin story inspired by Peter Pan is just as lovely as its cover. It tells the story of Peter and Hook from back in the day... when they used to be friends.
9. The Sin Eater's Daughter by Melinda Salisbury
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The Sin Eater's Daughter trilogy was inspired by "Rapunzel", but Melinda Salisbury has created a world founded on dark fairy tales all her own in this saga following Twylla, a passive weapon of the monarchy turned reluctant heroine. Salisbury's world is rich, creepy, and dangerous, and it constantly keeps you guessing at who to trust.
10. Frogkisser by Garth Nix
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Name a more innovative magical writer than Garth Nix, whose Sabriel series has been dominating teen bookshelves for decades. In Frogkisser, Nix adds his own spin to the fairy tale tradition and you won't be disappointed.
11. Shadows on the Moon by Zoe Marriott
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Zoe Marriot twists "Cinderella" into a new shape through the story of Suzume, a shapeshifting heroine on the run from an unhappy life with her wicked stepfather. It's a delightful reworking of the familiar fairy tale, with feminist touches and plenty of suspense.
Get a copy on Amazon.
12. Lorali by Laura Dockrill
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This atmospheric and romantic mermaid tale is a perfect escape. Filled with magic and a modern Prince Charming. The book follows Rory, who finds a naked girl washed up on the beach of Hastings pier on his sixteenth birthday. But she's not just just a girl, and Rory's in for a dangerous summer.
13. Beauty by Sarah Pinborough
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This contemporary retelling of "Sleeping Beauty" brings new life to the classic fairy tale, mixing in elements of "Beauty and the Beast", and pairing it all with gorgeous illustrations.
14. My Mother She Killed Me, My Father He Ate Me edited by Kate Bernheimer
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This wonderful anthology asked well-known authors to pen their own original fairy tales, and the likes of Neil Gaiman, Joyce Carol Oats, and Francine Prose took the challenge with glee. Featuring a host of weird and wonderful modern stories inspired by the age old fairy tale tradition, this book is a perfect gift for a fairy tale nerd.
15. A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
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Sarah J. Maas's steamy epic fantasy combines touches of "Beauty and the Beast" with the tales of "Tam Lin" and "East of the Sun, West of the Moon" in the first installment of her series following Feyre, a tough and passionate human woman who finds herself stranded in a dark magical war.
16. Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister by Gregory Maguire
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Gregory Maguire is a master of retellings. His book chronicling the origin story of the Wicked Witch of the West spawned the beloved musical Wicked, and his "Cinderella"-inspired novel, Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister, is just as clever and compelling.
17. Undercover Princess by Connie Glynn
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Once Upon A Time fans will love this new book, the first the Rosewood Hall series about a boarding school for fairy tale beings. Undercover Princess is The Prince and the Pauper meets Cinderella, and tells the story of Lottie, a scholarship student at Rosewood, and Ellie, a bonafide princess.
