Calendar Girls

Best Fairytale Retelling

Melanie Noell Bernard

Welcome back to the seventh month of Calendar Girls! It’s a monthly blog event co-hosted by Flavia and myself, and designed to ignite bookish discussions among readers. Calendar Girls was inspired by the 1961 Neil Sedaka song, Calendar Girl, (because I’m an oldies fanatic. 😛) For more information, click here!

July’s Theme:
Best Fairytale Retelling!

Hey, look! I actually had some options to pick from this month. Hahahaha! Most were the common ones that just about every reader of YA has heard of and then there are a few more on the obscure, quiet side. There were some really good ones to choose from (which made this a little difficult), and thankfully some REALLY bad ones that weren’t even put into the pool for consideration. :p Still, only one may reign champion! And it was…. *drum roll*

Alice Takes Back Wonderland
by David D. Hammons

This is a little bit on the older side compared to a few of the more popular and common fairytale retellings, and not nearly as well known. Yet, I think it deserves some recognition. (It’s one of the first books I received for an honest review through Netgalley! 😀 )

Unlike many of the retellings out there, this particular story takes a handful of fairytales and smushes them together into one giant conglomeration. Okay. That sounds bad. Haha! And I’m not sure it’s for everyone as it’s definitely on the crazier side of Wonderland. I mean, how can it not be crazy when Alice recruits Peter Pan into her army to take down the Ace of Spades who happens to be taking all the wonder out of Wonderland and making it… normal. *shudder* Haha! Even with the story being a bit of a whirlwind and having a ton going on, it’s a wonderful adventure/action story of friendship and discovering who you truly are.

Have you read Alice Takes Back Wonderland yet?
If you haven’t, you should!

Also! If you like rap battles and you like disney, I highly suggest you watch some of Whitney Avalons Princess Rap Battles on Youtube! They are awesome!!!!

Calendar Girls’ picks for Best Fairytale Retelling!

Flavia – Geekerella by Ashley Poston
Darque @ Darque Dreamer Reads – Mechanica by Betsy Cornwell
Thai @ Read Breath Repeat – Cress by Marissa Meyer
Lauren @ Two Birds One Blog – Fables vol.1-22 by Bill Willingham
Deanna @ Deanna Writes About… – Hunted by Meagan Spooner
Sophie @ Beware of the Reader – Cinder(no post) by Marissa Meyer
Katie @ Never Not Reading – Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine
Mandy @ Book Princess Reviews – Cress by Marissa Meyer
Dawlyn & Krista @ Little Blind Book Finds – Cinder by Marissa Meyer

August’s Theme:
Best Historical Fiction Novel

73 thoughts on “Best Fairytale Retelling”

  1. Pingback: Calendar Girls (#8 / August 2017): Best Historical Fiction Novel – Flavia the Bibliophile

  3. I love love loveeee re-tellings – wrote several articles on re-tellings on the blog as well.
    Alice takes back Wonderland sounds a-ma-zing and that cover is awesome! Definitely want to read that one. Haven’t read an Alice re-telling and this one sounds really good.

    One of my favorite re-tellings is a Beauty and the Beast re-telling; Hunted by Meagan Spooner ❤

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    1. YAY! Retellings are pretty awesome. :p (Though, I’ve read some not so good ones before.)

      I’m so surprised by how many people haven’t read any Alice retellings yet. I feel like all I’ve read so far are Alice retellings. Hahaha! But you should definitely start with this one. I think it’s the best Alice retelling I’ve found thus far (Splintered by A.G. Howard is second. 😉 )

      Oh! You should join Calendar Girls this month and make a post about Hunted! Or, if you don’t have blogging time, you could join our Twitter chat next Sunday(16th). It’ll be about fairytale retellings. I think you’d have a lot of fun! 😀

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      1. I\d love to join Calendar Girls this month, thanks for the invite ❤
        I’ll start working on it tomorrow right away, yay 🙂

        And I’ll definitely start with this Alice re-telling first, it sounds really good. Splintered has been on my wishlist for quite some time now as well, definitely want to buy it soon – need those covers on my shelve.

        I’ll make sure to set an alarm for the twitter chat. Don’t know if I’ll be able to join – time differences and such, since I live in the Netherlands. Don’t know at what time it starts?

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        1. YAY! Can’t wait to see your post! 😀

          Oh yes! Those covers are GORGEOUS! I listened to Splintered in audiobook form and then saw it at a used bookstore and I was like GIMME GIMME GIMME! HAHAHA! :p Hope you get to read it soon! 🙂

          OH! Yes, we have a couple other international bloggers who can’t make it. (time differences are difficult.) It starts at 8PM EST. I think that’s like… 2AM your time. 0.0

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  5. Okay I am OBSESSED with Alice adaptations and retellings. It was a super struggle not to pick one, but to me Alice has never seemed like a fairytale so I didn’t want to pick it for this category. I am definitely adding this to my TBR list. You do a really good job of picking books that I haven’t ever heard of Melanie, you’re kind of awesome. I’m really keen on the idea of Alice teaming up with Peter Pan. I have an Alice adaptation I’d like to do that pairs her with another paragon of Victorian London’s literary world.

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    1. Ohhhh. I can understand your reasoning. It’s not one of the traditional fairytales. Yeah, I could see that. I guess Alice just gets lumped in that group because of Disney. 😕

      Hahaha! I have read some obscure books since I started blogging. Thank you, Netgalley. Hahaha! And I’m glad you’re interested. I hope you get to read it.

      Oo! That sounds interesting! Dr Jekyll, perhaps??? 😀

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  6. Pingback: The Sunshine Blogger Award – Darque Dreamer Reads
  7. Pingback: Calendar Girls July: Best Fairy Tale Retelling | Never Not Reading

  8. As much as I want to read a retelling I apparently have read none!!haha
    I must say I am intrigued by your selection! Alice creating her own fairytale gang to combated evil?? Hell yeah! It sounds like a fun adventure for sure!! 😊😜

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    1. Hi there! I’m happy to hear you’re gonna add this to your TBR! I definitely think it’s worth it and I would say it’s on the darker side. It delves a lot more into the psyche of Alice as she is older in this version than the original. Hope you enjoy it!

      Psst! Perhaps you have a favorite fairytale retelling you’d like to share with Calendar Girls? We’re always looking for new bloggers and it’s never too late to post! 🙂

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      1. Well, there is one book but I’m not sure it’s a fairytale retelling, it’s called “The book of lost things” by John connolley. and it’s my favorite book of all time
        The book itself felt like a new fairytale and the events in it were all twisted versions of famous fairytales which I loved (so is it a fairytale retelling? )

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        1. Hey! Sounds like a fairytale retelling to me! (I just looked it up on Goodreads!) You should totally make a post about it for this month’s CG! No one else has offered it up and we love having new books suggested! (Makes our TBRs hate us all the more. :p) And I LOVE dark stories!

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  10. Pingback: Calendar Girls (#7 / July 2017): Best Fairytale Retelling – Flavia the Bibliophile
  11. Pingback: AWARD: Unique Blogger #2 « this-is-my-truth-now

  12. As I said to Flavia I could not participate this time Melanie but I would have chosen Cinder. Now the book you chose seems very interesting but I must confess that I’ve always despised Alice’s tale…and I don’t know why!

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    1. Aw! We are sorry to hear that, Sophie! But I understand. Life gets busy. We hope to see you next month. 😀

      Huh. Despise Alice, you say? Well… I have never actually read the original yet (though I bought the book in Japan last year… >.> is bad at reading) But I daresay that this Alice isn’t nearly so clueless nor childish as the original. She is older in this version and that helps.

      To be honest, I wouldn’t pick Cinder, myself. It was interesting and unique. However, I was quite disappointed with the ending. :/ I, above all, cannot stand perfectly pulled together endings. Oh well. :p But I did expect at least one person to pick it! (Perhaps I’ll still add you to the list this month since you told me your pick. 🙂 )

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    1. Yay! I don’t get nearly as much exposure to fairytale retellings as I’d like. They tend to be more fantasy than my general reading genre, but they are quite fun, aren’t they? 😀

      I hope you get a chance to read Alice Takes Back Wonderland! And I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

      Are you thinking about joining Calendar Girls? It sounds like this month’s theme is right up your alley. 😀

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      1. I may not be able to do it this month. My daughter and I are prepping for a strings camp this month. It might be all I can do to eek out my scheduled posts. LOL. I will definitely keep it in mind though.

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        1. Oo! Strings as in music? What instrument? 😀

          And it’s okay. I understand. Some months are just too busy IRL. But if you do find some time, you’re welcome to post any time during the month. We don’t have a time span requirement. 🙂

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            1. So cool! I play the violin, as well. 🙂 It’s a fun instrument to play, but can become competitive in later years. Cello would be my second choice. I just love the sound of those deep, rich strings. 😀

              I hope camp goes well! This makes me miss going to orchestra camp myself, now. Hahaha!

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              1. My daughter’s pretty excited as she’s an extrovert. I, on the other hand, am an introvert and just a wee bit terrified of the whole thing. 😂 But I think it’ll be fun.

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  14. Pingback: Calendar Girls: Best Fairytale Retelling – Darque Dreamer Reads

    1. Oh dear. I apparently haven’t seen Van Helsing in far too long because I don’t remember whey it would be a mash-up. 0.0 AH! And I’m like the demoness of dark, gothicness! is such a failsaur

      Are you planning to post your choice for the best fairytale retelling, Katie? I’d love to see what fairytale you’d pick! Perhaps another mash-up? 😀

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    1. Bahahaha! Me?! I don’t rap. (Trust me. I tried to write a Cinderella rap for Youtube… obviously it never got posted. ;p ) My favorite of her rap battles is Maleficent vs Daneyreys(sp?? o.O) OOOOOR Hermione vs Katniss! That one is awesome, too!

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    1. You’ve read this one already?! I feel like no one’s even heard of it before! That’s so exciting!

      Join us! You can even still join this month. Posting on the first monday is more like a guideline anyway. 😉 We invite book bloggers to post their choices for the theme whenever they have time to do so! Any time during the month! I hope you decide to post this month! I’d love to see what fairytale retelling you pick, Krysti! 😀

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      1. Sorry! Reading my comment, I realize it totally doesn’t say what I meant. What I should have said was I loved this Calendar Girls post. 🙂 I haven’t heard of this book before either.

        I’m booked every day for the next three weeks! Yuck. LOL. But I’m putting it on my August schedule now, so I don’t miss it again!

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        1. Ohhh! Hahaha! That actually makes more sense. I know of very few people who have. :p

          Holy Goodness! 0.0 You are like a blogging mad woman! How do you keep up with all of it? More importantly, how do you find so much content?!

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          1. LOL. I have NO idea honestly. The past couple months have been CRAZY! I participate in a lot of blog tours. Those kind of force you into coming up with content. I also read a lot of books each month. I read over 20 in June. I don’t post reviews on all of them, but I do for about half of what I read. Also, I try to participate when I get tagged in stuff when I can. I can’t do it very often though honestly.

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            1. Holy Goodness! 20 books?! 0.0 I feel awesome when I read 6… >.> is such a slow reader But that’s crazy! And yes, I know you participate in a lot of blog tours! That really helps with content (which is why I’m trying to partake in more, but not sure if I’ve built up enough of a rep yet. We’ll see!)

              Hahahaha! Tags. Oh man. I had a blogger friend who would tag me ALL the time and she’d have like one a day (at least). So it became impossible to keep up, but I felt obligated. So I said I didn’t want to be tagged and now I’m never tagged for anything. :p Funny how the world works. Hahaha!

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              1. It was a bit much TBH. I’m usually closer to 15, which is more where my comfort zone is.

                Yes, the tags! LOL. I always feel bad when I can’t participate, but there is just not enough time to do them all!

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                    3. Hahaha! Yes, what I lack in speed, I seem to make up for in comprehension. I’ve noticed that I remember a bit more than other readers, but everyone focuses on different things when they read, too. :p Oh well! Just gotta be me, I suppose. Haha!

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