Once upon a Thyme
- Rachel Huff
- Apr 9, 2017
- 4 min read
Try these retold fairy tales. They're sure to entertain, surprise, and treat you!
The Lunar Chronicles
by Marissa Meyer
This book was created with fairy tale fans in mind! If you like the hit series Ever After, loved tales of Snow White as a child, or enjoyed The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyers then this book is a must-read. Fairest: Levana’s Story provides the history and reasons why Levana is an evil lunar queen, hated by everyone, even her own people.
Fairest centers on Princess Levana—at age 15 she’s the younger and uglier sister to Princess Channary—the only remaining members of the lunar monarchy. At the beginning of the book, the young women are preparing for the funeral of their recently assassinated parents. Since Channary is the eldest, she’s also preparing to take over the throne. The thoughts of Channary as queen plague Levana. After all, it’s Levana who cares about the people of Luna; not to mention, she’s wiser and more dedicated. All Channary cares about is romantic encounters with a host of handsome suitors.
As the story progresses, Levana falls hopelessly in love with a palace guard, Evret Hayle. Unfortunately, he’s married to a gorgeous and loving woman who is about to give birth to a beautiful baby girl. When Evret’s wife dies in childbirth, Levana knows that fate has brought them together. Evret isn’t convinced: he’s still in love with his wife, has a baby girl to care for, and thinks of Levana as a friend. Though Levana realizes that she isn’t pretty, she is powerful. She uses her ability to create a “glamour” which makes her look exactly like Evret’s wife. Surely, this will make him fall in love her.
In the end, Levana is able to lure Evret to the altar. Throughout the story, readers watch as Levana goes from innocent and caring to dark and manipulative. Since she can’t make Evret love her, she turns her attention to the throne. She’ll stop at nothing to be queen… no matter who she must harm. The story takes readers along for a whirlwind ride as Levana rises to power.
Read the entire series...
The Wrath and the Dawn
by Renee Ahdieh
Every dawn brings horror to a different family in a land ruled by a killer. Khalid, the eighteen-year-old Caliph of Khorasan, takes a new bride each night only to have her executed at sunrise. So it is a suspicious surprise when sixteen-year-old Shahrzad volunteers to marry Khalid. But she does so with a clever plan to stay alive and exact revenge on the Caliph for the murder of her best friend and countless other girls. Shazi’s wit and will, indeed, get her through to the dawn that no others have seen, but with a catch . . . she’s falling in love with the very boy who killed her dearest friend. She discovers that the murderous boy-king is not all that he seems and neither are the deaths of so many girls. Shazi is determined to uncover the reason for the murders and to break the cycle once and for all.
Retrieved from: https://www.amazon.com/Wrath-Dawn/dp/0399171614
My Book Talk for The Wrath and the Dawn
The Rose and the Dagger
by Renee Ahdieh
The Rose and the Dagger is an epic sequel to The Wrath and the Dawn, both of which are written by Renee Ahdieh. The story picks up where the first left off, so it may be difficult for readers to understand the plight of the main character Shahrzad (Shazi to her family and friends) if they have not read The Wrath and the Dawn. Though I liked this book, it as sequels go seemed a bit lack luster compared to the first book.
The Rose and the Dagger begins with a forlorn Shahrzad (known as Shazi to her family and friends) who has been cut off from her husband, Khalid—the Caliph of Khorasan. She once thought Khalid a monster and ruthless murderer who she married with the intentions of killing him herself. Yet, as she discovered his secret plight, it seems fate has brought them together and she falls in love with the gentleness of the man behind the monster. Now Shazi has been reunited with her dad and sister who are living in the desert among a group of rebels led by her former beau, Tariq. It seems that all is lost. Everyone she’s ever known is planning an attack to kill her one true love. How will she ever bring them together?
Shazi uses a magic carpet to travel between the desert camp, the palace where she goes to see Khalid, and the Fire Temple to see Musa Zaragoza—“the only person she knew with any aptitude for magic” (p. 123). Shazi uses what she learns at the Fire Temple to help ease the terrible curse, but this is not to be the end. When Shazi is captured (by Khalid’s uncle, the Sultan of Parthia), she is imprisoned in the palace’s prison. Now Tariq sees that the deadly rebel force has taken the woman that he has always loved, he realizes how wrong he has been. He now goes to the Palace of Rey to find Khalid. They join forces and set off for the land of Parthia to get Shazi back. As he approaches the city gates, these words ring true about the Caliph of Khorasan… the man who is here to reclaim his wife (and his life) once and for all…
“No. He was not here to wreak revenge. For revenge was trifling and hollow. No. He was not here to retrieve his wife. For his wife was not a thing to be retrieved. No. He was not here to negotiate a truce. For a truce suggested he wished to compromise… He was here to burn something to the ground” (p. 342).
Throughout the tale laced with magic, revenge, and betrayal, Shazi learns that “Love was something that did much to change a person. It brought joy as it brought suffering, and in turn brought about those moments that defined one’s character” (p. 291). Hence it is this sort of undying love and and loyalty that bring together the most unlikely of characters. It’s this love that finally brings an end to the curse that’s plagued Khalid and Shazi long enough!
Reference:
Ahdieh, R. (2016). The rose & the dagger. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons.
Rump: The True Story
of Rumpelstiltskin
by Liesl Shurtliff
The Goose Girl
by Shannon Hale
The Shadow Queen
by J.C. Redwine
For more retold YA fairy tales, check out these suggestions from Goodreads using the link below:
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