Alternative Fairytales

Do you like your fairytales a bit darker, or a bit twisted? Try these recommendations!

Updated December 11, 2024
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The house with chicken legs /
Anderson, Sophie
Paper Book
An extraordinary retelling of the Baba Yaga myth, this debut novel will wrap itself around your heart and never let go.All 12-year-old Marinka wants is a friend. A real friend. Not like her house with chicken legs. Sure, the house can play games like tag and hide-and-seek, but Marinka longs for a...
The girl who speaks bear /
Anderson, Sophie
Paper Book
The newest heart-expanding, magical adventure from Sophie Anderson, author of the critically acclaimed House with Chicken Legs."They call me Yanka the Bear. Not because of where I was found. Only a few people know about that. They call me Yanka the Bear because I am so big and strong."<...
This poison heart /
Bayron, Kalynn.
Paper Book
Darkness blooms in bestselling author Kalynn Bayron's new contemporary fantasy about a girl with a unique and deadly power. Briseis has a gift: with a single touch she can grow plants from tiny seeds to rich blooms. When Briseis's aunt dies and wills her a...
This wicked fate /
Bayron, Kalynn.
Paper Book
An instant New York Times bestseller! Would you tempt even the most dangerous fate to save the ones you love? Briseis has one chance to save her mother, but she'll need to do the impossible: find the last fragment of the deadly Absyrtus Heart. To...
Tithe :
Black, Holly.
Paper Book
In the realm of very scary faeries, no one is safe. Sixteen-year-old Kaye is a modern nomad. Fierce and independent, she travels from city to city with her mother's rock band until an ominous attack forces the sixteen-year-old back to her childhood home. There, amid the...
Three dark crowns /
Blake, Kendare.
Paper Book
New York Times Bestseller * New York Public Library Best Book of 2016 * Chicago Public Library Best Book of 2016 * Kirkus Best Book of the Year Fans of acclaimed author Kendare Blake's Anna Dressed in Blood will devour Three Dark Crowns, the first book in a dark and inventive...
To kill a kingdom /
Christo, Alexandra.
Paper Book
AN INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER This action-packed YA debut pits a deadly siren princess and a siren-hunting human prince against each other as they fight to protect their kingdoms. Princess Lira is siren royalty and the most lethal of them all. With the hearts...
Beastly beauty /
Donnelly, Jennifer.
Paper Book
*"A dreamy, sublimely written tale." -- Publishers Weekly, starred review From New York Times bestselling, award-winning author Jennifer Donnelly comes a revolutionary, gender-swapped retelling of Beauty and the Beast that will forever change...
Sleeper And The Spindle, The
Gaiman, Neil
Paper Book
WINNER of the CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal 2016A thrillingly reimagined fairy tale from the truly magical combination of author Neil Gaiman and illustrator Chris Riddell - weaving together a sort-of Snow White and an almost Sleeping Beauty with a thread of dark magic, which will hold readers...
A curse so dark and lonely /
Kemmerer, Brigid.
Paper Book
A New York Times bestseller! "Has everything you'd want in a retelling of a classic fairy tale." - Jodi Picoult In a lush, contemporary fantasy retelling of Beauty and the Beast, Brigid Kemmerer gives readers another compulsively readable romance...
A Heart so Fierce and Broken /
Kemmerer, Brigid.
Paper Book
In the sequel to New York Times bestselling A Curse So Dark and Lonely, Brigid Kemmerer returns to the world of Emberfall in a lush fantasy where friends become foes and love blooms in the darkest of places. Find the heir, win the crown. The...
A Vow So Bold and Deadly /
Kemmerer, Brigid.
Paper Book
New York Times bestselling author Brigid Kemmerer's Cursebreaker series comes to an incredible conclusion. Face your fears, fight the battle. Emberfall is crumbling fast, torn between those who believe Rhen is the rightful prince and those who are eager to...
A blade so black /
McKinney, L. L.
Paper Book
"A Blade So Black is the fantasy book I've been waiting for my whole life." --Angie Thomas, #1 New York Times-bestselling author of The Hate U Give For fans of Marissa Meyer, L.L. McKinney's A Blade So Black delivers an irresistible urban...
Cinder /
Meyer, Marissa.
Paper Book
Soon to be adapted into major motion picture! The first book in the #1 New York Times- and USA Today-Bestselling Lunar Chronicles series by the "Queen of fairytale retellings," Marissa Meyer! See where the futuristic YA fairytale saga all began, with the tale of a teenage...
Heartless /
Meyer, Marissa.
Paper Book
For fans of Wicked: Don't miss this #1 New York Times-bestselling romantasy of Wonderland's most notorious villain: the Queen of Hearts. Long before she was the terror of Wonderland, she was just a girl who wanted to fall in love. Catherine may be...
Scarlet /
Meyer, Marissa.
Paper Book
Soon to be adapted into a major motion picture! The second book in the #1 New York Times- and USA Today-Bestselling Lunar Chronicles series by Marissa Meyer! Our cyborg heroine teams up with two new characters, Scarlet and Wolf, to defend Earth against a wicked space...

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