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."<...
Cinderella is dead
Bayron, Kalynn
Paper Book
"Wholly original and captivating." - Brigid Kemmerer, New York Times bestselling author of A Curse So Dark and Lonely Girls team up to overthrow the kingdom in this unique and powerful retelling of Cinderella from a stunning new voice that's perfect for fans of...
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...
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...
The bloody chamber
Carter, Angela
Paper Book
From familiar fairy tales and legends -- Red Riding Hood, Bluebeard, Puss-in-Boots, Beauty and the Beast, vampires, werewolves -- Angela Carter has created an absorbing collection of dark, sensual, fantastic stories.
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...
Stepsister
Donnelly, Jennifer
Paper Book
* "Printz Honor winner Donnelly offers up a stunningly focused story that rips into the heart of familiar fairy tale. Isabelle [is] a shattered but not unredeemable girl with a warrior's heart." -- Booklist, starred review An instant New York Times bestseller ...
The sleeper and the spindle
Gaiman, Neil
Paper Book
In a beautiful collaboration, New York Times bestselling and Newbery and Carnegie Medal-winning author Neil Gaiman and Kate Greenaway-winning illustrator Chris Riddell have created a thrillingly reimagined fairy tale, "told in a way only Gaiman can" and featuring "stunning metallic artwork"...
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
Kingdoms will clash. Choose your side. The incredible conclusion to New York Times bestselling author Brigid Kemmerer's Cursebreaker series. Face your fears, fight the battle. Emberfall is crumbling fast, torn between those...
Charming
Linwood, Jade
Paper Book
John Tucker Must Die meets Shrek in a revenge tale where Princesses save themselves. Brave, Resourceful, Deceitful, Double-Crossing... Charming. Prince Jean-Marc Charming Arundel, known to friends and enemies alike as "Prince Charming," is...
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
The #1 New York Times Bestselling Series! Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth's fate hinges on one girl. . ....
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
The #1 New York Times Bestselling Series! Cinder, the cyborg mechanic, returns in the second thrilling installment of the bestselling Lunar Chronicles. She's trying to break out of prison--even though if she succeeds, she'll be the Commonwealth's most wanted fugitive....

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