Finished This Season of Once Upon a Time? Check Out These Retellings!

So now we have all seen the spectacular season finale to ABC's Once Upon a Time.  Are you begging for more? Can't get enough twists and re-tellings of our favorite myths, legends, and fairy tales? Well never fear, I have a very short list compiled to help you scratch that itch until the beginning of next season. Some of these books might be considered Young Adult but don't let that deter you. They are good as Gold..... we all know deep down he's a good guy, his methods are just questionable.


So here is the list in no particular order:

1. Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier - A retelling of The Six Swans. This retelling is detailed and beautiful in the world building. Partially based on historical Ireland and Britain, Daughter of the Forest weaves a tale of magic, commitment, and the power of familial love. 
2. Princess of the Midnight Ball by Jessica Day George - A retelling of The Twelve Dancing Princesses. This retelling gives a back story as to WHY the princesses had to dance every night. I don't wanna give away the reason but lets just say the old Grimm lesson to never make a deal with a magical creature is reflected in this tale of Twelve princesses in the flower of their youth forced to dance until the spell is broken. 
3. Bewitching by Alex Flinn - This is kinda of a mash up of a lot of tales in the form of a young witch who participated in each tale either as a participant or as the antagonist. Flinn is known for her book Beastly which was a modern retelling of Beauty and the Beast. (And made into a somewhat mediocre movie IMO.)
4. Spindle's End by Robin McKinley - A retelling of Little Briar-Rose (Sleeping Beauty). McKinley is well known for her reimaginings of the tales we hold dear to our hearts. A long favorite of mine is Deerskin, a retelling of Charles Perrault's Donkeyskin. While Spindle's End is not as dark as Deerskin in content, there is some gender-bending and a great surprise at the end. 
5. Troll's Eye View: A Book of Villainous Tales by Ellen Datlow - This is a collection of short stories, written by many awesome authors, told from the VILLAIN'S side of the tale. All is not black and white in the world of Fairy Tales. Sometimes the bad guy is actually a good guy. 
6. Cinder by Marissa Meyer - A futuristic retelling of Cinderella. This time the little cinder girl is a cyborg mechanic. You will notice other fairy tale characters cropping up if you look closely. I liked that the author gives the tales new life by re-imagining them and weaving them all into a brand new story line....sort of like OUAT.
7. Ash by Malinda Lo - A retelling of Cinderella. I am not going to give anything away cause this was such a great book. Really I am not just saying that because the author and I have the same first name spelled in the same way....really. ;)
8. Mirror Mirror by Gregory Maguire - A retelling of Snow White. What I loved about this story is that Maguire ALWAYS seems to surprise me with his re-imaginings of tales we all know. (This is the guy who wrote Wicked...I mean seriously the man is the best thing since....Neil Gaiman.) The setting and the reworked characters made the historical side of me squeal in excitement. While not a good as some of his works.....this did make me smile. 

Here are a few more that I haven't read myself but I plan to read or I am currently reading: (Sweetly and Kill Me Softly)

1. Sweetly by Jackson Pearce - A Retelling of Hansel and Gretel . So far I am liking this. I choose to read it before Sisters Red because...well the cover is purple and I have it in hardcover. (Thanks to my awesome little brother.)
2. Kill Me Softly by Sarah Cross - A mash up of many fairy tales. Basically a girl runs away from home and goes to the town of her birth where Grimm's Fairy Tales are real life.
3. My Fair Godmother by Janette Rallison - "Chrissy mistakenly sends Savannah back in time to the Middle Ages, first as Cinderella, then as Snow White. Finally she sends Tristan, a boy in Savannah's class, back instead to turn him into her prom-worthy prince. When Savannah returns to the Middle Ages to save Tristan, they must team up to defeat a troll, a dragon, and the mysterious and undeniably sexy Black Knight. " <-----This summary from the Goodreads page says it all. I hope it lives up to my expectations. 
4. Hatter by Daniel Coleman - OK so it's not a Grimm Tale...but it has THE MAD HATTER!!!! I will not feel ashamed imagining the hatter looking exactly like Jefferson. And just like on OUAT we get to see what causes his trip down the dark rabbit hole to madness. 

So these are just a few stories I have on my list of read and to read....what tales do you plan to consume waiting to find out what Mr. Gold is really up to?