Stepsister – Jennifer Donnelly

Stepsister by Jennifer Donnelly

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Received: Scholastic Canada
Published: May 14th, 2019
Publisher: Scholastic
Recommended Age: 12+
Genres & Themes: Young Adult, Fantasy, Retelling, Feminism, Dark Fairy Tale, Magic

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REVIEW:

This is not a pretty fairytale. The story isn’t pretty. The world isn’t pretty. The characters aren’t pretty. Even the magic isn’t pretty.

It’s not a story that will make you dream a thousand beautiful dreams of happily-ever-afters. I’m not saying the contrary applies—that it will give you a thousand nightmares in which you die a thousand different deaths—but it is indeed DARK.

Interstellar Cinderella

Interstellar Cinderella by Deborah Underwood

My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Received: Raincoast Books
Publication Date: May 2015
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Genres & Themes: Picture Books, Fairytale Retelling, Feminism, Cinderella, Kindness

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BLURB:

With a little help from her fairy godrobot, Cinderella is going to the ball–but when the prince’s ship has mechanical trouble, someone will have to zoom to the rescue! Readers will thank their lucky stars for this irrepressible fairy tale retelling, its independent heroine, and its stellar happy ending.

Cinderella and the Furry Slippers

Cinderella and the Furry Slippers by Davide Cali

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Received: Publisher
Publication Date: October 2017
Publisher: Tundra
Genres & Themes: Picture Book, Fairytale Retelling, Humor

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BLURB:

Cinderella is dying to go to the ball. She’s seen pictures of the fancy castle and the handsome prince, she’s heard the fairy tales about true love, she’s found the perfect dress in Princess magazine and she’s even found an ad for a Fairy Godmother. She’s all set. Except the fairy godmother doesn’t look like the one in the ad. And the castle doesn’t look like the picture. And the prince . . . well, Cinderella decides her fairy-tale ending is going to look different–and be a whole lot more fun.

Whiskerella (Hamster Princess #5)

Whiskerella by Ursula Vernon

My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars
Received: Publisher
First Published: January 23rd, 2018
Publisher: Dial Books
Recommended Age: 8+
Pacing: Fast
Genres & Themes: Middle Grade, Fantasy, Fairy Tale Retelling, Action, Cinderella, Magic

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BLURB:

Princess Harriet Hamsterbone is not the kind of princess who enjoys fancy dresses or extravagant parties. Cliff-diving, fractions, and whacking people with swords are more her thing. So when she’s forced to attend a boring ball in honor of a visiting ambassador, Harriet is less than thrilled–until a bewitchingly beautiful stranger arrives. Who is she? And where did she come from? The mystery leads to a not-so-wicked stepsister, an incontinent lizard, and a fairy’s spell that’s really more of a curse. Luckily, Harriet knows a thing or two about curses…

Geekerella – Ashley Poston

Geekerella by Ashley Poston

My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Received: Publisher
Publication Date: April 4th, 2017
Publisher: Quirk Books
Point of View: 1st Person & Alternative
Recommended Age: 11+
Pacing: Normal
Genres & Themes: Young Adult, Fairytale, Contemporary Romance, Cinderella

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BLURB:

Part romance, part love letter to nerd culture, and all totally adorbs, Geekerella is a fairy tale for anyone who believes in the magic of fandom. Geek girl Elle Wittimer lives and breathes Starfield, the classic sci-fi series she grew up watching with her late father. So when she sees a cosplay contest for a new Starfield movie, she has to enter. The prize? An invitation to the ExcelsiCon Cosplay Ball, and a meet-and-greet with the actor slated to play Federation Prince Carmindor in the reboot. With savings from her gig at the Magic Pumpkin food truck (and her dad’s old costume), Elle’s determined to win…unless her stepsisters get there first.

Teen actor Darien Freeman used to live for cons—before he was famous. Now they’re nothing but autographs and awkward meet-and-greets. Playing Carmindor is all he’s ever wanted, but the Starfield fandom has written him off as just another dumb heartthrob. As ExcelsiCon draws near, Darien feels more and more like a fake—until he meets a girl who shows him otherwise.

Review: Ash by Malinda Lo

Ash by Malinda Lo

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Received: Hachette Book Group
Publication Date: September 1st, 2009
Publisher: Little, Brown BFYR
Point of View: 3rd Person & Feminine
Recommended Age: 12+
Pacing: Normal
Genres & Themes: Young Adult, Fantasy, Fairy Tale Retelling (Cinderella), LGBT

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BLURB:

In the wake of her father’s death, Ash is left at the mercy of her cruel stepmother. Consumed with grief, her only joy comes by the light of the dying hearth fire, rereading the fairy tales her mother once told her. In her dreams, someday the fairies will steal her away, as they are said to do. When she meets the dark and dangerous fairy Sidhean, she believes that her wish may be granted.

The day that Ash meets Kaisa, the King’s Huntress, her heart begins to change. Instead of chasing fairies, Ash learns to hunt with Kaisa. Though their friendship is as delicate as a new bloom, it reawakens Ash’s capacity for love-and her desire to live. But Sidhean has already claimed Ash for his own, and she must make a choice between fairy tale dreams and true love.

Entrancing, empowering, and romantic, Ash is about the connection between life and love, and solitude and death, where transformation can come from even the deepest grief.

Review: Mechanica by Betsy Cornwell

Mechanica by Betsy Cornwell

My rating: 2 of 5 stars
Received: Author
Publication Date: August 4th 2015
Publisher: Clarion Books
Point of View: 1st Person & Feminine
Genres & Themes: Young Adult, Steam Punk, Fairy Tale Retellings, Fantasy

BLURB:

Nicolette’s awful stepsisters call her “Mechanica” to demean her, but the nickname fits: she learned to be an inventor at her mother’s knee. Her mom is gone now, though, and the Steps have turned her into a servant in her own home.

But on her sixteenth birthday, Nicolette discovers a secret workshop in the cellar and begins to dare to imagine a new life for herself. Could the mysterious books and tools hidden there—and the mechanical menagerie, led by a tiny metal horse named Jules—be the key to escaping her dreary existence? With a technological exposition and royal ball on the horizon, the timing might just be perfect for Nicolette to earn her freedom at last.

Gorgeous prose and themes of social justice and family shine in this richly imagined Cinderella retelling about an indomitable inventor who finds her prince . . . but realizes she doesn’t want a fairy tale happy ending after all.

Review: Glitches (The Lunar Chronicles, #0.5) by Marissa Meyer

Glitches by Marissa Meyer

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Received: bought
Publication Date: December 5th 2011
Publisher: Tor.com
Genres & Themes: YA, Short Story, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Fairy Tale Retelling, Cinderella, Family

BLURB:

Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. In Glitches, a short prequel story to Cinder, we see the results of that illness play out, and the emotional toll that takes on Cinder. Something that may, or may not, be a glitch…