Today is Wednesday and this week’s topic is favorite fairytale retellings. I haven’t read many so I may or may not end up coming up with five books. But here goes nothing. T5W was created by Lainey and here is the full list of posters should you like to join.
Onward!
Hey guess what I could only come up with three, and two of them are a bit of a stretch at that.
3 – Fruits Basket by Natsuki Takaya
This series is based loosely on the legend of the Chinese Zodiac. The legend states that there used to be 13 animals in the zodiac. The 12 that are there now and then another one: the cat. Here is where you can learn more about the legend if you’re curious. Otherwise, Fruits Basket is about a girl, Tohru Honda, who through a set of circumstances ends up living with the Sohma family. She quickly learns that the family is cursed, each turning into a different animal of the zodiac when hugged by the opposite sex. This series is cute, funny, and pulls on your heart strings after a while. Highly recommend it.
2 – Saiyuki by Kazuya Minekura
Saiyuki is another series based on a Chinese myth. This myth, The Journey to the West, tells a tale of a legendary pilgrimage by a Buddhist monk into India. He goes to collect ancient and coveted scrolls along with three companions, all sinners who accompany him to redeem themselves. This series is really, really cool. This myth entwines with the myth of the Monkey King. One of the companions in Saiyuki is Goku, the monkey king himself (this is the myth also in Dragonball Z for those curious). This series is funny, action-packed and intense. It has a strong story-arc and is relatively short for a manga series (9 volumes in the original series) Again, highly recommended.
1 – Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine
This is the only retelling that’s an actual fairytale retelling. Some people don’t differentiate between legends and fairytales but I feel they have a different uh… feeling to them? I guess? Does that make sense? Anyways, since this is the only one I’ve read, it’s my number one choice. I’ve got into why I love this book in the past, so I’m not going to again. But I’ll just say it’s wonderful for young girls to read, so go get one to read it.
And that’s it for today. 😀 Happy reading.
Embuhleeliest 