PFS2012 Author Guest Post: Sheenah Freitas

Favorite Retellings

There have been many variations of fairy tales and myths throughout the ages. Some have been exceptional and have taken the original story and built upon them in ways that no one else would have thought. Others have been . . . well, less than stellar. Here are some of my favorites:

Beastly by Alex Flinn

I recommend reading the book over watching the movie. Though the movie had some interesting points (the guy was more or less disfigured and ugly looking versus going all out beast mode) and was rather cute, you’d be missing out on the chat room dialogue that I found hilarious. It’s a super simple and straight forward story with a stereotypical ending, but if you’re looking for something light and bubble gum-y this should satisfy your book appetite.

Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire

This book is amazing. If you’ve seen the musical that’s based on this book but haven’t read this book, you’re missing out on something. For one: the musical takes this story, makes it lighter and showier and more in line with the Wizard of the Oz. The result? A spectacular musical that one wants to watch again and again. The book on the other hand is so dark and serious. It hits politics and Animal rights and societal structures. After reading this book and watching the musical, it’s really hard not to love the Wicked Witch of the West. This book isn’t light reading material at all, so if you’re in the mood for something more literary and drama-y, grab it and devour it.

Percy Jackson Series by Rick Riordan

Not a retelling, but it involves the Greek gods and their demigod children running around on adventures. And despite it being for Middle Grade readers (a.k.a. tweens) I really enjoyed the series. They’re fast paced and anyone who enjoys Greek mythology will probably like this modern take on them. I mean, who knew that Medusa owned a garden statue place out in the middle of nowhere and in the States? I must applaud Rick Riordan for doing some serious research on everyone. Athena’s daughter is one of the major characters of the series and for the longest time I was upset over this because Athena took an oath of virginity along with Artemis and Hestia. But there’s a pretty good explanation about this somewhere in the series. If you’re looking for a quick adventure, check out this series.

Thor by Stan Lee, Larry Lieber, and Jack Kirby

It’s a god turned superhero! He weareth his mother’s drapes! To be honest, I’ve never read a Thor comic. The only reason I’m recommending it is because my dog, Loki, was staring at me while writing this and practically begged me to include it in the list. Besides, the movie was fantastic! It was fun and who could deny godly sibling battles? Makes our mortal sibling arguments petty compared to them.

Disney movies

What retelling list would be complete without mentioning Disney movies? After all, it’s because of Disney movies that so many fairy tales are remembered and loved so clearly in the modern era. But Disney does take fairy tales and retell them. Not every fairy tale movie they’ve produced have had a happy ending or the ending that we’re so familiar with. Did you know that in the original Cinderella fairy tale, her sisters get their eyes gouged out by crows? Or that Rapunzel and the Prince had many romps in her tower? The Little Mermaid wasn’t supposed to have a happy ending with her Prince and ended up committing suicide because she couldn’t bring herself to kill him once she learned that he was in love with another. But she was saved by angels and was given a soul so there was some silver lining. But did you know that Disney began work on The Little Mermaid in the 40’s and originally had her turn into sea foam instead of being saved by angels? They thought it was too dark and shelved it until a team revived the project in the 80’s.

So what are your favorite retellings? Have you read any of the books on this list? Do you prefer books or movies in regards to retellings?

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Above is a list of 10 indie mythological based YA novels, in case anyone's interested. Thank you so much, Sheenah, for your thoughts on retellings!

Stalk Sheenah at her Goodreads | Website

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It's so embarrassing how behind I am on the Percy Jackson series, almost nearly as embarrassing as never having finished Harry Potter *grumbles*. Anyway, comment below if you think Alex Pettyfer is hot even as "Beast" or if you think you might be a demigod.