Fairy Tale Retellings! discussion

Hi all. I'm incredibly curious about Hades and Persephone retellings and since I only read maybe two. I'm desperate for recommendations. If any of you know of any you think are good. Please list them below.

Hold on to your butts....

Firstly, and foremost-ly, everyone needs to read:
Lore Olympus: Volume One by Rachel Smythe It is astounding storytelling set against even more astounding artwork. It's beautiful and full of love.

A Touch of Darkness by Scarlett St. Clair. This read almost as an extension of Lore Olympus. They framed their stories very similarly, while still being different enough to enjoy both. This one's a little spicy.
(A Game of Fate is the same story from Hades' perspective!)

Neon Gods by Katee Robert I have not read this one, but apparently it's smutty-smut-smut with some story involved, if that's your bag!

Punderworld by Linda Šejić is another graphic novel retelling that is apparently cute and sweet. :)

Bone Gap by Laura Ruby is apparently a YA, contemporary retelling with lots of layers.

Summerlong by Peter S. Beagle (author of the Last Unicorn) is a dreamy-weird semi-contemporary retelling.

Hades And Persephone: Curse Of The Golden Arrow by Heidi Hastings this seems to be an adult romance retelling with some trigger warnings, but it's got amazing reviews!

Seeking Persephone by Sarah M. Eden is a clean regency retelling that combines Hades/Persephone with Beauty & the Beast!

And of course, A Deal with the Elf King by Elise Kova

I'm excited to see what else we get!

Nerdy Werewolf wrote: "Firstly, and foremost-ly, everyone needs to read:
Lore Olympus: Volume One by Rachel Smythe It is astounding storytelling set against even more astounding artwork...."

Always love your enthusiasm to share though. I haven't heard of a single one of them haha. I'll definitely check all of them out. Thanks for the recommendations!

I think I might look forward to these, honestly. I love making lists and I love fairy tales. It's like a little treat for myself! I'm so glad you guys don't find it annoying! 😅

I’ll have to try Lore Olympus sometime. It’s been on my TBR for a while. :P

I'm here to tell you-you will NOT regret it. When people come into the bookstore to ask for it, all the employees perk up and we all just kind of squeal at each other while we get the book for them. It's intense. 🤣

Nerdy Werewolf wrote: "I'm here to tell you-you will NOT regret it. When people come into the bookstore to ask for it, all the employees perk up and we all just kind of squeal at each other while we get the book for them..."

Oh that's so cute haha. It's great that you guys love it as much as we do haha.

Nerdy Werewolf wrote: "I think I might look forward to these, honestly. I love making lists and I love fairy tales. It's like a little treat for myself! I'm so glad you guys don't find it annoying! 😅"

Of course not! You're helping us expand our lists of fairy tale retellings to chose from at a phenomenal rate. Thank you! :)

I second, third, fourth….infinitely recommend Lore Olympus. Volume one of the physical book is thick, but there’s a lot more available on WEBTOON (goes to chapter/episode 190 at the moment).

Punderworld is very different art style but also good and Nerdy Werewolf used the precise word to describe it “sweet.” There’s only one volume/season currently.

Thanks for the other recs Nerdy Werewolf!

::tips hat:: No worries!! 😁

I’ve actually read Punderworld and Lore of Olympus. I really enjoyed Hades and Persephone ficlets which is available in ebook and for free on WEBTOONS (which is where I read Punderworld and Lore of Olympus too). Hades and Persephone ficlets are a clean retelling while Lore of Olympus addresses serious issues so if either aren’t your taste then you’ve been warned. :)

I didn't know you could read Punderworld on there!!

::runs off to do that::

Nerdy Werewolf wrote: "I didn't know you could read Punderworld on there!!

::runs off to do that::"

Lol you have to go to Canvas to read it (the second part of Webtoon where anyone can post their comic so it's not an official webtoon that's sponsored by Webtoon).

Why is everything complicated?? 🤣

Lol the good news is that you don’t have to have an official account to read it online :)

Thanks for this!

FYI, Punderworld is also available on Hoopla, if your library offers that. :) I just read it a few days ago and it was so good!

Carina wrote: "FYI, Punderworld is also available on Hoopla, if your library offers that. :) I just read it a few days ago and it was so good!"

Oh! I didn't know that. Thank you so much. I'll go borrow it right now.

The Thief of Spring duology by Katherine Macdonald is excellent.

Oooh, I've never heard of those. Thanks!

Same. They look interesting. Thanks for the recommendation!

The Soulless Slipper by Abigail Manning is Hades and Persephone combined with Cinderella. I just read it- I don’t know why I waited so long! It’s really well done and doesn’t have all the creepiness of the evil kidnapper somehow becoming the love interest. (Is that considered a spoiler?)

Bookish wrote: "The Soulless Slipper by Abigail Manning is Hades and Persephone combined with Cinderella. I just read it- I don’t know why I waited so long! It’s really well done and doesn’t have all the creepines..."

So it isn't creepy at all? Because I was worried.

Ugh, I guess so. lol

Nope. The whole death thing is handled really tastefully. I reviewed it, If you want to look.

I saw it! I appreciate it when reviewers go through the content! Great job!

Thanks! That’s actually the first review I’ve written. I always search within the reviews to find content warnings, and I get annoyed when there aren’t any. Since a few incidents (namely Gilded by Marissa Meyer), I always check reviews unless I’m confident in the author. It’s a bit of a hassle, but worth it.

Bookish wrote: "Thanks! That’s actually the first review I’ve written. I always search within the reviews to find content warnings, and I get annoyed when there aren’t any. Since a few incidents (namely Gilded by ..."

Yes I agree! My favorite reviews were ones with content warnings because like you said sometimes there are incidents.

Do you mind if I ask what the incident was with Gilded?

Nope. Apparently there is a uh, scene. Or several. And the main character is pregnant for the rest of the books.

I actually dnf’d earlier because of a part that I personally didn’t agree with, but after looking at reviews I was very glad I stopped then.

And it’s super dark and creepy anyway.

Bookish wrote: "Nope. Apparently there is a uh, scene. Or several. And the main character is pregnant for the rest of the books.

I actually dnf’d earlier because of a part that I personally didn’t agree with, but..."

OH, Wow! Well, thank you for letting me know!

Yeah. I had ZERO idea. I think I’ll be sticking to the Lunar Chronicles.

This is so my kind of list here, so don't mind me just adding more books to my tbr

I saw one, now I can't remember what it was called, but it looked super interesting.

Oooh, I read that one. It was sweet.

Another (if it counts) is the Gate of Myth and Power trilogy by K. M. Shea. It’s actually urban fantasy, but it’s inspired by Hades and Persephone. I’m not a fan of urban fantasy, but all of her Magiford books are really good.

You should-- they're great! She has a bunch of retellings, as well as some other fantasy and LitRPG

I really liked Rumpelstiltskin. And The Twelve Dancing Princesses. And Beauty and the Beast. (I love almost all of them)
I’d suggest reading them in order so you can get all the Easter eggs and cameos, but it’s also okay to skip some.

No problem!