Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish with a different theme every week.
Once Upon a Time is my favorite TV show. It has great characters. Snow White rescues herself most of the time and has a bow and arrow. The villains have well-devoloped motivations, personalities, and backgrounds. This is the kind of show that you watch with friends and family so you can discuss theories of what you think will happen next. You’ll be debating and guessing who the characters in the modern world were as fairy tale characters. I can’t say enough good things about this show! It’s in it’s third season. So I decided to make a list of books that follow the kind of themes that the TV show does. Hope you enjoy!
Smart Retellings with a Modern Twist
A Breath of Eyre by Eve Marie Mont ★★★★ – This book was a great retelling and it reminded me of Once Upon a Time because it has both a modern and “fairy tale” setting that it switches back and forth between.
Cinder by Marissa Meyer ★★★★ – Even though this has a sci-fi setting rather than a fairy tale one, I still think fans of Once Upon a Time will love this clever cyborg retelling of Cinderella.
Of Beast and Beauty by Stacey Jay – While I haven’t read this one, Stacey Jay is one of my favorite authors. She has this awesome ability to not just do a straight, bland retelling but to really make it unique and her own which is what Once Upon a Time does. If you like retellings but still like to be surprised at where the story will go give this book a try!
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman ★★★★ – While not a fairy tale, I still think this goes along with the spirit of Once Upon a Time. The Graveyard Book retells the Jungle Book where the boy is raised by ghosts instead of wolves. This is the kind of cool twist that I love in Once Upon a Time.
Villains and Heroines
Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo ★★★★★– One of my favorite things about Once Upon a Time is the interesting villains who are just as well rounded as the main characters with tragic backgrounds and believable motivations. It makes it so you can’t tell if they are truly evil or not and after a while you start rooting for them and hope that they can change. Shadow and Bone features a villain like that. You can’t quite tell if he’s completely evil or not. This villains also happens to be pretty hot.
Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers ★★★★★ – If you like how strong the female characters are in Once Upon a Time, you have to read this book. It features assassin nuns who hold their own and use a bow and arrow just like Snow White does.
The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum – The new villain for season 3 of Once Upon a Time is the Wicked Witch from the Wizard of Oz. If you haven’t read the original tale, it’s a must read. It’s very different than the movie. I read it as a kid, but I remember it having a darker tone and more interesting twists than the movie did.
Reawakened by Odette Beane – This is a spin-off novel for the series that came out last year. The chances of it being good are pretty slim, but I know I’m totally going to read it this summer when I’m missing my favorite TV show and all of the characters.
Fairy Tales
The False Prince by Jennifer A. Nielsen ★★★★ – If you love the fairy tale scenes in Once Upon a Time, then I think you’ll love this book. It has a modern character in a classic fairy tale setting. He’s sarcastic, reckless, and I think he would give Captain Hook a run for his money.
Entwined by Heather Dixon ★★★★★ – This is a great retelling of a classic fairy tale. It has wonderful characters that remind me of the ones on Once Upon a Time.
My name is Jessica. I love to read Young Adult and classic literature. I’ve been a book blogger for six years and I haven’t gotten tired of it yet. I’m a very curious reader. Writing about all the questions and thoughts I had while reading a book is the best hobby ever.
I love Once Upon a Time. You must have made this list for me, you’re too kind. I’ve read most of these but will have to check out the ones I haven’t. Thank you so much.
My TTT
I’ve read every book you put up. The False Prince was awesome. I loved Entwined. The Twelve dancing princesses is my favorite fairy tale. If you haven’t read Princess of the Midnight Ball by Jessica Day George you should check it out. Love your list!!!!
I also picked once Upon a Time. It is just the BEST show. I need to read some of these books!
I haven’t watched Once Upon a Time. Well, I watched maybe 5-6 episodes when the show started, but stopped watching it. I liked it a lot, but I rarely watch TV shows while they’re airing. I like to binge watch.
BUT – I never realized that The Graveyard Book was a retelling of The Jungle Book! How awesome is that.
And I still really need to read Entwined. It’s been on my TBR list FOREVER.
If you haven’t read The Graveyard Book you need to! It’s even more fun to read if you know the original story of the Jungle Book. It’s actually a very close retelling.
What a fabulous list! I’m going to have to check some of these out. I just read Cinder and absolutely loved it!