Book review: The House of Frost and Feathers by Lauren Wiesebron [blog tour]

I love retellings of fairytales, folklore, and myths. In recent years there's been a particular abundance of feminist takes on classic Greek tales and while they're certainly some of the most well-known and fascinating myths, it started to feel a little bit same-y. There's only so many ways to put a new spin on the same characters' origin story. So I was very excited when I first heard about The House of Frost and Feathers, which is steeped in Slavic folkore and loosely based on the to me previously unknown story of the witch Baba Yaga. 

Book review: Hera by Jennifer Saint [blog tour]

Jennifer Saint is the queen (or should that be goddess?) of Greek mythology retellings. She may not be the first author I've read who's turned the classic stories on their head, but she's arguably the best. She gives often unsung heroines their deserving chance in the spotlight in an incredibly captivating and enlightening way (three years on, and I am still not recovered from her stunning retelling of Ariadne's story). And this time she turns her hand not to another mortal heroine but rather to one of the great Olympian goddesses herself: Hera. 

Book review: Morgan Is My Name by Sophie Keetch

Arthurian legends seem to be the latest slice of fictional history that's getting reinvented (after fairy tale retellings and Greek myth reimaginings) and I love it. I've always been fascinated by this lore thanks to Disney's The Sword in the Stone and the very cheesy but hugely entertaining BBC series Merlin back in the late 2000s. Morgan Is My Name by Sophie Keetch is, you may be able to guess, the story of sorceress Morgan le Fay. But rather than portraying her as the anti-hero, which she so often is, in this novel we hear her side of the story. And it's not as black-and-white as we've always been led to believe.

Book review: Psyche and Eros by Luna McNamara [blog tour]

I've been a big fan of retellings for many years now, and Greek ones are definitely the flavour of the 2020s (see Circe, Atalanta, Ariadne, Ithaca, and many more). I was getting a little bit tired of seeing the same-old, same-old characters and myths being reimagined, as there are only so many different angles a story can take, so I was thrilled when I discovered that Luna McNamara's book delves into the slightly more obscure love story of Psyche and Eros, aka a mortal and the god of love (the Greek equivalent of Cupid). 

Book review: Atalanta by Jennifer Saint [blog tour]

I've been on a Greek retelling reading spree the last few years and I'm not alone! Because of the popularity of these kinds of books, more and more are published each year – and I particularly love those that delve into parts of Greek mythology that aren't as well-know as, say, the Trojan War. Madeline Miller's Circe comes to mind, as does Jennifer Saint's Ariadne. And Atalanta fits right into this list of incredible Greek heroines who finally get the chance to shine in their deserving spotlight. 

Book review: Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver

I love a retelling; whether it's a feminist take on ancient Greek myths or a contemporary adaptation of a classic fairy tale. So when I heard that Demon Copperhead is a modern-day version of Charles Dickens' David Copperfield, my interest was immediately piqued. My only experience with Dickens retellings is A Christmas Carol (of which The Muppet Christmas Carol is without a doubt the superior version), which is a wildly different story although some of the same themes emerge: inequity, poverty, and resilience in the face of unimaginable hardship. 

Book review: Ithaca by Claire North

A flurry of Greek retellings has been published in recent years and I absolutely love it. I've always enjoyed reading and learning about the classics, and many of the reimaginings that are released these days shine a light on the women that were so often only briefly mentioned in the heroic tales of the Greek men and gods. These new books show that these women were often just as important – if not moreso – in creating the legendary stories as we know them today. 

Book reviews: If the Shoe Fits by Julie Murphy & By the Book by Jasmine Guillory (Meant to Be series)

I love a good fairy tale retelling. However, the ones I've read up until this point usually fall into one of two categories: empowering a female character and making them a bad-ass hero in a fantasy world, or redeeming a villain by diving into their back story to make the reader realise that they're not evil, just misunderstood. These are great arcs, don't get me wrong, but they have started to feel a bit repetitive. The Meant to Be series by Studio Press (Bonnier Books), has taken a completely different take with their retellings: placing classic fairy tale characters in contemporary, Hallmark-like romance stories. And they absolutely smashed it.

7 powerful retellings of classic Greek myths that should be on everyone's to-read list

Female characters in Greek mythology are unsung heroes who very rarely get appreciated for their impact on the myths; they're witches to be banished, prizes to be handed out like gold and cattle, and they lead male protagonists astray. It's a narrative that has become tiring and outdated and I'm glad that there are some excellent authors out there that are re-envisioning these ancient tales to put the women centre stage, giving them a chance to be the heroes of their own stories. Today I'm sharing four of my favourite retellings of Greek myths I've read to date – and three that are still on my to-read list. 

Book review: Glass Coffin by Gabby Hutchinson Crouch [blog tour]

Retellings of fairy tales and myths are all the rage these days, and for good reason as they give readers a chance to see a different side to the often one-dimensional characters from the classic tales we grew up with. I've read some stonkin' reimaginings over the years, including Lost Boy by Christina Henry (telling the origin story of Peter Pan's arch rival Hook) and more recently Greek retelling Ariadne by Jennifer Saint, but I'm always keen to discover more of them. And when I heard about Glass Coffin by Gabby Hutchinson Crouch my interest was immediately peaked. 

Lost Boy by Christina Henry

Adaptations of traditional fairy tales or classic literature have really seen a surge in recent years within YA books especially, and what's particularly notable is how often the same source material has contemporary versions published around the same time – even though the publishing cycle means that the majority would've worked on this separately without knowing about the upcoming releases. Sometimes this is driven by a major movie release (see Beauty and the Beast), and at other times it seems more of a coincidence. I'm loving that Neverland is the latest hype as this is one of my all-time favourite fantasy worlds and now I get to explore it all over again.

Book review: After Alice by Gregory Maguire

Alice in Wonderland is one of my all-time favourite stories. Despite its countless adaptation – in literature, on screen and on stage – each time I rediscover the cat who talks in riddles and the playing cards hunting down the perfect roses for their Red Queen, I'm in awe with the imaginative world of Wonderland. So whenever a new incarnation (or even a straight-forward retelling of the original) pops onto my radar I must check in out, and the latest version is by Wicked-author Gregory Maguire.