Book picks similar to
Aspiring, Part 1 of the Siblings' Tale by Astrid V.J.


ya-fantasy
retellings
uninterested
sf-fantasy-and-horror

Cry Wolf: A Tale of Beauty and the Beast


Jacque Stevens - 2020
    When a new wolf is spotted near the forest, the men of her village are convinced that another monster is on the rise. Isabelle is less certain, until her father is killed in the hunt.Alone and hungry for revenge, Isabelle strikes out on her own to face the dreaded beast. But in this darker twist of a timeless fairytale, things might not be what they seem.Can Isabelle find beauty in the beast?If you like inspirational heroines, unique love stories, and some darker thrills and chills this paranormal/shifter romance is for you! One-click now to start the magic, romance, and heart-pounding adventure!CRY WOLF is a retelling of Beauty and the Beast, inspired by the Beast of Gévaudan and the French Revolution. An early version of this novel was published in the Kingdom of Mirrors and Roses Anthology (2019).What are HighTower Fairytales?HighTower Fairytales lean more toward the original sources (NOT Disney) with rich semi-historical settings. They have magic. They have scary monsters. And, most importantly, they have unique and complex characters who are trying hard to improve themselves.They also include plenty of humor and all the heroes marry their prince/princess charming and live happily ever after at the end!Basically, these stories meant to inspire, but have a very difficult and occasionally dark tower to climb. They are conservatively marked at 14+ and are appropriate for teens and young adults.Currently these stories include:Winter Falls: A Tale of the Snow Queen (2017)Cry Wolf: A Tale of Beauty and the Beast (2020)Depths: A Tale of the Little Mermaid (2020)Letters by Cinderlight: A Tale of Cinderella (2021)Robin's Hood: A Tale of Sherwood Forest (2021)And more on the way!!!

Heartless


Anne Elisabeth Stengl - 2010
    She dreams of a charming prince, but when her first suitor arrives, he's not what she'd hoped. Prince Aethelbald of mysterious Farthestshore has travelled a great distance to prove his love--and also to bring hushed warnings of danger. A dragon is rumored to be on the hunt and blazing a path of terror. Una, smitten instead with a more dashing prince, refuses Aethelbald's offer--and ignores his cautions with dire consequences. Soon the Dragon King himself is in Parumvir and Una, in giving her heart away unwisely, finds herself in his sights. Only those courageous enough to risk everything have a hope of fighting off this advancing evil.

A Trial of Words and Worth: a fairytale retelling


Amity Thompson - 2021
    The word echoes daily in Emi of Stagmount's mind. Never a failure. Never a success. Not good enough by far to lead her humble mountain realm.All changes as Emi tends a handsome, foreign stranger mauled by an unworldly monster. After exhausting her meager healing abilities, Emi tells him a story of magic, hope, and truth... And he wakes.Little does Emi know, her words contain magic as fantastic as the eldertales she grew up loving. But to earn a happily ever after, she must first find the bravery to speak.Experience wonder and enchantment in this standalone fairytale retelling by Amity Thompson. If you enjoy imaginative tales with loyal friendship, clean romance, and a mysterious foe, A Trial of Words and Worth will delight.*Loosely based on the Grimm’s tale, The Twelve HuntsmenNo profanity or sex

The False Princess


Eilis O'Neal - 2011
    She is a cold, scornful woman with little patience for her newfound niece, and Sinda proves inept at even the simplest tasks.  But when Sinda discovers that magic runs through her veins - long-suppressed, dangerous magic that she must learn to control - she realizes that she can never learn to be a simple village girl.Returning to Vivaskari for answers, Sinda finds her purpose as a wizard scribe, rediscovers the boy who saw her all along, and uncovers a secret that could change the course of Thorvaldor's history, forever.

Reflection (Twisted Tales)


Elizabeth Lim - 2018
    But King Yama, the ruler of Diyu, is not willing to give Shang up easily. With the help of Shang's great lion guardian ShiShi, Mulan must traverse Diyu to find Shang's spirit, face harrowing obstacles, and leave by sunrise⁠—or become King Yama's prisoner forever. Moreover, Mulan is still disguised as the soldier called Ping, wrestling with the decision to reveal her true identity to her closest friend. Will Mulan be able to save Shang before it's too late? Will he ever be able to trust her again? Or will she lose him—and be lost in the Underworld⁠—forever?

Dorothy Must Die


Danielle Paige - 2014
    I didn't ask to be some kind of hero.But when your whole life gets swept up by a tornado—taking you with it—you have no choice but to go along, you know?Sure, I've read the books. I've seen the movies. I know the song about the rainbow and the happy little bluebirds. But I never expected Oz to look like this. To be a place where Good Witches can't be trusted, Wicked Witches may just be the good guys, and winged monkeys can be executed for acts of rebellion. There's still a yellow brick road—but even that's crumbling.What happened? Dorothy.They say she found a way to come back to Oz. They say she seized power and the power went to her head. And now no one is safe.My name is Amy Gumm—and I'm the other girl from Kansas.I've been recruited by the Revolutionary Order of the Wicked.I've been trained to fight.And I have a mission.

Ella, The Slayer


A.W. Exley - 2015
     Except it wasn't flu, and death gave them back.Seventeen-year-old Ella copes the best she can; caring for her war-injured father, scrubbing the floors, and slaying the undead that attack the locals. Vermin they're called, like rats they spread pestilence with their bite. Ella's world collides with another when she nearly decapitates a handsome stranger, who is very much alive.Seth deMage, the new Duke of Leithfield, has returned to his ancestral home with a mission from the War Office -- to control the plague of vermin in rural Somerset. He needs help; he just didn't expect to find it in a katana-wielding scullery maid.Working alongside Seth blurs the line between their positions, and Ella glimpses a future she never dreamed was possible. But in overstepping society's boundaries, Ella could lose everything - home, head and her heart...

Before Beauty


Brittany Fichter - 2015
    Prince Everard’s father spent the boy's youth forging the prince into a warrior. Upon the king’s death, however, Everard realizes he’s lost himself somewhere along the way, and in his pain, makes a decision that brings a dark curse upon both him and the great Fortress that has so long guarded the people of Destin. The prince's sin doesn’t simply affect those of his citadel, however. Isa, the daughter of a local merchant, has suffered the prince’s hasty temper before, and it changed her life forever. When Everard’s final outburst cuts off his people’s source of protection with the curse, he demands that she, a crippled commoner, come to help him break it. All the while, Destin’s northern enemy crouches at the foot of the Fortress’s mountain, waiting for the right moment to capture the stronghold that has stood for a thousand years. With the freedom of Destin at stake, can both Everard and Isa find ways to move beyond their brokenness and hatred for one another, not only to break the curse, but to find love as well? Or will they and their beloved kingdom remain under darkness forever?

Bellamy and The Brute


Alicia Michaels - 2017
    After all, everyone in town knows about the mysterious happenings at the mansion on the hill—including the sudden disappearance of the Baldwin’s eldest son, Tate. The former football star and Golden Boy of Wellhollow Springs became a hermit at the age of sixteen, and no one has seen or heard from him since. Rumors abound as to why, with whisperings about a strange illness that has caused deformity…turned him into a real-life monster. Bellamy wants to dismiss these rumors as gossip, but when she’s told that if she takes the job she must promise to never, ever visit the 3rd floor of the mansion, she begins to wonder if there really is some dark truth being hidden there.Tate’s condition may not be the only secret being kept at Baldwin House. There are gaps in the family’s financial history that don’t add up, and surprising connections with unscrupulous characters. At night there are strange noises, unexplained cold drafts, and the electricity cuts out. And then there are the rose petals on the staircase. The rose petals that no one but Bellamy seems to be able to see. The rose petals that form a trail leading right up to the 3rd floor, past the portrait of a handsome young man, and down a dark hallway where she promised she would never, ever go…As Bellamy works to unravel the mysteries of Baldwin House and uncover the truth about Tate, she realizes that she is in way over her head, in more ways than one. Can her bravery and determination help to right the wrongs of the past and free the young man whose story has captured her heart?

Little Thieves


Margaret Owen - 2021
    Vanja, the adopted goddaughter of Death and Fortune, was Princess Gisele's dutiful servant up until a year ago. That was when Vanja's otherworldly mothers demanded a terrible price for their care, and Vanja decided to steal her future back... by stealing Gisele's life for herself.The real Gisele is left a penniless nobody while Vanja uses an enchanted string of pearls to take her place. Now, Vanja leads a lonely but lucrative double life as princess and jewel thief, charming nobility while emptying their coffers to fund her great escape. Then, one heist away from freedom, Vanja crosses the wrong god and is cursed to an untimely end: turning into jewels, stone by stone, for her greed.Vanja has just two weeks to figure out how to break her curse and make her getaway. And with a feral guardian half-god, Gisele's sinister fiancé, and an overeager junior detective on Vanja's tail, she'll have to pull the biggest grift yet to save her own life.Margaret Owen, author of The Merciful Crow series, crafts a delightfully irreverent retelling of "The Goose Girl" about stolen lives, thorny truths, and the wicked girls at the heart of both.

Goblin Fruit


Laini Taylor - 2012
    Kizzy wanted it all so bad her soul leaned half out of her body hungering after it, and that was what drove the goblins wild, her soul hanging out there like an un-tucked shirt.Beware of souls that want too much. Kizzy's family are from the Old Country. They cut the heads off chickens, have anvils in their yard and sing songs in a language that her teachers have never heard of. They believe in talking foxes, witch soldiers and goblins who crave the souls of a particular type of girl. Girls who wish they were prettier, had normal relatives and, most of all, were noticed by the boy they have fallen for at school. Girls like Kizzy...

A Curse So Dark and Lonely


Brigid Kemmerer - 2019
    But that was before he turned into a vicious beast hell-bent on destruction. Before he destroyed his castle, his family, and every last shred of hope.Nothing has ever been easy for Harper. With her father long gone, her mother dying, and her brother constantly underestimating her because of her cerebral palsy, Harper learned to be tough enough to survive. When she tries to save a stranger on the streets of Washington, DC, she's pulled into a magical world.Break the curse, save the kingdom.Harper doesn't know where she is or what to believe. A prince? A curse? A monster? As she spends time with Rhen in this enchanted land, she begins to understand what's at stake. And as Rhen realizes Harper is not just another girl to charm, his hope comes flooding back. But powerful forces are standing against Emberfall . . . and it will take more than a broken curse to save Harper, Rhen, and his people from utter ruin.

Gilded


Marissa Meyer - 2021
    The king orders Serilda to complete the impossible task of spinning straw into gold, or be killed for telling falsehoods. In her desperation, Serilda unwittingly summons a mysterious boy to her aid. He agrees to help her . . . for a price.Soon Serilda realizes that there is more than one secret hidden in the castle walls, including an ancient curse that must be broken if she hopes to end the tyranny of the king and his wild hunt forever.

Blood and Snow


RaShelle Workman - 2012
    Drink your true love's blood, become the Vampire, Snow White."EVERY THOUSAND YEARS THE VAMPIRE QUEEN SELECTS A NEW BODY, ALWAYS THE FAIREST IN THE LAND, AND THIS TIME SHE'S CHOSEN SNOW WHITE. Snow White lives in Salem, Massachusetts with her dad, stepmother, and her cat, Gatsby. Her entire life she's been teased for her fairy tale name, and the fact that her seven best friends happen to be guys whose names begin with the same letters as the seven dwarves. Everything changes two months before her sixteenth birthday. She's bitten by The Hunter, and transformed into a revenant—not quite human, not quite vampire.

Belvedor and the Four Corners


Ashleigh Bello - 2014
    CREATOR. AGRARIAN. WARRIOR.—Welcome to the Four Corners—Arianna Belvedor has never known a world outside of this cold and cruel region, but she’s always dreamed of the freedom beyond. Per the King’s decree to weed out the weak, all children must excel in one of four special skills and survive a rigorous test to earn citizenship—win or die.As #22 of Warrior’s District, Arianna has become notable with her swords. She’s confident she’ll survive the ultimate battle. But everything changes when she learns a secret about King Devlindor’s long-standing reign… before these dark times, the world had been filled with magic.There had once been a thriving Golden Age where magic was for all to claim. Dwarves, mermaids, elves, and even dragons roamed the land. Then, the King’s greed and iron grip thrust the world into darkness.Arianna must now make a choice: ignore the enchanted truth and abide by the King’s laws or use her swords to carve out a new path to freedom.Does she have what it takes to follow the magic?__________________________The Belvedor Saga is a completed YA Epic Fantasy Adventure series—perfect for fans of the Throne of Glass series by Sarah J. Maas.The third edition of Belvedor and the Four Corners was released in October 2020, with added and expanded scenes!Note from the author:Arianna Belvedor is a heroine you will love to follow, but she’s not one to give her heart away easily. Don’t expect much romance on this daring quest—her magic comes from within.__________________________"Belvedor and the Four Corners is a great read! It's one of those books that will keep you hooked till the end. It's up there with The Hunger Games and Harry Potter with its combination of the magical world and the fight for your life. I can't wait to see what happens the rest of the series." - From Nikola ★★★★★"It's a novel filled with magic, sorcery, swords, bows and arrows, knives, magical creatures, oppression, freedom, and pure excitement ... I'm in love with all the main characters. Ms. Bello takes you on a remarkable adventure and you'll wish for more...” - From PixiePassion ★★★★★Read all the Belvedor Books! The Belvedor Saga by Ashleigh Bello Belvedor and the Four CornersBelvedor and the King’s CurseBelvedor and the Desert of SecretsBelvedor and the Trail of FireBelvedor and the Golden Rule