YA Classic Retellings

2.5 stars

Sixteen-year-old indentured beastkeeper Koffi and seventeen-year-old warrior candidate Ekon forge an unusual alliance and venture into the Greater Jungle to hunt down a monster that has been menacing their city for a century. Includes author's note.

Four female mercenaries known as Boneless Mercies, weary of roaming Vorseland, ignored and forgotten until they are needed for mercy killings, decide to seek glory by going after a legendary monster in this reimagining of Beowulf.

The tale of Sleeping Beauty and the dark tale of the Holocaust twined together in a story of darkness and redemption. Rebecca has always loved listening to her grandmother's stories about Briar Rose. However, the old woman's astonishing and hard-to-believe admission that she "is" Briar Rose sets Rebecca on an unforgettable path of self-discovery that will change her life forever.

2 stars

Nimue grew up an outcast. Her connection to dark magic made her something to be feared in her Druid village, and that made her desperate to leave...That is, until Red Paladins slaughter her entire village, and Nimue's fate is forever altered. Charged by her dying mother to reunite an ancient sword with a legendary sorcerer, Nimue is now her people's only hope.

In the last days of the world, the walls of Viyara are still falling and the dead are rising faster than ever. Juliet is trapped, ordered by Lord Luco of the Mahyanai to sacrifice the remaining members of her family, the Catresou, to stave off the end fo the world. Though they're certain his plan is useless, Juliet and her former friend Runajo must comply tie Lord Ineo's wishes unless they can discover a different, darker path to protecting Viyara....

4.2 stars

Soraya, a princess cursed to be poisonous to the touch, has lived eighteen years in the shadows but as her twin brother's wedding approaches, she faces choices with unimaginable consequences.

3.2 stars

Sent by a banished Merlin to protect King Arthur, a sixteen-year-old impersonating the deceased Guinevere struggles to fit in at Camelot where the magic she practices is banished.

On his deathbed King Tyran divides his land between his twin children, first-born Ursula, a werebear, and Albrecht; but Albrecht wants it all and makes war on his sister, killing her people and the werebeasts, becoming a tyrant to his own kingdom--but their family history is far more complicated and mysterious than he knows, and Ursula has powerful allies in the living forest that surrounds their lands, including her aunt Esme who has been in hiding...

Since the murder of the maharani of Ashoka--the country that controls all magic--the relationships between the royal siblings have fractured. At only 18, Vira has ascended to the throne, a role few in her council believe her capable of. Meanwhile, her twin brother, Ronak, is plotting to break free from a tactful marriage and taking their half-brother, Kaleb, (wrongfully imprisoned for the maharani's assassination) with him. The siblings' unease comes...

5 stars

"When Violeta Graceling and her younger brother Arien arrive at the haunted Lakesedge estate, they expect to find a monster. Leta knows the terrifying rumors about Rowan Sylvanan, who drowned his entire family when he was a boy. But neither the estate nor the monster are what they seem. As Leta falls for Rowan, she discovers he is bound to the Lord Under, the sinister death god lurking in the black waters of the lake. A creature to whom Leta is inexplicably...