I’ve been reading a fair amount of stuff lately that’s been inspired by the classic fairy tales. I love fairy tales. I often love retellings. But there are some fairy tales I love more than others.
When I was a kid, my favorite tale was Cinderella. This may have had something to do with the fact that we owned two Disney fairy tale books, Snow White, and the aforementioned Cinderella. Well, my older sister declared early on that Snow White was her favourite, and since sharing never really works with kids, I decided that Cinderella was my favourite. It was a default choice, and whether or not Snow White ever stood a chance, I’ll never know. I used to daydream about secret worlds, fairy godmothers, and magical castles. I used to wish I could step into a fairy ring and disappear into a magical world. I tried. Nothing ever happened.
When I was was slightly older, I was exposed to more fairy tales. The real, dark, Grimm fairy tales. My favourite book was the old one of my mother’s, in which I found the Twelve Dancing Princesses. Maybe it was the picture inside. Maybe it was all the trees made of diamonds or the thought of dancing all night. But I loved this story. And it has been my favourite fairy tale ever since.
Alas, my life is nothing like a fairy tale. Just to give you an example, here is the story of my life in fairy tale format:
J. E. Hunter grew up among the glittering, golden prairies with two loving parents and an older sister who was occassionally mean to her, but nothing like the step-sisters in Cinderella. At the precious age of 16, Hunter was forced to get a job to pay for the nice clothing she wanted to wear, and the books she had a desperate desire to read. Hunter was offered a job in a hamburger joint, and began making burgers for the masses, though she was often put on french fry duty instead. Occassionally, the Overlord would yell at Hunter, but she was strong, and she never cried. One day, she burnt her arm. One day, she was suspended for missing a shift to attend a familiy holiday. Hunter had had enough. Hunter decided that she must change her destiny. Hunter ventured down the short path to the local University. Hunter never met a prince, never fell down a rabbit hole, and never saw a glass slipper, fairy godmother, or a pumpkin that could turn into a coach. What Hunter did see was a bunch of books, plenty of paper, and a few mean professors. Hunter found a good job, got married, and is now attempting to live happily ever after by writing books.
It’s hardly romantic. But hey, it’s not the end of my journey, so maybe there’s a fairy godmother out there yet. On thing I’m pretty sure of, is that no matter how old I get, I’ll never stop wishing for someone to be looking out for me. Especially if they can grant wishes. Because wouldn’t it be awesome to have even one wish granted? No, to decide on that wish…
Need some new fairy tale books to relieve the magic? What’s your favorite story?
J. E. Hunter is the author of the Black Depths Series. Tales of a Redheaded Sea-Witch, and Broken Tide, the first two books of the series can be found on Amazon, Kobo, iBooks, Barnes and Noble, and Smashwords. The third book, Dark Shores, was released April 1, 2016. The fourth and last book of the Black Depths series, Twisted Currents, will be released in the fall of 2016, after Dead Water and Doomed Seas, two Novellas featuring Caesar.
(associate link), written by Sara Raasch, follows young Winterian, Meira, on her quest to save her kingdom alongside future king and love interest Mather. It took me a while to get into the kingdoms, four named for seasons and four rhythm kingdoms. I guess that after reading A Court of Thorns and Roses (you can see my review 
(associate link) a solid four out of five stars. If you like mysteries, then this one is for you. I didn’t enjoy it quite as much a 13 Reasons Why, which is one of my favourites, but With Malice was still worth reading. It definitely added some enjoyment to my summer.
(associate link) up now, you won’t regret it.
(associate link) takes place in a fantastical land of High Fae and Fairies, into which a human girl, Feyre, is thrown. While this book can be found alongside the Throne of Glass books in the young adult section of the book store, let’s get one thing straight – this is not a young adult fairy tale, this is clearly New Adult. There are some fairly explicit sexual scenes in this book, not to mention some pretty gory violence. This might surprise some people who are looking for more of the typical innocent cut-scene type stuff seen in young adult fiction. The problem, it seems, is that “New Adult” is mostly a theoretical category of fiction, and not yet a reality. Also, while the book had these “gritty” sex scenes, I didn’t feel like it needed it. They could have been toned way down and the story might actually have been better.
J. E. H U N T E R 