Book Talk: What Makes A Great Retelling?

08:36 Cilla 28 Comments

I'm a huge fan of retellings -- if retellings become a dead genre I will legit be out of writing ideas :'( To be honest, I think a change in perspective alone still isn't enough now -- lots of stories have done that, even Disney's done that! But mix that up with other factors and it would def be cool. Love your conclusion about being absorbed in the new story and being surprised, not looking for, the new elements!

I've recently gotten really into retellings, and I agree that the best are the ones that take the main points of the original but give them completely different twists. The more unique and creative the better! I have one book on my kindle that apparently has Snow White as a zombie, so that should be interesting lol. I like your explanation of getting absorbed but being pleasantly surprised when familiar elements appear. That's what I like too.

I've also recently found a great series (The Era of Villains by S.J. Valfroy) that's not *exactly* retellings but that takes the villains from common fairy tales and stories and explains how they got to be villains in the first place. Stories from the villains' perspectives are definitely fun to read!

Great discussion post :-)

-Kristen @ Metaphors and Moonlight

I completely agree with all points! I love retellings, and I've never really stopped to think about what makes one a good retelling. There are so many great ones out there (and also some not-quite-great), and it's nice to have such a variety of retellings to read about :)
Loved this post!
~Erika @ Books, Stars, and the Pages in Between.

"A character's cultural roots and gender affect the way they look at the world, if only because the world looks at them differently first, and so the story they'll tell won't be the same."

Very well said :) - Alyson

I love retellings! If you haven't read it yet, I definitely recommend Of Beast and Beauty by Stacey Jay :).

I am also a fan of the Lunar Chronicles (how does Marissa Meyer create such amazingness?!?!) I'd say that I definitely think that retellings should have a base from the original story but then they should have tons of twists and turns so you're not rolling your eyes from the extreme amount of similarities it shares with the original.

Great post Cilla! =D

THIS. I completely agree with you 110% Cilla. I think that's what's so great about retellings - you can have some creative liberty with them and explore some things that maybe weren't discussed in the original. Thanks for sharing and, as always, fabulous discussion! ♥

Villain perspective based retellings are really some of my favorites! I think it takes a skilled author to make the approach work, but I've found it refreshing amidst the large amount of "hero" retellings I've read. I think the only one I've read so far is Fairest, but I am interested in reading more!

Cristina @ Girl in the Pages

I'm also a HUGE fan of retellings, and I agree with everything that you have listed here. While the main elements need to be there in the background, the story and characters should be fresh. And pleeeease no cliches. :P

Thanks for stopping by Thoughts By J!

This is a great discussion! I actually haven't read that many retellings, and none of the really well known ones in YA at the moment. I adored Wicked and how it completely challenged what we know of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, and I loved the background and explanation Prince of Shadows by Rachel Caine gave to the story of Romeo and Juliet. Like you said, it's the added elements given to an original story, a new twist, a different spin, that make them so intriguing. I have quite a few retellings on my TBR pile, so I've created the Retellings Reading Challenge 2016. Sign up is still open if you're interested in participating :)

I love retellings. I like when the characters are different in some way gender or culture. When the setting is different. My fav is when you don't really notice it is a retelling unless you are really paying attention or because is loosely based on the fairy tale. I almost always like the villain so I'm surprised with myself that I haven't read more of those. You've made me go on a hunt to add those to my evil queen tbr list this year. mwa ha ha

Bunnita @ Worth Reading It?

I'm such a huge fan of retellings and I love them in pretty much all forms. But I agree that I especially love them when the author puts a new spin on the story. I'm currently bingeing Once Upon a Time (while on the elliptical) and I'm loving it!!

Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction

This is an interesting post! I agree with all of the points you made about what makes a good re-telling. One of my favorite things is to see the Villain's point of view, like you said, but I also like to see the guy's point of view (if it's a retelling of a classic from a girl's side of things). My IDEAL retelling would be told from an iconic side characters point of view. What was THAT guy doing while the two main bozos were traipsing around on their adventure??

i loved this post so much! i love fairytale retellings, they're so much fun because you get more than the original tales. i love how you learn more about the villains (what they're like, what motivates them, etc) i think it's really cool how they're becoming quite popular these days because we get to see how people interpret each fairytale based off their own personal experiences.
also, the joan watson thing (not really retelling related but): i liked the idea of making john a female but at the same time i was a little worried they'd ruin the story (romanticising it), but they didnt! i was so surprised when i started watching elementary because i'm easily annoyed by the constant relationships between characters. i'm not too sure how far i got (i've moved house and lost track of a lot haha), but i liked that they were friends and have a very close relationship without making it sexual. i also like what they did with moriarty.