I’ve really missed doing Friday Favorites, and since no one was currently hosting it, Cait @ Functionally Fictional decided to jump into the gap. Each week, she provides a prompt, and I get to talk about my favorite books that fit the topic. Feel free to join in – the more the merrier!

Hey everyone and welcome to another week of Friday Favorites. This week’s prompt is retellings, and anyone who’s read more than a couple of my posts will know that I’m a huge fan of retellings. I’m always on the hunt for new and interesting retellings, and here are some of my favorites:

1. The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker. My favorite retelling, this one completely centers the women in The Iliad, rather than the men where the story has always focused.
2. Shield Maiden by Sharon Emmerichs. This is a cool twist on the Beowulf story, except  it’s got a female heroine with a disability, and it touches on a later aspect of the story.
3. A Curse So Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer. I loved this series starter which is a Beauty and the Beast retelling featuring another female lead with a disability.
4. A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas. This much-loved series is another retelling of Beauty and the Beast, at least at first, before it takes on a life of its own.
5. Cinder by Marissa Meyer. Hands down the most creative retelling on my list, this futuristic sci-fi Cinderella retelling stole my heart.
6. To Kill a Kingdom by Alexandra Christo. This is a dark and vicious retelling of The Little Mermaid, and probably fits in more closely with the original fairy tales than the sanitized Disney versions we’ve become used to.
7. Marry Me by Midnight by Felicia Grossman. Another Cinderella retelling but this time in the setting of a historical romance, with Jewish characters and gender swapped leads.
8. Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik. A wonderful Rumpelstiltskin retelling with a markedly Jewish spin on it made this one of my favorites.
9. The Other Merlin by Robyn Schneider. I couldn’t pass up on the chance to include a gender-bent Arthurian legend in this list, and this one was such a fun read!
10. Kaikeyi by Vaishnavi Patel. New to me, this retelling of the Ramayana gave it a decidedly feminist spin and an asexual character and it was fantastic!

What are some of your favorite retellings?