This is yet another post in this series where the books aren’t outright retellings, but are instead inspired by other stories. I’ve made a ‘retellings-tbr’ shelf on my Goodreads, so hopefully I can find more great retellings to share with you.
Princess of Souls by Alexandra Christo
You can’t go wrong with an Alexandra Christo standalone retelling. Especially one loosely based on Rapunzel. I was very lucky to receive an ARC of Princess of Souls last year and it was one of the best books I read in 2022.
There is a lot of worldbuilding in this, so it can start out as a very slow read, but trust me when I say keep going. Selestra is a really cool character and the magic of this world is very interesting.
Synopsis: For sixteen years, Selestra Somniatis has been trapped in a castle on the Floating Mountain, preparing to take her mother’s place as King Seryth’s right hand. Tied by blood to steal souls for the immortal King of the Six Isles, the Somniatis Witch foretells the deaths of participants in the Festival of Predictions. To outrun your fate is to save your soul and steal the King’s immortality. But if you die, your soul is forfeit. And though thousands have tried, nobody has ever beaten death.
As a soldier in King Seryth’s army, Nox Laederic is an unlikely candidate for the Festival, but he has no plans to die at the hands of the King or his witches. His plan is more akin to violent revenge: steal the King’s immortality and kill the entirety of his court, starting with Selestra herself.
But when Selestra touches Nox in her very first prediction, she sees her own death alongside his–their fates are unmistakably intertwined, and Selestra is no longer safe in the only home she’s ever known. Nox and Selestra will have to enter a turbulent alliance in order to survive long enough to free the Six Isles from King Seryth’s clutches and escape the new fate that hunts them.
A Deal With The Elf King by Elise Kova
This one is more of an inspired retelling rather than being outright obvious with what it is based on. The tale of Hades and Persephone is one of my all-time favourites so of curse I had to check this out. Also, Elise is one of my favourite authors so that’s a double yes from me.
A Deal With The Elf King is another example of excellent world-building. I found myself lost in this book with no desire to escape. I’m a huge fantasy lover and the idea of all of these beautiful elven buildings and landscapes was completely dreamy.
I could talk for pages and pages about how much I loved the characters, but I don’t think it’s wise to do so here.
Synopsis: The elves come for two things: war and wives. In both cases, they come for death.
Three-thousand years ago, humans were hunted by powerful races with wild magic until the treaty was formed. Now, for centuries, the elves have taken a young woman from Luella’s village to be their Human Queen.
To be chosen is seen as a mark of death by the townsfolk. A mark nineteen-year-old Luella is grateful to have escaped as a girl. Instead, she’s dedicated her life to studying herbology and becoming the town’s only healer.
That is, until the Elf King unexpectedly arrives… for her.
Everything Luella had thought she’d known about her life, and herself, was a lie. Taken to a land filled with wild magic, Luella is forced to be the new queen to a cold yet blisteringly handsome Elf King. Once there, she learns about a dying world that only she can save.
The magical land of Midscape pulls on one corner of her heart, her home and people tug on another… but what will truly break her is a passion she never wanted.
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Like this post? Why not read this one too: Book Review: The Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot