Beauty And The Beast Retellings That You Should Read – Top 10

Beauty and the Beast is an evergreen tale of beauty, appearance verses reality and knowing a person by their heart. Here are a few amazing Beauty and the Beast retellings, set in different time periods and geographic locations. Some of these are novels and others are short stories – but they are all equally brilliant.

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J Maas

This is probably the most famous retelling of Beauty and the Beast. Here, we follow a huntress who accidentally kills a wolf. To the wolf’s defence comes a beast like one she’s never seen before. As his captor, she realizes that he is also a powerful and dangerous faerie, but that he is not evil. Little does she know that her Stockholm syndrome is going to make her fall in love with him.

A Thorn in the Saddle by Rebekah Weatherspoon

Lily-Grace Leroux, the female protagonist of this book, is a beautiful, smart and talented young woman. She dislikes the bulky and brutish ranch owner Jesse Pleasant because he won’t let his grandma date her dad. But as they get to know each other, she discovers that Jesse has a softer side to him and that this can be cultivated to make him eligible for his dream, to run for the Senate. Against her rationale, she helps him, discovering love.

Beauty by Robin McKinley

In this book, we focus on Beauty and her family relationships which make her who she is. Her family is kind and loving, and despite their secrets, has a strong bond which ties her to it. This makes Beauty a compassionate and kind young woman. Enter the Beast. Beauty’s world is turned upside down but in a good way. This book is an absolute page-turner.

The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter

Angela Carter’s ground-breaking stories give a feminist angle to the intensely patriarchal stories that exist. One of these is the retelling of Beauty and the Beast, which follows Mr Lyon, who plays the part of the beast. The name of the story is “The Courtship of Mr Lyon”, which follows the plot of the original pretty much to the T. But Carter’s words and language and incorporation of different narrative elements make the story brilliant.

In The Vanishers’ Palace by Aliette de Bodard

In this middle-grade fantasy, which has roots in Vietnamese folklore, Beauty and the Beast finds fresh ground. This is a queer romance where a woman is sold to repay her village’s debts to a dragon whose species is now extinct. Eventually, the two form an uncanny relationship which defies all odds. But soon the dragon’s secrets come to light and the protagonist must make a crucial choice which will alter the destiny of many.

The Beast’s Heart by Leife Shallcross

In this story, which is very reminiscent of the original in its plot, we look at life from the perspective of the Beast. His journey towards elf improvement starts even before Beauty’s arrival, and together the two become catalysts to each other’s growth. There are also the stories of Belle’s sisters and their family, who find themselves in ruins after Beauty’s departure. But eventually, they get a rein in on their lives and even become happy.

Belle by Cameron Dokey

In this retelling, Belle lacks the beauty of her sisters and longs to see the face of her one true love in a carved heartwood tree. When her father stumbles upon a heartwood tree which shows him the face of a lonely beast, he is taken aback. Now Belle must find her father and the beast through the heartwood tree. Little does she know that she is in for a surprise because the one she is hunting will be the love of her life.

Hunted by Meagan Spooner

At the centre of this story is Yeva, whose father is a hunter. She dreads a mundane, banal life of small talk and marriage for convenience. So after her father’s fortune is ripped off and her family is banished into the woods she is secretly happy. But the woods come at their own price. Her father goes missing and it falls upon her to ferret out the mysterious Beast he was looking for desperately. But is he really as evil as she thinks?

Angel and Bavar by Amy Wilson

In this middle-grade fantasy which takes inspiration from Beauty and the Beast, we follow the themes of courage and conviction. Angel, our female protagonist is a girl haunted by the death of her parents and trying to readjust her life. Strange Bavar might be the only person who truly understands her, but he’s afraid to let her in. And when the two realize that their demons might be more similar than they thought, they must team up to fight them.

Silver Birch, Blood Moon by Ellen Datlow

This is a collection of short stories that are retellings of fairy tales in a modern milieu, and the one that tells the story of Beauty and the Beast stands out. “Skin SO Green and Fine” by Wendy Wheeler which takes place in the Caribbean. Amidst the sultry tropical climate, religious whims, metaphysical superstitions and even racism, the short romance unfolds with a whooping vigour. It will make you swoon.

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