YA Retellings.

Beauty and the beast:

Into the heartless wood by Joanna Ruth Meyer.

The woodland is a deadly place where men and women are lured to their deaths by siren song. A witch has been harvesting souls to feed the callous tree for ages, harnessing its power to expand her realm.

Seren, one of the witch’s tree-siren daughters, saves Owen Merrick’s life rather than ending it after he is led into the witch’s wood. Every night, he climbs over the garden wall to see her, and her desire to be human becomes stronger. Seren’s desire to become human will take them into an old struggle waging between the witch and the king who is trying to stop her, as a shift in the constellations foreshadows a dreadful curse.

Romeo and Juliet

Roman and Jewel by Dana L. Davis

Who would play the leads in a Hamilton remake of Romeo and Juliet? This is the storey of a young woman who believes she has what it takes…and the rest of the world agrees.

Jerzie Jhames will go to any length to get the main role in Roman and Jewel, Broadway’s hottest new show, a Romeo and Juliet inspired hip-hopera with a diverse cast and current twists on the play. Her aspirations are dashed, however, when she discovers that Cinny, the mega-star, has won the lead…and Jerzie is her understudy.

It’s a bad idea for Jerzie to fall for male lead Zeppelin Reid, especially after she knows Cinny wants him for herself. Star-crossed love is doomed to fail. When a video of Jerzie and Zepp practising goes online and the entire world votes on who should play Jewel, Jerzie realises that while fame is expensive, friendship, family, and love are invaluable.

The phantom of the Opera:

Sing Me Forgotten by Jessica S. Olson.

There is no such thing as Isda. At least not beyond the opera house’s ornate walls.

Cyril, the opera house’s owner, protected her from being cast into a well at birth for being one of the magical few who can modify memories when people sing. He has protected her from the violent world outside since that day. He only requests that she use her influence to keep ticket sales high—and that she stay hidden. Isda and Cyril would pay the price if it was discovered she had survived.

But when Isda meets Emeric Rodin, a handsome boy who upsets her tranquil, isolated life, she defies Cyril’s cardinal rule. His voice is unlike any she’s ever heard, but the true shock comes when she discovers glimpses of a way out of her gilded prison in his recollections.Isda spends more and more time with Emeric, haunted by the potential, searching for answers in his music and his past. But the cost of liberty is far greater than Isda could ever imagine. Even as she battles with her growing affections for Emeric, she realises that the only way she can control her own future is to become the monster the world sought to drown in the first place.

Pride and Prejudice:

Pride and Premeditation by Tirzah Price

Despite the meddling of Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy, the stern young heir to the prominent company Pemberley Associates, seventeen-year-old aspiring lawyer Lizzie Bennet seizes the opportunity to establish herself when a shocking murder shakes London high society.

Lizzie vows to solve the murder on her own, convinced that the authorities have imprisoned the wrong person. However, as the case—and her feelings for Darcy—become more convoluted, Lizzie realises that her ideal career may make her happy, but it may also lead to her death.

Rapunzel:

What Once Was Mine by Liz Braswell

The virtuous people of Corona search for the all-healing Sundrop flower to cure their queen and her unborn child in a desperate attempt to preserve their queen’s life—but instead obtain the sparkling Moondrop flower. Regardless, it heals the queen, and she gives birth to a healthy baby girl with moon-like silver and grey hair. It brings with it perilous magical abilities: the ability to harm rather than cure. Rapunzel is imprisoned in a tower and placed in the care of Mother Gothel, a powerful goodwife, for her own and the kingdom’s safety.

Rapunzel has been kept away for eighteen years, knowing she must protect people from her miraculous hair. However, when she leaves the only home she’s ever known in order to witness the floating lights that emerge on her birthday, she becomes entangled in an adventure with two robbers that takes her throughout the kingdom. Rapunzel discovers that there may be more to her storey, and her miraculous tresses, than she ever imagined before she reaches her happy ending.