I’ve always been a huge fan of Disney movies, so when I discovered the Disney: A Twisted Tale book series, I had to check it out! The series takes the original Disney stories that we are familiar with and puts a twist on the story to tell it in a different way or to explore other paths the tale could have taken.
Even though the series is long with over 20 books (so far), each book is its own stand-alone story, so you don’t have to read them in order. We thought we’d share 6 of our favorite books in the series to help you get started on your own twisted tales journey!
Almost There by Farrah Rochon
What if Tiana made a deal that changed everything?
Sometimes, life in the Big Easy is tough. No one knows that better than Tiana, though she also believes that hard work can go a long way. But when the notorious Dr. Facilier backs her into a corner, she has no other choice but to accept an offer that will alter the course of her life in an instant.
Soon Tiana finds herself in a new reality where all her deepest desires are realized―she finally gets her restaurant, her friends are safe and sound, and most miraculous of all, her beloved father is still alive. She’s got everything she’s ever wanted…
But after a while, her hometown grows increasingly eerie, with new threats cropping up from unlikely places. Navigating through this strange new New Orleans, Tiana must work alongside Naveen and Charlotte to set things right―or risk losing everything she holds dear.
So This is Love by Elizabeth Lim
What if Cinderella never tried on the glass slipper?
Unable to prove that she’s the missing princess, and unable to bear life under Lady Tremaine any longer, Cinderella attempts a fresh start, looking for work at the palace as a seamstress.
But when the Grand Duke appoints her to serve under the king’s visiting sister, Cinderella becomes witness to a grand conspiracy to take the king—and the prince—out of power, as well as a longstanding prejudice against fairies, including Cinderella’s own Fairy Godmother.
Faced with questions of love and loyalty to the kingdom, Cinderella must find a way to stop the villains of past and present... before it’s too late.
Unbirthday by Liz Braswell
What if Wonderland was in peril and Alice was very, very late?
Alice is different than other eighteen-year-old ladies in Kexford, which is perfectly fine with her. She’d rather spend golden afternoons with her trusty camera or in her aunt Vivian’s lively salon, ignoring her sister’s wishes that she stop all that “nonsense” and become a “respectable” member of society.
Alice is happy to meander to Miss. Yao’s teashop or to visit the children playing in the Square. She’s also interested in learning more about the young lawyer she met there, but just because she’s curious, of course, not because he was sweet and charming.
But when Alice develops photographs she has recently taken about town, familiar faces of old suddenly appear in the place of her actual subjects-the Queen of Hearts, the Mad Hatter, the Caterpillar.
There’s something eerily off about them, even for Wonderland creatures. And as Alice develops a self-portrait, she finds the most disturbing image of all, a badly-injured dark-haired girl asking for Alice’s help named Mary Ann.
Returning to the place of nonsense from her childhood, Alice finds herself on a mission to stop the Queen of Hearts’ tyrannical rule and to find her place in both worlds. But will she able to do so... before the End of Time?
What Once Was Mine by Liz Braswell
What if Rapunzel’s mother drank a potion from the wrong flower?
Desperate to save the life of their queen and her unborn child, the good citizens of the kingdom comb the land for the all-healing Sundrop flower to cure her . . . but someone mistakenly picks the blossom of the Moondrop instead. This shimmering flower heals the queen and she delivers a healthy baby girl with hair as silver and gray as the moon.
But with her mysterious hair comes dangerous magical powers: the power to hurt, not heal. For the safety of the kingdom, Rapunzel is locked away in a tower and put under the care of the powerful goodwife, Mother Gothel.
For eighteen years Rapunzel stays imprisoned in her tower, knowing she must protect everyone from her magical hair. When she finally decides to leave the only home she’s ever known—to see the floating lights that appear on her birthday—she gets caught up in an unexpected adventure with two thieves: a would-be outlaw named Gina, and Flynn Rider, a rogue on the run.
Before she can reach her happy ending, Rapunzel learns that there is far more to her story, and her magical hair, and her future than she ever knew.
When You Wish Upon a Star by Elizabeth Lim
What if the Blue Fairy wasn’t supposed to help Pinocchio?
“Starlight, star bright, first star I see tonight…” so begins the wish that changes everything—for Geppetto, for the Blue Fairy, and for a little puppet named Pinocchio. The Blue Fairy isn’t supposed to grant wishes in the small village of Pariva, but something about this one awakens some long-buried flicker within. Perhaps it’s the hope she senses beneath the old man’s loneliness.
Or maybe it’s the fact that long ago, before she was the Blue Fairy, she was a young woman named Chiara from this very village, one with a simple wish: to help others find happiness. Her sister Ilaria always teased her for this, for she had big dreams to leave their sleepy village and become a world-renowned opera singer. The two were close, despite their differences. While Ilaria would give anything to have a fairy grant her wish, Chiara didn’t believe in the lore for which their village was famous.
Forty years later, Chiara, now the Blue Fairy, defies the rules of magic to help an old friend. But she’s discovered by the Scarlet Fairy, formerly Ilaria, who, amid a decades-long grudge, holds the transgression against her sister. They decide to settle things through a good old-fashioned bet, with Pinocchio and Geppetto’s fate hanging in the balance.
Will the sisters find a way back to one another? Or is this, like many matters of the heart, a gamble that comes with strings?
Go the Distance by Jen Calonita
What if Meg had to become a Greek god?
After Hercules proves he’s a true hero and regains his godship, all seems right in the world. That is, until Zeus tells Meg that she can’t be with Hercules because she’s, well, mortal. Luckily, Hera has a solution, offering Meg a chance to prove herself worthy of a spot on Mt. Olympus–as a god. All Meg has to do is complete a mysterious quest.
The mission? Oh, just to rescue her ex’s current wife from the Underworld. The ex-boyfriend she saved by selling her soul to Hades. The ex-boyfriend who immediately moved on to someone else while she was stuck in the Underworld.
Can Meg put her past behind her and use her quick-wit to defeat monsters and gods alike, including the nefarious Hades? Will she finally figure out her place and contribution to the world? Or will her fear of commitment have her running away from an eternity of godhood with Herc?