— calendar girls —

Calendar Girls (#7 / July 2017): Best Fairytale Retelling

July 3, 2017

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Yaaaay it’s July! Which means that I’m very happy because it’s Summer (and cottage season in Canada), and that I’m also happy because it’s time for one of my favourite Calendar Girls Books prompts! This month it’s all about fairytale retellings. Some of you may have read in my previous posts that I really like the original fairytales (even the gruesome ones), and that I was a teaching assistant to a professor who taught fairytales at my university. I’m also a big fan of retellings, and wish that I had read more of them up to this point! I really didn’t realize how few of them I have read so far, until I went through my list and tried to pick my favourite. It’s quite sad actually, and I need to work on that. The good news is that I did manage to pick one, and it really is my favourite so far!

Also, for those of you who might have missed it, we have made some updates to Calendar Girls Books, specifically to when our montly #CGBchat is happening on Twitter. My co-host Melanie will also be hosting a read-a-long this month, to go with our fairytale retelling theme, and the book which she and other participants will be reading is Roseblood by A.G. Howard. You can read more about these updates here!

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For those of you new to Calendar Girls, it’s a blog event which I am co-hosting with my friend Melanie, and is inspired by Neil Sedaka’s 1961 song Calendar Girl. Just like in the song, we decided to use a specific theme for each month and choose a book based on these themes! The event is meant to incite discussions with other bloggers about books we’ve read and loved, is meant to help bloggers meet other bloggers, and also for bloggers and readers to find out about blogs and books which they normally may not have come across!

If this sounds like your cup of tea, please check out Melanie’s or my launch post for more info, and sign up if you are still interested after reading everything. Also, if you would like to see examples of past posts, you can look at Melanie and I’s June posts here and here, where the posts of other participants will also be listed. We’d love to have you join in the fun!

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And now…without further ado, here is my choice for July’s theme…

– Best Fairytale Retelling-

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Geekerella by Ashley Poston

Summary: Anything can happen once upon a con…

When geek girl Elle Wittimer sees a cosplay contest sponsored by the producers of Starfield, she has to enter. First prize is an invitation to the ExcelsiCon Cosplay Ball and a meet-and-greet with the actor slated to play Federation Prince Carmindor in the reboot. Elle’s been scraping together tips from her gig at the Magic Pumpkin food truck behind her stepmother’s back, and winning this contest could be her ticket out once and for all—not to mention a fangirl’s dream come true.

Teen actor Darien Freeman is less than thrilled about this year’s ExcelsiCon. He used to live for conventions, but now they’re nothing but jaw-aching photo sessions and awkward meet-and-greets. Playing Federation Prince Carmindor is all he’s ever wanted, but the diehard Starfield fandom has already dismissed him as just another heartthrob. As ExcelsiCon draws near, closet nerd Darien feels more and more like a fake—until he meets a girl who shows him otherwise.

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This book sounded very promising when I read the description and requested it for review, and I was very excited once I actually had it in my hands and began reading. Despite this, I did not expect this book to be as fantastic as it was! It is my favourite Cinderella retelling by far! Due to there being a conventions involved, I was worried that I wouldn’t get a lot of the references, or the main characters’ experiences. But this was not the case at all! This book was a lot about fandom, something which I’m passionate about (and it really makes you feel understood), and it was also about making the best out of what you have, and being the best you can be. It was just a wonderful book.

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All of the Cinderella plot points which were touched on were done so perfectly, and creatively…and the plot was just so good, that I finished this book in two sittings! (For more non-spoilery rambles about this book, you can check out my review here!) Also, I really had to mention the retelling which was in second place for me, and was in first place up until I read Geekerella, and that’s Cinder by Marissa Meyer. This book is another Cinderella retelling, but with a sci-fi twit. Meyer did such a great job of making this fairytale work in an environment which I didn’t think the original story would click with, and it’s just so good!

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Other Participants:

Melanie –> Alice Takes Back Wonderland by David D. Hammons

Darque @ Darque Dreamer Reads –> Mechanica by Betsy Cornwell

Thai @ Read Breath Repeat –> Cress by Marissa Meyer

Lauren @ Two Birds One Blog –> Fables vol.1-22 by Bill Willingham

Deanna @ Deanna Writs About… –> Hunted by Meagan Spooner

Sophie @ Beware of the Reader – Cinder by Marissa Meyer (no post)

Katie @ Never Not Reading – Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine

…more coming soon!

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And now for the August theme which
you picked through the use of the poll!

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and the August theme is

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calendar girls august theme

BEST HISTORICAL FICTION NOVEL!!!

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Even though I really like contemporary, I’m so glad that historical was picked when it had it’s third and last chance to be a Calendar Girls theme! We kept expecting it to get picked, and it just never did, so we were going to take it out of the running after this poll. But hurray, it won, and I cannot wait to see the books you guys will choose for August!

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bcd9fe86d963e85d6894868f56c48a3bTHANK YOU FOR READING MY CALENDAR GIRLS POST! HAVE YOU EVER READ ANY OF THE BOOKS OTHER PARTICIPANTS AND MYSELF HAVE MENTIONED? IF SO, WHAT DID YOU THINK? AND IF YOU HAVEN’T READ THEM YET, DO YOU WANT TO, OR NOT? HOWCOME? IF YOU ARE A CALENDAR GIRLS PARTICIPANT (AND EVEN IF YOU ARE NOT), YOU ARE WELCOME TO COMMENT ON ANYTHING REGARDING MY POST BELOW! ALSO, WE WOULD LIKE TO SAY THAT ALTHOUGH THE EVENT HAS THE WORD “GIRLS” IN THE TITLE, THIS DOES NOT MEAN THAT ALL GENDERS, SEXUALITIES, ETC. ARE NOT WELCOME! ALL ARE WELCOME! I LOOK FORWARD TO READING ALL OF YOUR COMMENTS!

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0 thoughts on “Calendar Girls (#7 / July 2017): Best Fairytale Retelling”

  1. Cinder and the Lunar Chronicles was much better than what I had anticipated them to be. I just finished reading The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry, and it’s a fantastic Historical Fiction novel. Definitely recommend!

    1. I agree! Cinder definitely surpassed my expectations! But then my expectations were high for Scarlet, and so I was let down a little bit by that one. Will have to read Cress as soon as I get it back from my sister, hehe. And oh thanks so much for the recommendation! I’ll be adding it to my TBR right now! 😀

  2. I’ve seen lots of talk about Geekerella but I’ve never read it. The Lunar Chronicles are some of the only retellings I’ve read. I didn’t expect to like Cinder at all but I really enjoyed it!

    1. Yes, Cinder was very good! I wasn’t sure what to expect when one blends a classic fairytale with science fiction, but Meyer made it work so well! I hope that you enjoy Geekerella as much as I did if you end up reading it!

  3. It’s hard to go wrong with Cinderella retellings, isn’t it? I don’t know that I’ve ever read a truly bad one. This one sounds so cute and everyone is just raving about it! I might have to read it once school starts.

    1. I hope that neither of us ever reads a bad one! Haha. It’s funny though, I thought that I would get sick of the Cinderella story, and not want to read more retellings, but I just absolutely love them! And I hope that you end up reading Geekerella! It was seriously so cute.

  6. Hi Flavia I could not participate this time but I would have chosen Cinder too. Now historical book that’s a tough one!!

    1. Awe it’s alright! We’re sad that we won’t have one of your posts to read this month, and hope to see you back in August! Cinder is quite awesome, and I’m happy to hear that you would have picked it! Looking forward to what you end up picking for historical 😉 Also, you’re on a trip right now, right?

  7. Love, love, love this choice, Flavia! Geekerella was one of the best retellings that I’ve ever seen, and it was so much fun with the way she did it and added in the fandom aspect. Wonderful choice!!
    P.S. I totally failed today and didn’t realize it was July? Therefore, I totally forgot there a Calendar Girls post to be done. XD

    1. Yaaay I’m so glad that you’ve read it too, and that you agree! It was really so so good. At first it felt a bit slow for me, but I’m glad that I pushed through that part because the rest was GOLD! And no worries! Do you think that you’ll still be making a post for fairytale retellings this month? I’d love to see what your choice would be!

  11. Hee hee! I love that you picked a geeky book, Flavia. That just makes me so happy because I think you and I can totally understand what it’s like to be in a fandom and want to protect and support that fandom in any way we can. I’ve actually gone to cons before and think I would really enjoy this book, but I was worried it might be a bit too cliche when I first saw it. Or like… too fluffy. (You know me and fluff. :p ) But given your glowing comments and the way it seems to really emphasize on the geek side of it, I think I could get into this fluffy book. Hee hee! Of course… that now means I have yet ANOTHER book to add to my TBR. Hahahahaha! Oh the things we must suffer through as readers. 😉

    1. Hehe yaaay! I’m definitely quite geeky myself, so this book really spoke to me. Also, I would HOPE that you like it, but thinking on it now am not sure if you would…? From what I know of your tastes anyway. You might enjoy it for the geekiness alone, and/or the creativity that went into HOW she re-told the story of Cinderella though? So, definitely give it a try (SOMEDAY, haha) And if not….she’s coming out with a sci-fi book in early 2018 that might interest you 😉

  12. Cinderella has never been one of my favourite of the fairytales but I think I could really get into this version. I’ve never heard of it before. I’ve had Cinder sitting on my shelf for YEARS I tried it once but ended up setting it aside and haven’t tried it again yet. I really figured Cinder was going to be so much more of a popular choice than it was because of all the hype around it.

    As always thanks for pointing me in the direction of a book I think I will like.

    1. Ahhhh yes I think you’d like Geekerella 🙂 and I hope that you get to read it soon. Our local library definitely has it if you wanted to read it first before deciding to buy or not. And ahhh Cinder I think did start a bit slow. It’s hard to remember because I read it about a year ago. But I think that it starts off slow because it’s the beginning of the series and it has to set everything that will be happening toward the middle and end of the first book, and also the rest of the books.

      And you’re very welcome! I love spreading the word about books that I love 😀

  15. […] Flavia – Geekerella by Ashley Poston Melanie – Alice Takes Back Wonderland by David D Hammons Darque  – Mechanica by Betsy Cornwell Thai  – Cress by Marissa Meyer Lauren  – Fables vol.1-22 by Bill Willingham Deanna  – Hunted by Meagan Spooner Sophie – Cinder(no post) by Marissa Meyer Katie  – Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine Mandy – Cress by Marissa Meyer Dawlyn & Krista – Cinder by Marissa Meyer Woah! So many choices, both well-known and those needing a little love from some amazing book bloggers. *hint hint* This is such an awesome list and Flavia and I loved how many different fairytales were represented this month and how so many different genres were represented! It goes to show fairytale retellings can be fun reads for every reader, wouldn’t you agree? […]

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