A Midsummer's Night Giveaway: Wrap-up

Due to the miracle of a part-time job, I unable to post up the completed wrap-up post quite yet (I will edit this post later with it and then tweet it out so you all know). BUT I couldn't keep the winners to myself any longer.

*drumroll*

Winner #1 is Erleen with a winning entry of following Cosy Dragon~ She got her e-mail last night and has already picked out Goose Girl/Enna Burning.

Winner #2 is Alex @ Raiding Bookshelves with the winning entry of a tweet, in fact her FINAL tweet, so it goes to show all that tweeting helps. She ended up picking out Ice.

And finally,

Winner #3 is Sam Sain thanks to following me on twitter. Her choice ended up being Toads and Diamonds

As for everyone else, THANK YOU SO MUCH for participating and I'm sorry everyone couldn't win. I hope you enjoyed learning about different fairytale books and stay tuned to this post to get the official wrap-up with links to EVERYTHING.

UPDATE:So here's our Midsummer Night's Giveaway Wrap-Up!

Sunday!

A Journey Through Pages: 

A Midsummer's Night Giveaway: An Introduction

The Cosy Dragon:
Midsummer Night's Giveaway (Fairytale Adaptations)

Monday!

A Journey Through Pages: 

A Midsummer's Night Giveaway: The Basic Fantasy Retelling

The Cosy Dragon:
Book Review: Mercedes Lackey - One Good Knight
Raiding Bookshelves:
A Midsummer's Night Giveaway: The Twelve Dancing Princesses

 

Tuesday!

A Journey Through Pages: 

A Midsummer's Night Giveaway: Something Different

The Cosy Dragon:
Book Review: Mercedes Lackey - Fortune's Fool
Raiding Bookshelves:
A Midsummers Night's Giveaway: Beauty and the Beast

Wednesday!

A Journey Through Pages: 

A Midsummer's Night Giveaway: The YA Paranormal Versions
The Cosy Dragon: 

Book Review: Mercedes Lackey - The Snow Queen
Raiding Bookshelves:
A Midsummers Night's Giveaway: Rumplestiltskin

Thursday!
A Journey Through Pages: 
A Midsummer's Night Giveaway: Cultural and Historical
The Cosy Dragon:
Book Review: Mercedes Lackey - The Sleeping Beauty

Friday!

A Journey Through Pages: 

A Midsummer's Night Giveaway: High Fantasy

The Cosy Dragon:
Book Review: J. K. Rowling - The Tales of Beedle the Bard

Saturday!

A Journey Through Pages: 

A Midsummer's Night Giveaway: My Final Thoughts

A Midsummer's Night Giveaway: My Final Thoughts

Between books, movies and television shows, fairytale adaptations seem to be getting more and more popular. Disney has returned to doing them, shows like "Grimm" and "Once Upon A Time" have been very popular. Two movie adaptions of "Snow White and the Seven Dwarves" came out this year and at the very least in books we got Wrecked and Cinder.

Now before I post up the wrap-up and winners post, I wanted to talk about my favourite fairytales, since I realized I haven't mentioned them at all (and since I asked all of you it's only fair). There are two, and I have actually finished a visual novel based one one of them and before I went off to study abroad in Japan this fall was almost done with the demo for the other (which is much, much bigger and more gamelike).

"Snow White and Rose Red" is a story about two sisters, a bear and a greedy dwarf. Like "Goose Girl" it is one of the Brothers Grimms' longer stories. It is also notoriously disconnected and all over the place, yet I have found myself consistantly drawn to it.

Obviously I am not the only one since there are actually quite a few adaptions of this fairytale into books, one of which by Patricia C. Wrede.

I think there is something about the idea of two very close, but very different sisters that tends to spark interest.

I started writing/drawing/programming/designing this visual novel game a couple of years ago, and my love of the story keeps me coming back to it.

The other tale that I've always been drawn to is another Brothers Grimm, "Rapunzel". Last year I adapted it into a small, short game/novel. What I always loved about this tale is the dynamic between the witch and Rapunzel. It is a story of overprotective love, abadonment, love and rebellious teenagers to the ultimate extent. Sometimes while reading the tale I don't know who I want to feel sorry for, which makes it a really fun fairytale to adapt. The characters all seem to be so much more than what they appear  on the outside.

Yet despite that, because Rapunzel is stuck in the tower and many people can find that boring there seem to be fewer adaptations of this tale despite its obvious popularity. There is Disney's "Tangled" which did work hard to explore the witch/Rapunzel aspect, but felt the need to take Rapunzel out of the tower or have the movie suffer.

Oh and just in case you were curious, the game is available to download HERE








Thank you everyone for participating in the giveaway, following me and my fellow bloggers and reading any of my posts. Despite my crazy week I've had a lot of fun and I'd love to do it again for another genre in the future (possibly Dystopias).

A Midsummer's Night Giveaway: High Fantasy

Today's post uses Wildwood Dancing by Juliet Marillier as a jumping point.

Read my review of this book: Wildwood Dancing Review

Marillier has a very distinct high fantasy style of writing. It is not surprising that many of her books teeter between being considered YA or Adult. On one hand the protagonist is often younger, and on the other there is a maturity and complexity to her style that many people nowadays are not used to in the YA genre.

So most other fairytale adaptations in the style of what I like to call "High Fantasy" are adult adaptations. Because I use books as an escape from hectic, stressful life I find myself usually drawn to simplistic styles of writing (MG and YA), so I am not well versed in adult adaptations of fairytales BUT Rose over at The Cosy Dragon even states in her intro post that she is the opposite, so to learn more about what kind of adult adaptations are this high fantasy style, she would def know more.

As for the fairytale, Alex at Raiding Bookshelves actually wrote a post dedicated to it, "The Twelve Dancing Princesses". This might honestly be the most popular fairytale for YA/MG authors to adapt. Other books include: Princess of the Midnight Ball by Jessica Day George, Entwined by Heather Dixon, The Thirteenth Princess by Diane Zahler, and The Princess Curse by Merrie Haskell. What exactly makes this so popular to adapt, I'm not entirely sure. It might be the whole mystery, danger and time running out aspect.

TOMORROW will be the final day for the giveaway which will end Sunday, June 22nd at Midnight USA Eastern Time. I plan on posting my "final words" on the adaptions tomorrow and then Sunday there will be a wrap up posts with the winners. I will include links to the reviews and posts related to the giveaway from all three participating blogs.

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A Midsummer's Night Giveaway: Cultural and Historical

Today's post uses Toads and Diamonds by Heather Tomlinson as a jumping point.

Read my review of this book: Toads and Diamonds Review

One of the great thing about fairytales is how, although in the US at least they are mostly thought of as taking place in Western Europe, their stories are often just the skeleton, lacking cultural, historical and setting details that mark it as being able to only take place in a Western  Culture. On top of that, many fairytales contain motifs and tropes that are easily put together in other cultures. For example, "Cinderella"s elements are seen in fairytale/legends from all over the world (Cruel Mother, Made to Work, Lost Item).

So a really cool thing that an author can do in a fairytale adaptation, is take one that we may think of as Western and stick it in a completely different culture, or at least one that many readers do not know as much.

In the case of Toads and Diamonds we are thrust in to the cultures of India, Hindu and Muslim. We not only get the enjoyment of the tale, but we learn about these cultures. In the custom of YA, I don't know many others that do this with non-Western culures (Although Wrede's Snow White and Rose Red historically portrays Elizabethan England and Wildwood Dancing the culture of Transylvania), but I really wish there were more because it brings so many things together.

Also! Another post up from Raiding Bookshelves:

A Midsummers Night's Giveaway: Rumplestiltskin

And don't forget to check up on both Raiding Bookshelves and The Cosy Dragon for fairytale themed book reviews that they've been posting.

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A Midsummer's Night Giveaway: The YA Paranormal Versions

Today's post uses Wrecked by Anna Davies as a jumping point.

Read my review of this book: Wrecked Review

Wrecked is written in a style that is very, very well known to anyone who reads a lot of Young Adult books nowadays. That style would be the very popular style of YA Paranormal. I have to admit, YA Paranormal is not  my personal style so I tend to be a bit hard on it. I'm not much for the drama and angst that these books are full of.

Although when it comes to fairytales, The Little Mermaid is a perfect for the drama/angst formula.

This style is becoming somewhat popular. The most popular fairytale adaptation in this style is hands down Beastly by Alex Finn. Although there was that "Red Riding Hood" movie that they actually wrote a book from that fits the bill as well. I really do think with fairytales becoming more popular, we'll see more and more of this style coming about.

As for The Little Mermaid, there are a few other adaptations out there, as the fairytale itself is very popular, but I feel like Disney took the cake here and a lot of writers have a hard time competing with such a heavy weight. Wrecked sets itself apart, for sure, by switching the male/female roles of the original tale.

Also, check out the "Beauty and the Beast" Themed post over at Raiding Bookshelves:

A Midsummers Night's Giveaway: Beauty and the Beast

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A Midsummer's Night Giveaway: Something Different

Today's post uses Ice by Sarah Beth Durst as a jumping point.

Read my review of this book: Ice Review

Ice sticks out from other fairytale retellings immediately. It is some parts Contemporary, some parts Science Fiction, some parts Mythological Fantasy. It's hard to put any other books in the same style of this retelling. It's got a very adult feeling to it, more similar to books that have parts of Mythology involved such as O.R. Melling's The Book of Dreams and my recently read The Guardian of the Dead by Karen Healey.

It is somewhat similar in style to Cinder by Marissa Meyer, yet that is a bit of a stretch.

The fairytale it is based on, "East of the Sun, West of the Moon" may be the second most popular fairytale to retell nowadays. It isn't too surprising, however, as it is such a strange tale to begin with, and then add a strong dose of strong girl power, rare with fairytales. Another version I enjoy is Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow by Jessica Day George.

This does win, hands down, the most original YA retelling that I have ever found.

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A Midsummer's Night Giveaway: The Basic Fantasy Retelling

Today's post uses The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale as a jumping point.

Read my review of this book: The Goose Girl Review

The Goose Girl is a prime example of what I like to call the basic fantasy retelling of a fairytale. The style of writing is very comforting, very before-bed, very Disney-esque. The world-building lives to serve the fairytale and expand on an already interesting tale. These books are some of my all time favourites. For me Ella Enchanted is a great example of the same feeling.

Usually Middle-Grade novels are where you most find this kind of style of writing, but when focusing on fairytales, legends, mythology or fantasy, it fits perfectly. This book was in fact my reintroduction to fairytale adaptations after growing up on Disney and Gail Carson Levine.

As for the fairytale in question. "The Goose Girl" is one by Brothers Grimm, but it stands out as being quite long in a collection of very short stories. It is also very detailed, including names of characters who are only minor. Shannon Hale's version is a very true retelling, with pretty much everything included in the original tale, included in her version.

In Other News, Alexandra @ Raiding Bookshelves has hopped onto the giveaway, go ahead and check out her post focusing on the "Twelve Dancing Princesses": The Twelve Dancing Princesses

As for Rose @ The Cosy Dragon, if you haven't visited her opening post yet here it is: Midsummer's Night Giveaway (Fairytale Adaptations)

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A Midsummer's Night Giveaway: An Introduction

Fairytales have captured the world for ages. Classicists put them in the same categories as Myth, Legends and Folklore with similar reoccurring themes and use as both explaining nature and teaching lessons.

The most famed collection of fairytales is that of the Grimm Brother's. Their collection of tales include oral folklore, previously published and popular tales (Rapunzel being an example), and stories that they even wrote themselves. Many of the tales had gruesome bits to them, as was the style of tales such as them.

Most of what Western Society thinks of when they think of fairytales are those collected by them. Other tales however are for the most part from the European region, some possibly originally written by authors, others a version of a oral retelling.

The tradition of retelling tales and putting one's own spin on them has never died down, even in modern society. The biggest example is that of Disney, who starting with Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, created a legacy of fairytale retelling. There were many novels that set out to retell the tales as well, in the late  80's and early 90's there was a boom where several fairytale adaptations were published in a collection.

Once again, however, fairytales are starting to regain their popularity, more coming out every year (the big one this year of course being Cinder). This is especially true in the age group of Young Adult.

Which brings us to my focus this Midsummer Week. I adore fairytales, completely obsessed, I am slowly but surely making my way through most of the YA retellings that are even available out there. This week for example I'm reading a version of "Red Riding Hood" by the name of Sisters Red, a version of "Toads and Diamonds" called Once Upon A Toad and then finally a free-for-all retelling by the name of The Grimm Legacy.


I wanted to spend this week discussing the different ways YA authors adapt fairytales, the tales that are the most common (Did you know there are over five versions of "Twelve Dancing Princesses" that have been published of late?). The posts will be focused on each of the five prizes winners will be able to choose from.

Monday: Focus on The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale

Tuesday: Focus on Ice by Sarah Beth Durst

Wednesday: Focus on Wrecked by Anna Davies

Thursday: Focus on Toads and Diamonds by Heather Tomlinson

Friday: Focus on Wildwood Dancing by Juliet Marillier

These five books are so incredibly different and at least three of them rank a some of my all time favourite books that I have ever read.

As I post about these Rose over at The Cosy Dragon will be posting some posts and reviews related to fairytale retellings (and fairytale inspired books).

Now for the Giveaway which starts TODAY! First of all this giveaway is International since I know many of my followers aren't from the USA like myself, my wallet may try and argue with me, but I'd die to not be able to open it to everyone.

There will be 3 winners, which means that even the 3rd winner should have a bit of a choice between the prizes available. All the books available for prizes (except Enna Burning, The Goose Girl's sequel that I have an extra of, so I'm throwing it in as well) will have reviews that I will link to on their focus post so that you guys can know at least my opinion on each prize.

All in all, Have a Happy Summer Solstice and Good Luck!

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