Book cover of Disfigured: On Fairy Tales, Disability, and Making Space

Book description

A CBC BOOKS BEST NONFICTION OF 2020
AN ENTROPY MAGAZINE BEST NONFICTION 2020/21
A NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY BOOK OF THE DAY (07/23/2022)


Fairy tales shape how we see the world, so what happens when you identify more with the Beast than Beauty?

If every disabled character is mocked and…

When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

Why read it?

1 author picked Disfigured as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

It’s almost hard to explain what you love about a book that makes you feel seen as a person while digging into the problems seen in fairy tales regarding disability. It’s almost as if I didn’t love the book so much as I needed it. 

It feels like necessary reading, in a way. But her writing is also so beautiful. There’s a haunting quality to hearing about the psychological ramifications of fairy tales.

It’s disheartening to think my love for The Little Mermaid might have come from my feeling different and unable to do what some other kids could. It’s…

If you love Disfigured...

Book cover of These Blue Mountains

These Blue Mountains by Sarah Loudin Thomas,

A moving story of love, betrayal, and the enduring power of hope in the face of darkness.

German pianist Hedda Schlagel's world collapsed when her fiancé, Fritz, vanished after being sent to an enemy alien camp in the United States during the Great War. Fifteen years later, in 1932, Hedda…

Want books like Disfigured?

Our community of 13,000+ authors has personally recommended 100 books like Disfigured.

Browse books like Disfigured

Book cover of The Beast's Garden
Book cover of Grimm Tales: For Young and Old
Book cover of Through the Woods

Share your top 3 reads of 2025!

And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.

1,395

readers submitted
so far, will you?

📚 If you like Disfigured, you might also like...

Book cover of Need to Know: World War II and the Rise of American Intelligence

Need to Know by Nicholas Reynolds,

The authoritative but accessible history of the birth of modern American intelligence in World War II that treats not just one but all of the various disciplines: spies, codebreakers, saboteurs.

Told in a relatable style that focuses on actual people, it was a New Yorker "Best of 2022" selection and…

Book cover of Tsunami

Tsunami by LeeAnn Pickrell,

On the morning of December 26, 2004, an undersea earthquake struck off the coast of Sumatra in the Indian Ocean. The resulting tsunami killed an estimated 230,000 people across fourteen countries, from Indonesia to Sri Lanka to Thailand to the Maldives to India and all the way to East Africa.…

5 book lists we think you will like!