Books like The Sister Who Ate Her Brothers — picked by fans

I adore this book!

It reminds me of the classic Joan Aiken/Jan Pienkowski fairy tale books of my childhood, such as The Kingdom Under the Sea. The amazing silhouette illustrations by Lorena Carrington just make it. Apparently, the girls in the images are Kate and Lorena’s daughters! 

I love how this book brings to light the many fairy tales from our past in which female characters are brave and resourceful. The stories don’t have to be changed; they already exist. Each tale comes with an introduction stating its source, and a little afterword from both Kate and Lorena, which feels cosy.

I was recommended this book at a local festival of African and Caribbean culture, by a storyteller who performed two of the tales from it - with music!

I love it that the tales come from many countries in the Caribbean, and reflect the many cultures that have gone into its melting pot, including West African, Indian and Indigenous peoples.

Even better, I don’t just get the tales, I get to hear about the tellers. Between the stories are recollections of the Windrush Generation, who emigrated from the Caribbean to Britain in the 1950s and 60s. As a British reader, I really appreciate that.

I remember the excitement when the news broke in 2009 that five hundred previously unknown German fairy tales had been discovered in an archive in Bavaria.

I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it. And I still love it now. As an amateur folklorist, I like the unembellished rawness of the tales. It can be weird at times, but it brings me closer to the original tellers all those years ago.

And the little commentaries and notes on each tale, comparing them with similar tales and giving each their Aarne-Thompson-Uther classification number. Super helpful, both for studying and retelling the tales.

As a Yorkshire lass, how could I not love a book of tales from my native soil and stones? I actually helped crowdfund this book, so was one of the first to read it.

I love that many of the tales are associated with real local places. I get very excited when it mentions somewhere I know well. I was especially happy to find a gender-reversed Rapunzel (or "Man In A Tower") story in here. You don’t normally get many of those.

The sea teems with enchanting creatures in this heartbreakingly lyrical middle-grade novel: redfish and electric eels and speckled trout, cabbage heads and jellyfish and flounders…and merfolk.

When everything goes wrong for ten-year-old Keeper on the day of a blue moon, she goes searching for her mother, who swam away and disappeared when Keeper was three. She must have been a mermaid, Keeper thinks. Why else would she have left? They say that mermaids gather at the sandbar on nights of a blue moon, and Keeper knows her mother can set things right. So she sets off in a small rowboat, late at night, to find her.   

This story is luminous. I love the sense of longing, the sense that the world of the Mer lives cheek by jowl beside the world in which floors must be swept and meals must be cooked and cleaned up after. You have a sense… show more.

This is what fairy tales would look like if they were gothic, so I love this book.

I read it a few years ago and fell in love with it. I purchased the print copy because I wanted the illustrations in front of me to look at too. Almost any story you read comes from a myth or a fairy tale if you deconstruct it, so reading this book keeps your brain tuned into this idea, but you don't need to be a writer to find delight in this book.

The cover of this book is quite lovely, too!

I absolutely loved the way that Emma wrote these characters. I related to Seraphina and fell for Rafe’s charm time and time again. They’re a couple that’s perfect for each other.

Some book couples you read and think they may not make it past the last page, but I could see these two together forever. The whole book made me swoon and laugh. 

I love, love, love this book, for so many reasons. My top two are: 1) It sits squarely in that odd ‘fantasy in a technological world’ niche (Imagine 1984’s world filled with fairies!) 2) It has an odd, dark humour feel to a book that I like (think Gaiman or Pratchett) And oh! The characters? Funny, clever, nuanced. Bum that was three wasn’t it? I’ll come in again.

Sometimes you simply want all, I get it. That’s part of the reason why so many fairy tale characters know each other in my series, so why not try a brand-new fantasy romance anthology? Featuring 20 different short stories and authors, Once Upon A Forbidden Desire is bound to be magical. If you are anything like me, you have a long to-do list and there never seems like enough time. Short stories are the perfect thing for that in my opinion. I always savor them like an advent calendar’s candy.

Wolves and Roses is a fun and snarky start to a big series in which humans exist in a modern world alongside shifters, witches, and fairies. Sounds fun, right?

Bryar Rose is expected to follow the Sleeping Beauty story template for her life. Unfortunately, something glitched in her personality, because no part of that story appeals to who she truly is, or what she wants out of life. When Bryar meets Knox, a powerful werewolf shifter in the midst of his own identity crisis, sparks fly.

If you enjoy strong, rebellious female leads and bad-boy heroes (yes, please!), this book has all those vibes, plus intrigue, witty banter (my fave), and action. Fans of alternate-history fantasy, paranormal romance, and modern-set fairy tale retellings should add this book to their TBR.