Mar. 18th, 2022

lirazel: An outdoor scene from the film Picnic at Hanging Rock (Default)
Lately, I've really been in the mood for a subgenre of fantasy I think of as smart old-school fairytale YA.

Some examples:
+ Robin McKinley's Beauty, Rose Daughter, Spindle's End, Chalice, Deerskin (I also love her other books, but they aren't on this list because they're a different subgenre in my mind)
+ Summers at Castle Auburn
+ The Perilous Gard
+ Book of a Thousand Days
+ Lud-in-the-Mist


Some that aren't quite in this genre but have similar feels:
+ Wise Child and Juniper
+ Spinning Silver and Uprooted


I am currently reading The Hollow Kingdom, which I think belongs in the "similar feel" category, but I'm not sure if I'm going to like it yet.


Does anyone have recs along these lines?


Some things to take into consideration:
+ I don't like 97% of contemporary YA (say, anything written after about 2005), but I am very willing to read MG if it's well-written enough
+ I have tried Juliet Marillier's Heart's Blood and bounced hard off the style. I do not think she is for me.
+ I have tried Mermaid Moon within the last couple of days and had the same experience (though the styles are opposite!)
+ I don't want to read something super fluffy. I recently reread Ella Enchanted and it's still so lovable! But it's a little fluffier than what I'm wanting right now.

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