Books like “Beauty”

What to read after “Beauty” by Robin McKinley: a list matched by tropes, mood and atmosphere. Under each book you will see what it has in common.

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1
A Court of Thorns and Roses
Sarah J. Maas · 2015
From the same world: “Fairy Tale Retelling”
Feyre kills a wolf in the winter woods and is taken to a magical realm as payment. In the Spring Court she learns the land is cursed, and her loathing for its high lord slowly turns into something she never expects.
2
Uprooted
Naomi Novik · 2015
From the same world: “Fairy Tale Retelling”
- Fairy Tale Retelling
- Slow Burn
Every ten years the wizard known as the Dragon takes one girl from Agnieszka's valley. When he chooses her instead of her best friend, she is carried to his tower, where she discovers a talent for magic, a growing bond with her cold teacher and the corrupted Wood that threatens them all.
3
Ella Enchanted
Gail Carson Levine · 1997
From the same world: “Fairy Tale Retelling”
- Fairy Tale Retelling
- Slow Burn
At birth Ella is given the gift of obedience, a curse that forces her to do whatever she is told. To escape a life of commands she sets out to find the fairy who blessed her, meeting a prince along the way.
4
A Curse So Dark and Lonely
Brigid Kemmerer · 2019
From the same world: “Fairy Tale Retelling”
Prince Rhen is cursed to relive his eighteenth year as a monster until a girl falls in love with him. Harper, torn from the modern world into his dying kingdom, only wants to go home, but the curse and the enemy at the gates will not wait.
5
Spinning Silver
Naomi Novik · 2018
From the same world: “Fairy Tale Retelling”
Miryem restores her family's moneylending business with a clever tongue, and her boast that she can spin silver into gold reaches the frozen Staryk king. Bound to his winter court, she must use her wits to protect both kingdoms from a bargain that could destroy them.
6
The Goose Girl
Shannon Hale · 2003
From the same world: “Fairy Tale Retelling”
- Fairy Tale Retelling
- Slow Burn
Princess Ani sails to a neighbouring kingdom to marry a prince she has never met, but on the journey her lady-in-waiting seizes her name and crown. Forced to work as a goose girl, Ani must keep her identity hidden and gently win back what was stolen.
7
Legends & Lattes
Travis Baldree · 2022
Similar atmosphere: “Comfort Read”
- Comfort Read
- Slow Burn
Viv, a battle-weary orc, trades her sword for an espresso machine and opens the first coffee shop in the city of Thune. With a hobgoblin carpenter, a reformed succubus and a skeletal latte artist, she builds a warm new life -- but her old mercenary crew has not finished with her yet.
8
Nettle & Bone
T. Kingfisher · 2022
From the same world: “Fairy Tale Retelling”
- Fairy Tale Retelling
Marra, a shy convent-raised princess, learns that no one will save her sister from a cruel prince -- so she decides to do it herself. Three impossible tasks, a gravewitch, a reluctant fairy godmother and a demon-possessed chicken later, she sets out to stop a king.
9
The Goblin Emperor
Katherine Addison · 2014
Similar atmosphere: “Comfort Read”
- Comfort Read
Maia, the exiled half-goblin youngest son, is unwanted and forgotten until an airship crash makes him emperor. He arrives at a hostile court with few allies and must learn whom to trust while trying to rule with kindness and stay alive.
10
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows · 2008
Similar atmosphere: “Comfort Read”
- Comfort Read
Writer Juliet Ashton begins a friendship in letters with the people of Guernsey, an island still marked by the German occupation. Through their stories of a secret reading group, she finds a community, a purpose and a reason to cross the sea herself.
11
Little Women
Louisa May Alcott · 1868
Similar atmosphere: “Comfort Read”
- Comfort Read
- Slow Burn
Four sisters grow up in a modest New England home while their father is away at war. They argue, make art, fall in love and learn to support one another through loss and change. A warm coming-of-age story about family, ambition and becoming yourself.
12
The Ugly Duchess
Eloisa James · 2012
From the same world: “Fairy Tale Retelling”
- Fairy Tale Retelling
- Slow Burn
Lady Theodora Saxby weds her childhood friend James, Duke of Ashbrook, in a marriage meant to save their families. When his secret betrayal comes to light he flees abroad, and years later returns a changed man, forcing them to decide what their convenient marriage is really worth.