The Bibliophile's Bookshelf

It’s a new theme for Saturday Spotlight!

May’s theme is retellings, which is fitting, because my first ARC books I am reading are retellings. I also just love retellings!

This week I am focusing on the Once Upon a Time series by Cameron Dokey. I have only read five of these books, but I have loved every single one I have read by her.

The five books I have read in the series is Beauty Sleep, Belle, Golden, The Storyteller’s Daughter, and Wild Orchid. Respectively, they are retellings of Sleeping Beauty, Beauty and the Beast, Rapunzel, One Thousand and One Arabian Nights, and Mulan. Belle is probably my favorite, though that may be because it was my first book by her.

These books have such unique twists and are very interesting. They are also super quick reads. A day or two at most. They are also light and breezy.

The romances are of course wonderful. They are very sweet and wholesome, and just really lovely.

I think Golden has the best twist though, and it is inspired by some family members of the author. Instead of having lots of hair, Rapunzel has alopecia and has never had hair a day in her life. And the witch is good! I love it so much.

I think these books also have the perfect amount of emotion and just feel real.

I have only read Wild Orchid and The Storyteller’s Daughter once, but I really enjoyed them. I think there are too few retellings of both of these, so it was nice to find retellings I enjoyed for these tales.

Cameron Dokey has a way of writing. I can’t really explain it, but it really appeals to me. A part of it might be that when the book starts, it often starts after the story has been done for years, so we get a feel for the story and characters before the story even starts.

Once Upon a Time by Cameron Dokey is a wonderful collection of retellings, with wholesome romances and interesting twists to beloved classics!