As the queer first daughter of Mexican immigrant parents, there was nothing I wanted more when I was growing up than finding representation and feeling seen…anywhere. It was rare with dolls, nonexistent in the princesses on the television screen, and forget about trying to find it in a bookstore. In recent years, more of a spotlight has begun to shine on diverse books, however the progress seems to be an illusion, tiny at best.
The Cooperative Children’s Book Center released a report on diversity in YA and children’s literature in 2019. According to the findings, “Our numbers continue to show what they have shown for the past 35 years: Despite slow progress, the number of books featuring BIPOC protagonists lags far behind the number of books with white main characters—or even those with animal or other characters. Taken together, books about white children, talking bears, trucks, monsters, potatoes, etc. represent nearly three quarters (71%) of children’s and young adult books published in 2019.”
Authors of color are heavily underrepresented in the industry, leaving young readers of color with the same void I felt all throughout my young adult life, and robbing young white readers from the chance of considering perspectives outside their communities. When we lose ourselves in a story, we are able to understand the characters and see their humanity. Books are where we empathize with people who may not look like us, speak like us, pray like us, or love like we do. Diverse reading is essential in helping people recognize their privilege and the unjust systems we live in, as well as teaching us how to do better.
With spooky season here and the end of the year around the corner, many readers are looking for books fitting for the season, or scrambling to hit their 2022 reading goal (like myself). Fret no more! Below is a list curated with nothing but diverse authors and characters in mind. To fulfill your diverse fairytale fantasies—and that of the teen I once was—they’re all retellings of the classic stories we grew up with!
There’s something in here for everyone—fantasy, romance, murder, LGBTQ representation, horror, and even poetry!
Once Upon a Diverse Character: 14 Classic Stories Reimagined
1. Pride by Ibi Zoboi
This story about one girl’s deep love for her community and the impacts of gentrification will have you saying, Elizabeth Bennet, who! It features a fleshed out cast of characters and a Bushwick so vibrant that it feels like a character itself. Strong female protagonist? Check. Enemies-to-lovers? Check. Fans of the original source of inspiration will find Pride a stellar modern retelling. It is important to note, however, that this tale about maintaining your identity in an ever changing world stands on its own. With beautiful poetry sprinkled throughout, you’ll be glad you picked it up!
In a timely update of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, National Book Award finalist Ibi Zoboi skillfully balances cultural identity, class, and gentrification against the heady magic of first love in her vibrant reimagining of this beloved classic. A smart, funny, gorgeous retelling starring all characters of color.
Zuri Benitez has pride. Brooklyn pride, family pride, and pride in her Afro-Latino roots. But pride might not be enough to save her rapidly gentrifying neighborhood from becoming unrecognizable.
When the wealthy Darcy family moves in across the street, Zuri wants nothing to do with their two teenage sons, even as her older sister, Janae, starts to fall for the charming Ainsley. She especially can’t stand the judgmental and arrogant Darius. Yet as Zuri and Darius are forced to find common ground, their initial dislike shifts into an unexpected understanding.
But with four wild sisters pulling her in different directions, cute boy Warren vying for her attention, and college applications hovering on the horizon, Zuri fights to find her place in Bushwick’s changing landscape, or lose it all.
2. A Blade So Black by L.L. McKinney
A Blade So Black delivers an irresistible urban fantasy retelling of Alice in Wonderland . . . but it’s not the Wonderland you remember.
The first time the Nightmares came, it nea rly cost Alice her life. Now she’s trained to battle monstrous creatures in the dark dream realm known as Wonderland with magic weapons and hardcore fighting skills. Yet even warriors have a curfew.
Life in real-world Atlanta isn’t always so simple, as Alice juggles an overprotective mom, a high-maintenance best friend, and a slipping GPA. Keeping the Nightmares at bay is turning into a full-time job. But when Alice’s handsome and mysterious mentor is poisoned, she has to find the antidote by venturing deeper into Wonderland than she’s ever gone before. And she’ll need to use everything she’s learned in both worlds to keep from losing her head . . . literally.
Debut author L.L. McKinney delivers an action-packed twist on an old classic, full of romance and otherworldly intrigue.
3. The Wrath and the Dawn by Renée Ahdieh
A One Thousand and One Nights retelling! Must more be said? The Wrath & the Dawn makes it to the list just in time for Scorpio season. This action-packed tale about revenge introduces something fresh and original to the fantasy genre. The author brings to life this story with bewitching prose and characters with great emotional depth. The worldbuilding is so fantastic that you won’t want to escape. Thankfully, when you put this one down, you can continue the adventure in The Rose & the Dagger.
One Life to One Dawn.
In a land ruled by a murderous boy-king, each dawn brings heartache to a new family. Khalid, the eighteen-year-old Caliph of Khorasan, is a monster. Each night he takes a new bride only to have a silk cord wrapped around her throat come morning. When sixteen-year-old Shahrzad’s dearest friend falls victim to Khalid, Shahrzad vows vengeance and volunteers to be his next bride. Shahrzad is determined not only to stay alive, but to end the caliph’s reign of terror once and for all.
Night after night, Shahrzad beguiles Khalid, weaving stories that enchant, ensuring her survival, though she knows each dawn could be her last. But something she never expected begins to happen: Khalid is nothing like what she’d imagined him to be. This monster is a boy with a tormented heart. Incredibly, Shahrzad finds herself falling in love. How is this possible? It’s an unforgivable betrayal. Still, Shahrzad has come to understand all is not as it seems in this palace of marble and stone. She resolves to uncover whatever secrets lurk and, despite her love, be ready to take Khalid’s life as retribution for the many lives he’s stolen. Can their love survive this world of stories and secrets?
4. Ash by Malinda Lo
Cinderella has been redone time and time again, but Ash brings a unique and captivating twist of darkness and lore in her sapphic novel. This book, written by a queer Chinese-American author, holds so much that many of us dreamed of as little kids. There isn’t a lot of LGBTQ representation in the fairytale world, making the strong characterization of this bisexual heroine feel like somewhat of a revolution. You think you already know this story, but you’ll be guessing until the last page.
The haunting, romantic lesbian retelling of Cinderella and modern queer classic by award-winning author Malinda Lo–now with an introduction by Holly Black, a letter from the author, a Q&A, and more!
In the wake of her father’s death, Ash is left at the mercy of her cruel stepmother. Consumed by grief, her only joy comes by the light of the dying hearth fire, rereading the fairy tales her mother once told her. In her dreams, someday the fairies will steal her away. When she meets the dark and dangerous fairy Sidhean, she believes that her wish may be granted.
The day that Ash meets Kaisa, the King’s Huntress, her heart begins to change. Instead of chasing fairies, Ash learns to hunt with Kaisa. Their friendship, as delicate as a new bloom, reawakens Ash’s capacity for love–and her desire to live. But Sidhean has already claimed Ash for his own, and she must make a choice between fairy tale dreams and true love.
Entrancing and empowering, Ash beautifully unfolds the connections between life and love, and solitude and death, where transformation can come from even the deepest grief.
5. Cinderella is Dead by Kalynn Bayron
Another Cinderella retelling? Black and lesbian representation? Badass feminist heroine? Yes, please! Cinderella is Dead is just like it sounds, deliciously dark, disturbing, and dystopian. Add to your TBR if you love to see girlies taking down the corrupt systems that hold them down.
It’s 200 years after Cinderella found her prince, but the fairy tale is over. Teen girls are now required to appear at the Annual Ball, where the men of the kingdom select wives based on a girl’s display of finery. If a suitable match is not found, the girls not chosen are never heard from again.
Sixteen-year-old Sophia would much rather marry Erin, her childhood best friend, than parade in front of suitors. At the ball, Sophia makes the desperate decision to flee, and finds herself hiding in Cinderella’s mausoleum. There, she meets Constance, the last known descendant of Cinderella and her step sisters. Together they vow to bring down the king once and for all–and in the process, they learn that there’s more to Cinderella’s story than they ever knew . . .
This fresh take on a classic story will make readers question the tales they’ve been told, and root for girls to break down the constructs of the world around them.
6. Where the Rhythm Takes You by Sarah Dass
Where the Rhythm Takes You, inspired by Jane Austen’s Persuasion, is a sweet coming-of-age tale that takes you on the rollercoaster of a ride that is first love. It explores themes of love, growing up, and grief. The author vividly brings to life the beautiful and vibrant island of Tobago, as well as the deep resonating characters you’ll soon grow attached to.
Inspired by Jane Austen’s Persuasion, Where the Rhythm Takes You is a romantic, mesmerizing novel of first love and second chances.
Seventeen-year-old Reyna has spent most of her life at the Plumeria, her family’s gorgeous seaside resort in Tobago. But what once seemed like paradise is starting to feel more like purgatory. It’s been two years since Reyna’s mother passed away, two years since Aiden—her childhood best friend, first kiss, first love, first everything—left the island to pursue his music dreams.
Reyna’s friends are all planning their futures and heading abroad. Even Daddy seems to want to move on, leaving her to try to keep the Plumeria running.
And that’s when Aiden comes roaring back into her life—as a VIP guest at the resort.
Aiden is now one-third of DJ Bacchanal—the latest, hottest music group on the scene. While Reyna has stayed exactly where he left her, Aiden has returned to Tobago with his Grammy-nominated band and two gorgeous LA socialites. And he may (or may not be) dating one of them…
7. Debating Darcy by Sayantani DasGupta
Indian author Sayantani DasGupta introduces us to a feminist reimagination of Pride & Prejudice in her hilarious YA debut. If you’re a sucker for witty banter and romantic tension you could cut with a knife, then this one belongs on your TBR. The upgrades to these modern and diverse characters rival Jane Austen’s originals.
This Pride & Prejudice retelling brings New York Times bestselling Sayantani DasGupta’s trademark wit and insight to her bright and funny YA debut!
It is a truth universally acknowledged that Leela Bose plays to win.
A life-long speech competitor, Leela loves nothing more than crushing the competition, all while wearing a smile. But when she meets the incorrigible Firoze Darcy, a debater from an elitist private school, Leela can’t stand him. Unfortunately, he’ll be competing in the state league, so their paths are set to collide.
But why attempt to tolerate Firoze when Leela can one-up him? The situation is more complicated than Leela anticipated, though, and her participation in the tournament reveals that she might have tragically misjudged the debaters — including Firoze Darcy — and more than just her own winning streak is at stake…her heart is, too.
Debating Darcy is bestselling author Sayantani DasGupta’s reinterpretation of beloved classic Pride and Prejudice — imaginative, hilarious, thought-provoking, and truly reflective of the complex, diverse world of American high school culture.
8. Within These Wicked Walls by Lauren Blackwood
The spooky, gothic, and haunted house vibes in Within These Walls make it an ideal read for Halloween. This Ethiopian-inspired retelling of Jane Eyre is perfect for fans of horror and action-packed fantasy who also get weak in the knees for flirty banter. Pull up a chair and hang tight, because there is a lot of all of the above in this one!
What the heart desires, the house destroys…
Andromeda is a debtera—an exorcist hired to cleanse households of the Evil Eye. She would be hired, that is, if her mentor hadn’t thrown her out before she could earn her license. Now her only hope of steady work is to find a Patron—a rich, well-connected individual who will vouch for her abilities.
When a handsome young heir named Magnus Rochester reaches out to hire her, she takes the job without question. Never mind that he’s rude and demanding and eccentric, that the contract comes with a number of outlandish rules… and that almost a dozen debtera had quit before her. If Andromeda wants to earn a living, she has no choice.
But she quickly realizes this is a job like no other, with horrifying manifestations at every turn, and that Magnus is hiding far more than she has been trained for. Death is the most likely outcome if she stays, the reason every debtera before her quit. But leaving Magnus to live out his curse alone isn’t an option because—heaven help her—she’s fallen for him.
9. These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong
If you have yet to read These Violent Delights, stop everything you are doing and get to it NOW. Chloe Gong is guaranteed to break your heart in her magical debut. With stunning prose and meticulously developed characters, not to mention the scathing discourse against colonialism, this book is bound to make a powerful impact. Make sure you free time up on your agenda when you do pick it up, because this story will have you in a chokehold.
The year is 1926, and Shanghai hums to the tune of debauchery.
A blood feud between two gangs runs the streets red, leaving the city helpless in the grip of chaos. At the heart of it all is eighteen-year-old Juliette Cai, a former flapper who has returned to assume her role as the proud heir of the Scarlet Gang—a network of criminals far above the law. Their only rivals in power are the White Flowers, who have fought the Scarlets for generations. And behind every move is their heir, Roma Montagov, Juliette’s first love…and first betrayal.
But when gangsters on both sides show signs of instability culminating in clawing their own throats out, the people start to whisper. Of a contagion, a madness. Of a monster in the shadows. As the deaths stack up, Juliette and Roma must set their guns—and grudges—aside and work together, for if they can’t stop this mayhem, then there will be no city left for either to rule.
Perfect for fans of The Last Magician and Descendant of the Crane, this heart-stopping debut is an imaginative Romeo and Juliet retelling set in 1920s Shanghai, with rival gangs and a monster in the depths of the Huangpu River.
10. Anna K: A Love Story by Jenny Lee
Anna Karenina meets Gossip Girl and Crazy Rich Asians! Yet, it’s so much more! This story is compelling and heartfelt, and will leave you needing a moment, or a week, to gather yourself. Bring out the tissues because Anna K will have you fully sobbing, don’t say you weren’t warned!
Every happy teenage girl is the same, while every unhappy teenage girl is miserable in her own special way.
Meet Anna K. At seventeen, she is at the top of Manhattan and Greenwich society (even if she prefers the company of her horses and Newfoundland dogs); she has the perfect (if perfectly boring) boyfriend, Alexander W.; and she has always made her Korean-American father proud (even if he can be a little controlling). Meanwhile, Anna’s brother, Steven, and his girlfriend, Lolly, are trying to weather a sexting scandal; Lolly’s little sister, Kimmie, is struggling to recalibrate to normal life after an injury derails her ice dancing career; and Steven’s best friend, Dustin, is madly (and one-sidedly) in love with Kimmie.
As her friends struggle with the pitfalls of ordinary teenage life, Anna always seems to be able to sail gracefully above it all. That is…until the night she meets Alexia “Count” Vronsky at Grand Central. A notorious playboy who has bounced around boarding schools and who lives for his own pleasure, Alexia is everything Anna is not. But he has never been in love until he meets Anna, and maybe she hasn’t, either. As Alexia and Anna are pulled irresistibly together, she has to decide how much of her life she is willing to let go for the chance to be with him. And when a shocking revelation threatens to shatter their relationship, she is forced to question if she has ever known herself at all.
Dazzlingly opulent and emotionally riveting, Anna K.: A Love Story is a brilliant reimagining of Leo Tolstoy’s timeless love story, Anna Karenina―but above all, it is a novel about the dizzying, glorious, heart-stopping experience of first love and first heartbreak.
11. Legendborn by Tracy Deonn
Featuring a Black heroine and a murder mystery, you have never seen King Arthur done like this before. Oh, and there’s romance! Legendborn brings a new spin on urban fantasy, touching on themes of racism, oppression, generational trauma, and grief. With a creative magical system, lyrical prose, and well-developed characters, you’ll dive right into the next book in the series after finishing this one.
After her mother dies in an accident, sixteen-year-old Bree Matthews wants nothing to do with her family memories or childhood home. A residential program for bright high schoolers at UNC–Chapel Hill seems like the perfect escape—until Bree witnesses a magical attack her very first night on campus.
A flying demon feeding on human energies.
A secret society of so called “Legendborn” students that hunt the creatures down.
And a mysterious teenage mage who calls himself a “Merlin” and who attempts—and fails—to wipe Bree’s memory of everything she saw.
The mage’s failure unlocks Bree’s own unique magic and a buried memory with a hidden connection: the night her mother died, another Merlin was at the hospital. Now that Bree knows there’s more to her mother’s death than what’s on the police report, she’ll do whatever it takes to find out the truth, even if that means infiltrating the Legendborn as one of their initiates.
She recruits Nick, a self-exiled Legendborn with his own grudge against the group, and their reluctant partnership pulls them deeper into the society’s secrets—and closer to each other. But when the Legendborn reveal themselves as the descendants of King Arthur’s knights and explain that a magical war is coming, Bree has to decide how far she’ll go for the truth and whether she should use her magic to take the society down—or join the fight.
12. Forest of a Thousand Lanterns by Julie C. Dao
Ruthlessness over romance! Craving a tale about a young woman who chooses ambition and power over the love of a handsome guy? Then, Forest of a Thousand Lanterns is for you! This story isn’t for those looking for a hero on their journey to defeat some evil force. Told through an unapologetic antihero narrative, this story explores how a villain is made and the darkness that can fester inside them.
Eighteen-year-old Xifeng is beautiful. The stars say she is destined for greatness, that she is meant to be Empress of Feng Lu. But only if she embraces the darkness within her.
Growing up as a peasant in a forgotten village on the edge of the map, Xifeng longs to fulfill the destiny promised to her by her cruel aunt, the witch Guma, who has read the cards and seen glimmers of Xifeng’s majestic future. But is the price of the throne too high? Because in order to achieve greatness, she must spurn the young man who loves her and exploit the callous magic that runs through her veins–sorcery fueled by eating the hearts of the recently killed. For the god who has sent her on this journey will not be satisfied until his power is absolute.
Set in an East Asian-inspired fantasy world filled with both breathtaking pain and beauty, Forest of a Thousand Lanterns possesses all the hallmarks of masterful fantasy: dazzling magic, heartbreaking romance, and a world that hangs in the balance. Fans of Heartless, Stealing Snow, and Red Queen will devour this stunning debut.
13. Of Curses and Kisses by Sandhya Menon
Indian-American author Sandhya Menon manages to flawlessly execute a creative new take on a tale as old as time. The slow-burn romance and Colorado mountain setting will suck you in, but it’s the characters that won’t let go. Luckily, you can spend more time with them because the second book in the series is already out on shelves, and there’s a third coming!
The first novel in a series set at an elite international boarding school, that’s a contemporary spin on Beauty and the Beast.
Will the princess save the beast?
For Princess Jaya Rao, nothing is more important than family. When the loathsome Emerson clan steps up their centuries-old feud to target Jaya’s little sister, nothing will keep Jaya from exacting her revenge. Then Jaya finds out she’ll be attending the same elite boarding school as Grey Emerson, and it feels like the opportunity of a lifetime. She knows what she must do: Make Grey fall in love with her and break his heart. But much to Jaya’s annoyance, Grey’s brooding demeanor and lupine blue eyes have drawn her in. There’s simply no way she and her sworn enemy could find their fairy-tale ending…right?
His Lordship Grey Emerson is a misanthrope. Thanks to an ancient curse by a Rao matriarch, Grey knows he’s doomed once he turns eighteen. Sequestered away in the mountains at St. Rosetta’s International Academy, he’s lived an isolated existence—until Jaya Rao bursts into his life, but he can’t shake the feeling that she’s hiding something. Something that might just have to do with the rose-shaped ruby pendant around her neck…
As the stars conspire to keep them apart, Jaya and Grey grapple with questions of love, loyalty, and whether it’s possible to write your own happy ending.
14. Never Look Back by Lilliam Rivera
This retelling of the Greek myth Orpheus and Eurydice is a story of magical realism. It explores cultural identity, grief, and first, true love.
Eury comes to the Bronx as a girl haunted. Haunted by losing everything in Hurricane Maria–and by an evil spirit, Ato. She fully expects the tragedy that befell her and her family in Puerto Rico to catch up with her in New York. Yet, for a time, she can almost set this fear aside, because there’s this boy . . .
Pheus is a golden-voiced, bachata-singing charmer, ready to spend the summer on the beach with his friends, serenading his on-again, off-again flame. That changes when he meets Eury. All he wants is to put a smile on her face and fight off her demons. But some dangers are too powerful for even the strongest love, and as the world threatens to tear them apart, Eury and Pheus must fight for each other and their lives.