December 2025 Reads: A Month of Fairy Tale and Folklore Retellings
Retellings remind me that stories are living things. They change depending on who tells them and when they are told.
There’s something about December that makes stories feel older, softer, and a little closer to folklore. Maybe it’s the longer, colder nights, but I found myself gravitating toward retellings and fairytales.
Every book I picked up this month circled back to stories I thought I already knew. Fairy tales, folklore, and classic adventures that all felt so familiar, but slowly revealed new emotional corners when told through different voices.
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Alongside my reading, I also had the opportunity to write The Jingle Man piece for a friend, which slipped perfectly into the folklore atmosphere that followed me all through December. It made for a remarkable reading month.
Here’s what I read in December:
The Girl In Red
by Christina Henry ⭐⭐⭐
Why I Picked It:
A dark, apocalyptic retelling of Little Red Riding Hood? Sold. I love dystopian reads, so this felt like it was going to be a perfect fit for me.
My Thoughts:
This one unfortunately landed as my biggest disappointment of the month. I loved the concept and was immediately drawn in by the narrative structure. The timeline shifts were engaging and what kept me going.
Watching Red move between past and present, learning pieces of what happened to her family in fragments, created real tension and curiosity. It kept me turning pages because I constantly wanted to know what happened in the missing spaces.
Peter Pan & Wendy
by J. M. Barrie ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Why I Picked It:
Reading the original Peter Pan felt necessary when a retelling of the classic was on my list! However, it felt like uncovering a story I thought I already knew… only to realize I had mostly been loving the adaptations my entire life.
My Thoughts:
What surprised me most was the absence of romance between Peter and Wendy. Growing up with film versions, I had always assumed their relationship carried a softer, more romantic thread. The original story is far more focused on childhood, imagination, and the refusal to grow up than it is on love.
Tiger Lily
by Jodi Lynn Anderson ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Why I Picked It:
This book has been sitting on my TBR just waiting for the perfect moment to be devoured… and devoured it was.
My Thoughts:
My standout read for December! This was easily the most impactful book of my month, and honestly, one of the more emotionally memorable reads I’ve had in a while. I haven’t stopped thinking about it since I turned the final page.
The prose was stunning, the retelling was deeply reflective, and the overall emotional weight of the story hangs heavy on your heart. It redefined the Peter Pan narrative for me in a way I never expected.
The Princess Bride
by William Goldman ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Why I Picked It:
One of my all-time-favorite movies ever. It was criminal that I hadn’t read the book that inspired it’s greatness.
My Thoughts:
This was one of those rare moments where I genuinely preferred the movie over the book. I still enjoyed reading it, especially seeing the story in its original literary form, but the movie version simply feels more balanced in its character dynamics. Buttercup’s characterization felt so much weaker to me; it made her out to be dumb.
Thus, the movie is now one of my favorite examples of an adaptation that makes intentional changes that enhance the experience built by the book.
The Summer War
by Naomi Novik ⭐⭐⭐
Why I Picked It:
Not a retelling, but fairytale-esque. The description had me intrigued: a witch accidentally cursing her brother? Sounds like my childhood dreams come true.
My Thoughts:
This was another huge disappointment for the month. The story never fully came together for me. I had no emotional investment and by the time I reached the ending, I found myself wondering what the story had ultimately been building toward. On the plus side, it was a novella — so not much of my time was spent on it.
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