Home › Lesbian Books › Sapphic Retellings
Cinderella, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty and more, told with girls who love girls.
14 books · 13 with full LRR reviews · 6 YA · 8 adult · original story named for every pick
The best sapphic retellings are Ash by Malinda Lo, the classic lesbian Cinderella, Cinderella Is Dead by Kalynn Bayron, which burns the fairy tale down, and Malice by Heather Walter, Sleeping Beauty from the villain’s side. For sapphic retelling books for adults with a guaranteed happy ending, try Embers.
Each card names the story being retold, says whether the book is YA or adult and tells you how it ends, including the duologies that stop on a cliffhanger.
Thirteen of the fourteen have full LRR reviews.
Sapphic Retellings at a Glance
| Book | Retelling of | Audience | Heat | Ending |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ash | Cinderella | YA | 1/5 | Happy |
| Cinderella Is Dead | Cinderella, two hundred years later | YA | 1/5 | Hopeful |
| Girls Made of Snow and Glass | Snow White | YA | 1/5 | Not confirmed |
| Malice | Sleeping Beauty, the villain’s side | Adult | Slow burn | Cliffhanger, duology |
| Embers | Cinderella, butch/femme | Adult | 3/5 | Fairy-tale HEA |
| A Sweet Sting of Salt | Selkie folktale | Adult | 2/5 | Happy |
The Best Sapphic Retellings
Six retellings, from YA classics to adult romance.
Ash
Malinda Lo · YA · 2009
After her father dies, Ash is left with a cruel stepmother and a dangerous fairy who wants her. Then she meets the King’s Huntress.
The sapphic Cinderella that mattered enormously in 2009, with some of the loveliest prose in YA fantasy. Slow, so let it take its time.
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Cinderella Is Dead
Kalynn Bayron · YA · 2020
Two hundred years after Cinderella, every girl must attend the royal ball to be chosen. Sophia would rather marry her best friend Erin, and then she decides to burn the whole story down.
Furious and fast. The romance arrives late, but the rebellion is the point.
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Girls Made of Snow and Glass
Melissa Bashardoust · YA · 2017
Snow White retold with the stepmother and stepdaughter at the center, and their bond as the real love story. A sapphic romance runs alongside.
Thoughtful and quiet. The first half is slow.
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Malice
Heather Walter · Malice Duology #1
Alyce is the Dark Grace, feared and used by the court. Then she meets the cursed princess everyone expects her to destroy.
Lush and morally grey, told from the villain’s side. Buy both books, because book one ends hard.
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Embers
Tiffany E. Taylor · novella
A butch/femme Cinderella with a scene-stealing gay fairy godfather.
Bright and big-hearted. Insta-love and cartoon villains come with the fairy tale.
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A Sweet Sting of Salt
Rose Sutherland · Dell
A wintry, gothic retelling of the selkie folktale, with real menace and a tender closed-door love story.
The reveal is easy to guess, but the atmosphere carries it.
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More Sapphic Fairy Tale Retellings
The Seafarer’s Kiss
Julia Ember
A bisexual mermaid, a shieldmaiden and Loki as the sea witch.
Ending: Duology book one.
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The Witch Queen
Heather Walter
The dark, women-centred finale to Malice, with an ending readers agree lands.
Ending: Duology finale. Complete.
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This Poison Heart
Kalynn Bayron
A girl who can grow anything inherits a mysterious estate. Greek myth meets The Secret Garden.
Ending: Hard cliffhanger.
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Of Dreams and Poison
Darva Green
A high-heat dark fairytale. The best-rated Darva Green book we have reviewed.
Ending: Cliffhanger, part one.
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A Thousand Monstrous Forms
Saratoga Schaefer
A frightening sapphic Bluebeard in a haunted manor.
Ending: Not romantic.
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The Miseducation of Caroline Bingley
Lindz McLeod
Caroline Bingley and Georgiana Darcy, from Pride and Prejudice.
Ending: HEA.
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Carmilla and Laura
S.D. Simper
A warm rewrite of the 1872 story that invented the lesbian vampire.
Ending: The women survive this time.
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Kissing the Witch
Emma Donoghue
Emma Donoghue’s linked retellings, passed from one woman’s voice to the next.
Ending: Endings vary by story.
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Why Retellings Work So Well for Sapphic Stories
Fairy tales are built on one shape: the girl, the prince, the wedding. Changing who the girl loves changes everything around her, from the villain to the ending. That is why so many of these books also question the old story itself, like Cinderella Is Dead or the villain-first Malice.
Check the audience before you buy. Many of the best-known sapphic retellings are YA and closed door. If you want adult heat, start with Embers or Of Dreams and Poison.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the best sapphic retellings?
Ash by Malinda Lo, Cinderella Is Dead by Kalynn Bayron and Malice by Heather Walter.
Is there a sapphic Cinderella retelling?
Several: Ash, Cinderella Is Dead and the butch/femme romance Embers.
Are there sapphic Snow White or Sleeping Beauty retellings?
Girls Made of Snow and Glass and The Witch Queen retell Snow White. Malice and Of Dreams and Poison retell Sleeping Beauty.
Is there a sapphic retelling of Carmilla?
Carmilla and Laura by S.D. Simper rewrites the 1872 story so the women survive.
Are sapphic retellings mostly YA?
Many famous ones are. Embers, Malice, A Sweet Sting of Salt and Of Dreams and Poison are adult.
Related Genres and Guides
For witches without fairy tales, see sapphic witch books. For more fantasy, the best sapphic fantasy books. Short retellings are in sapphic short story collections.
How We Chose These Books
This selection uses our own full reviews wherever LRR has reviewed a book, plus author and publisher descriptions where a specific trope needs direct support. Every card says why the book fits this exact trope. Cards marked “LRR full review” link to a review where we went through Goodreads, StoryGraph, trade reviews and reader discussion before scoring it. Cards marked “Publisher description” or “Author description” are researched picks that we have not reviewed yet, and we say so rather than pretend otherwise. Ending notes come from our review or from an explicit promise in the book’s own description. Theme notes are not complete content warnings.
Know a book that belongs here, or spotted a wrong label? Tell us in the comments.