2026 Retellings That Should Be on Your Radar

Release date: January 27, 2026

A Charlie and the Chocolate Factory retelling? That’s one retelling I’ve never seen tackled before. Combine that with Timothy Janovsky’s talent for writing romance novels, and I’m all ears and anxious anticipation. Instead of a group of children competing to inherit his company, in this retelling Dario Cotogna’s contestants are competing for his hand a la The Bachelor. His grandfather stipulated in his will that if he isn’t married by his 32nd birthday, his playboy little brother gets the company. With time running out, a competition to find his future spouse seems like the perfect way to solve all his problems. But can true love really last beyond a high-stakes week-long competition?

Release date: February 3, 2026

I grew up on Brandy’s Cinderella, and it’s my favorite version to this day. So any book comparing itself to that? Yeah, I’m gonna be adding that to the top of my TBR, thanks. Only this book doesn’t star Cinderella; it’s all about her fairy godmother. Darling is determined to ace her Mortal Outcome Council mentorship by turning Lucy Addlesberg’s failing bookshop and flirtation with the princess into a happily ever after. Unfortunately, her counterpart, Calamity, has the exact opposite job: to save Lucy from her unrealistic dreams. Who will succeed and who will fall to their own feelings when the two are forced to pose as a couple to sway Lucy’s fate?

Release date: February 17, 2026

Feiwel & Friends’ Remix series has had so many great hits for me (especially Travelers Along the Way and Most Ardently). This new addition to the series reimagines Dorian Gray as a young trans person, trapped under her grandfather’s thumb as heir to his estate. When she meets a painter who sees her for who she is and introduces her to the world of molly houses and drag, she sees a new possible future for herself for the first time. But if she doesn’t choose to take this new future by both hands, she may just become the very worst of what her family wants her to be.

Release date: March 12, 2026

Hell’s Heart is one of the first retellings that was on my radar for 2026. It’s a queer, sci-fi reimagining of Moby-Dick from an author whose books I tend to adore. Set on a spaceship hunting down one of the cetacean-like creatures living around Jupiter whose brains contain a much-coveted hallucinogen, Hell’s Heart tells the story of a narrator with little to lose except herself. But as the ship’s captain becomes increasingly delusional and obsessive in their pursuit, the cost of chasing Möbius Beast—and losing—might prove itself to be too great.

Release date: May 19, 2026

You better believe I’ve been anxiously awaiting the release of this novel ever since I first heard that one of my favorite historical fiction authors was doing her take on Pride and Prejudice. Behind Five Willows is only loosely inspired by the Jane Austen classic, so don’t expect it to follow the story of Elizabeth and Darcy exactly, but it does feature a girl eventually falling for the uptight best friend of the man her sister is courting, even though she initially despises him. Add in some forbidden books during a time of rampant government censorship, and you’ve got an enemies-to-lovers story for the ages!

Release date: June 2, 2026

A thief named Corin trying to get by in a once-mighty kingdom discovers that the old stories about a princess locked away in an eternal slumber under the city are actually true when she chases her missing sister through underground tunnels, only to find a portal into the princess’s dreams. In the world of her imagination, princess Amelia is Briar Rose, and ice castles and sunflower mazes fill the land. But Corin suspects something darker hides under Briar Rose’s perfect dream world, and discovering it may be the only way to free herself, her sister, and her city.

Release date: September 8, 2026

K. Ancrum, author of Darling, The Wicker King, and Icarus, is back with a dark Frankenstein retelling about the consequences of our decisions and the dark depths we’ll go to in order to find forgiveness. Frankenstein is one of my favorite classics, so I can’t wait to see what K. Ancrum does with it!

Release date: 2026

Into the Burning Deep has been pitched as a sapphic Hadestown mixed with Titanic, set on a ship quarantined at sea as it waits out a magical contagion. You don’t need to tell me any more than that! I’m already on board. More Orpheus and Eurydice retellings—especially sapphic ones—are always going to be a good thing.