The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale

Anidori-Kiladra Talianna Isilee, or simply Ani for short, was destined to be the queen of Kiladree. But then her father died. Now she is being whisked away to Bayern to marry a prince she's never met in order to ensure peace between the two countries. However, she faces betrayal after betrayal from those she least expects it from- her mother, her guards, and even her seemingly faithful ladyinwaiting, Selia. But she can talk to animals, which is pretty much the only thing going for her.

I'm not the ideal audience for this book, but I love fairy tale retellings. Really I'd give this a 2.5. The story is entertaining but incredibly predictable. I read Thorn awhile back and thought it was a much better retelling. This was just too far fetched for me. I know it's a retelling of the Goose Girl tale but there are ways to improve upon a story and ways to just rewrite it.

If you love books with cheesy plotlines, and predictable endings this book is for you. I consider myself a realist (then why do I read fairy tales? I love the deeper message behind them). I didn't take away much of anything from this except the whole story is impossible. Thorn was about learning to trust people, and overcoming violence. I felt like it was a book about a girl finding herself, standing up for herself, learning to love and live. The Goose Girl just felt like it was fluffed with all too familiar plots. I can't say i took anything away from it. Parts of it were entertaining, but it just felt wrong. Everything seemed too forced, and the ending made me wish I spent my time reading something else.

3.5

Having just finished the book, I can say that I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. It initially reminded me a lot of Ella Enchanted, yet the further into the story I got, I found that it truly stands on its own as an original tale. My favorite components are the characters, who are all vivid and lifelike, and the plot twists, most of which I did not see coming and found quite gripping. At times the story did drag a bit and I found myself losing interest, but on the whole I enjoyed The Goose Girl as a charming young adult fantasy.

PLEASE READ THIS BOOK!!!!!! IT IS WONDERFUL!!!
This is one of my favorite books of all time!!! The story plot and how the envirment and charecters interact as well as the sweet romance and hidden identities make it the greatest! The 2nd and 3rd books in this series were almost as good as the first one as well! I highly reccomend them!

The 4th book however, was very bad in my opinion. The main girl was always feeling sad and guilty for what she did in the past and I just felt the book was lacking in good story.

PLEASE READ THE GOOSE GIRL!!!!!! YOU WILL NOT REGRET IT!!!!!