Helpful Score: 2
I loved this book! It was very imaginative and interesting. The characters were relatable. The book had a little bit of everything, magic, love, friendship, family, betrayal, action, etc. It was a fun read to feel young again and let your imagination go wild.
Helpful Score: 1
[close] When I put Shannon Hale's The Goose Girl on my "to-read" list, I thought it was just a retelling of a classic fairy tale. It surprised me, though -- The Goose Girl is actually the first in the Books of Bayern series, a timeless story that is as much fantasy as it is a period tale.
The Goose Girl is an adaptation of the Grimm story by the same name. The crown princess of a peaceful kingdom is bartered into an arranged marriage as part of a political treaty with a neighboring land. Princess Ani is not your typical princess -- she's more interested in spending time by the swan pond or in the stables than on social calls with other court ladies. She can talk to the swans, and hear the thoughts of her stallion, Falada. She can even communicate with the wind. But those gifts aren't enough to save her from mutinous guards and a false lady-in-waiting intent at stealing her crown. Soon she's lost in a strange land, working as a Goose Girl, and hiding from her former countrymen that she hopes think she is dead.
This is a great story -- fantasy meets love story, meets medieval adventure, meets tried-and-true classic fairy tale. Ani (or Isi, or the Goose Girl, or the Yellow Girl -- she wears lots of hats in the course of the book) is a great heroine, and I can't wait to pick up the thread of her adventures in the next Book of Bayern, Enna Burning.
The Goose Girl is an adaptation of the Grimm story by the same name. The crown princess of a peaceful kingdom is bartered into an arranged marriage as part of a political treaty with a neighboring land. Princess Ani is not your typical princess -- she's more interested in spending time by the swan pond or in the stables than on social calls with other court ladies. She can talk to the swans, and hear the thoughts of her stallion, Falada. She can even communicate with the wind. But those gifts aren't enough to save her from mutinous guards and a false lady-in-waiting intent at stealing her crown. Soon she's lost in a strange land, working as a Goose Girl, and hiding from her former countrymen that she hopes think she is dead.
This is a great story -- fantasy meets love story, meets medieval adventure, meets tried-and-true classic fairy tale. Ani (or Isi, or the Goose Girl, or the Yellow Girl -- she wears lots of hats in the course of the book) is a great heroine, and I can't wait to pick up the thread of her adventures in the next Book of Bayern, Enna Burning.
Helpful Score: 1
Reviewed by http://bibliophile-bestiary.blogspot.com
This story is very good. It follows a girl who is constantly told what she should be like and what she should do. Then her mother sends her off to be married to a prince in a distant land. Along the way, she is betrayed and begins living the life as a normal commoner. The twists and turns and the magic and mythical ties in the book are wonderful! The characters are extremely well written and easy to love. This is a series of books, so I can't wait to read the next one! 4 out of 5 stars!
This story is very good. It follows a girl who is constantly told what she should be like and what she should do. Then her mother sends her off to be married to a prince in a distant land. Along the way, she is betrayed and begins living the life as a normal commoner. The twists and turns and the magic and mythical ties in the book are wonderful! The characters are extremely well written and easy to love. This is a series of books, so I can't wait to read the next one! 4 out of 5 stars!
Helpful Score: 1
This novel is a re-telling of the traditional fairy tale of the same name, telling the story of a princess, who, en-route to a marriage to a prince of a neighboring country,
falls victim to the machinations and ambitions of her servant girl, who passes herself off as the real princess, forcing the real royal to take the position of a goose girl.
The book sticks to the details outlined in the Brothers Grimm version of the tale pretty exactly - you can read it here: http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/grimm089.html
But the writing is excellent, and really makes the characters come alive. Very emotional, and satisfying for anyone with a love of traditional stories.
falls victim to the machinations and ambitions of her servant girl, who passes herself off as the real princess, forcing the real royal to take the position of a goose girl.
The book sticks to the details outlined in the Brothers Grimm version of the tale pretty exactly - you can read it here: http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/grimm089.html
But the writing is excellent, and really makes the characters come alive. Very emotional, and satisfying for anyone with a love of traditional stories.
Helpful Score: 1
This book was wonderful!! It was a magical and thrillingly original farytale. A classic story remade and molded into it's own.
