Book Review: The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale

Hale, Shannon. The Goose Girl. New York: Bloomsbury Publishing, 2003.

Then the queen said, "Do not fear that this sad day means more than the end of this king's life. We will go on. I will continue as your queen and keeper of the realm. An in that distant day when you will carry my body to this place, my noble and capable son Calib-Loncris will be ready to take up the scepter and crown."

Ani looked up, her mouth slightly agape. Selia at her side pinched her arm.

"Did you hear that, Crown Princess?"

Ani shook her head slowly. "She made a mistake. She must be...she is confused in her sorrow, that's all."

"Calib doesn't look confused," said Selia.

The Goose Girl is a retelling of a lesser-known Grimms's fairy tale. Ani is the crown princess of Kildenree, trying desperately to overcome her natural affinity for animals to please her mother and become accepted as the future queen. But when her mother betrays her and ships her off to be a strange prince's bride in a neighboring country, she realizes that she will need whatever skills she has to save herself from the onslaught of betrayals that will come from those she once trusted.

My new favorite book. I loved it. Yes, the ending was obvious, yes, of course he was the prince (duh) but I don’t care. I wanted a happy ending and I got it. Talk about escapist fantasy. And I love that Ani wasn’t a tomboy being forced to be a princess. She was a sweet smart girl that wanted to be princess, and wanted to be a good one. I can relate to that. I’m not a tomboy, I hate princesses that are like that. And Shannon was able to explain the politics of the society without boring us to tears, which is what usually happens in fantasy. Sleeping Beauty used to be my favorite fairy tale…I think I’ve changed my mind. Shannon has such a lyrical style, I honestly felt like I was in bed listening to my mother read me fairy tales again. Simply beautiful.