The Goose Girl (The Books of Bayern, #1) in Into the Forest

Jun 06, 2010 Ronyell rated it it was amazing

Shelves: summer-100-book-challenge-2010, fairy-tales-folktales, shannon-hale, remake, fairy-tale-romance, read-in-2010, my-blog-reviews, young-adult-teen-books, sexy-good-girl-heroine, strong-heroine

“The Goose Girl” is another brilliant story created by Shannon Hale, who is well known for her first graphic novel book “Rapunzel’s Revenge” and it is a much more extended retelling of the classic Brothers Grimm tale “The Goose Girl” (same title!) that tells the story of how Ani, the true crown princess of Kildenree, is betrayed by her lady-in-waiting and Ani must figure out a way to regain her true name while posing as a goose girl. “The Goose Girl” is a truly an inspiring story that anyone who Goose

“The Goose Girl” is another brilliant story created by Shannon Hale, who is well known for her first graphic novel book “Rapunzel’s Revenge” and it is a much more extended retelling of the classic Brothers Grimm tale “The Goose Girl” (same title!) that tells the story of how Ani, the true crown princess of Kildenree, is betrayed by her lady-in-waiting and Ani must figure out a way to regain her true name while posing as a goose girl. “The Goose Girl” is a truly an inspiring story that anyone who is a huge Shannon Hale fan will love for centuries.

Wow!!! When I first started reading this book, I thought that it was going to be boring because I must admit that the beginning of this book did have a slow start with little action going on with the main characters. However, when I started reading more into the story, I just started to love this book immensely as the story got more exciting and more emotional as I read through this book. Shannon Hale has done an excellent job at making the characters extremely memorable, especially the main character Ani, who was at first a very passive character who would do anything that anybody told her to do, especially as she easily tries to accept the responsibilities of royalty in Kildenree without thinking about the secrets of her kingdom. However, when Ani’s life is threatened by Selia and Ungolad, Ani becomes a stronger character as the book goes on as she realizes that she is on her own and she must figure out a way to convince the king that she is the real Crown Princess without the aid of her mother. Now, many people may think that Ani is a bit too passive as she easily will do anything that anyone tells her to do, even during her moments of bravery and I do agree to some extent that Ani can be too passive towards other characters. However, when Ani realizes the possibility of having a manipulative person like Selia as princess, Ani goes out of her way to protect the people she love while revealing her own identity about herself that she has never known existed inside of her. I find this revelation that Ani makes about herself extremely reassuring as many people in real life sometimes have problems trying to discover who they truly are and Ani’s character has done a great job at explaining the trials that many people would face whenever they are trying to pluck up the courage to say what is really on their minds. What I loved the most about this book was how Shannon Hale made this book extremely dramatic and exciting at the same time as the audience can feel tension for Ani’s safety and how she is nearly captured by Selia and Ungolad many times in this book. I must admit that there were times that I actually thought that Ungolad, Selia’s guard, would be very close in capturing Ani, even though Shannon Hale makes sure that the audience knows that Ani does everything in her power to escape her captors.

Goose

“The Goose Girl” is truly a fantastic book about the power of courage and discovering who you truly are on the inside that many people who also want to discover the courage to stand up for what they believe in, can easily enjoy for many years.

Review is also on: Rabbit Ears Book Blog

Banner

...more

11 likes · Like · see review

Mar 25, 2012 Christine rated it did not like it

Shelves: young-and-new-adult-fairy-tales, h-c-andersen, diverse-and-women-authors

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

8 likes · Like · see review

Jan 29, 2010 Julia rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, based-on-folksong-myth, ya

“Sometimes it seems my identity’s a matter of opinion,” states Ani/ Isi/ The Crown Princess Anidori- Kiladra Talianna Isilee of Kildenree. Sent by her mother the Queen to the faraway land of Bayern to seal their kingdoms in matrimony, Ani is waylaid and nearly killed by her guards and her lady in waiting takes her place as princess.

Needing something to do, a way to make money for return trip, and to remain in hiding, Ani becomes a goose girl and there meets friends, even if she can’t be entirel ...more

3 likes · Like · see review

Jul 15, 2009 Lacey Louwagie rated it liked it

Shelves: youngadultfantasy, fairy-tales, fantasy, youngadult, retelling

Like many retellings, this one takes the traditional elements of the fairy tale and sets them all within a world where they make "sense." In this case, the elements in question were the fairy tale's obsession with the Goose Girl's golden hair, her ability to talk to her horse, and the wind's strange behavior. While I like the way Shannon Hale has made sense of these elements, I do feel like it took some of the compelling bizarreness out of the story. I was also disappointed that some of the more ...more

Like · see review

May 16, 2010 Lesley rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I really enjoyed reading this wonderful fairy tale... ended up staying up until 2am two nights running to finish it! It has been fun reading some young adult books, and this wonderful story has left me wanting to read more.

Like · see review

Sep 02, 2008 Kathee rated it it was amazing

Shelves: my-favorite-books

Another book she wrote based on a Grimms Fairy Tale. Since I am in love with fairy tales I loved this book!!! I love how the girls are always so strong despite their circumstances.

Like · see review