The Goose Girl is an enchanting German fairy tale, which was originally written by the Brothers Grimm in 1819. Since then, it has been re-written and translated many times. Shannon Hale is the author of the most recent novelisation, and its great! It is a captivating tale and I loved it! Two chapters in, I was completely hooked! The tale follows Anidori-Kiladra Talianns Isilee, (or Ani for short) a crown princess from the land of Kildenree who grows up being able to talk to birds, and her white stallion, Falada.

Her lady-in-waiting, Selia, is terribly jealous of her as a child and all the way up throughout adulthood.When Ani is older, an arranged marriage is set up for her, and she is sent off to the neighboring city of Bayern. Selia is jealous and convinces half of Ani’s guards to cry mutiny and kill the remaining guards who were faithful to Ani.Ani escapes, after a warning from her stallion, Falada, so she gets away and runs to Bayern, hoping to prove to the king that she is the real princess. The rest of the story follows Ani, as she tries to get to the city, and tell the king that the new ‘princess’ is a fraud.

I really like this book, because unlike other books, it is FULL of twists and unexpected events that keep you on the edge of your seat and then, at the same time it is written with incredible detail and description. It has moments where you’re almost cheering Ani along, because everything is just going so well, and in other parts you just want to cry because it’s just so unbearably sad.

The other thing that I appreciated about this book was the ending. It was great, because the last few chapters lead to a predictable ending, but the ending was an absolute surprise, and it was a great ending. Overall, the book was fabulous, definitely one of my favourites, and I could read it again and again and again.

-Review by Katie B. (14)