Review Detail

Reader reviewed by Brenda

Based on the old Grimm fairy tale of the princess who becomes a goose girl for a time, due to the betrayal of her servant, this story by Shannon Hale breathes new life into an old tale. Her story of Ani adds new elements, such as Ani's ability to speak to and understand bird and her new found ability to command the wind while keeping the basic structure of the old tale with it's elements of betrayal and political intrigue between kingdoms. Hale's kingdoms of Bayern and Kidenzee ring true as does Ani's relationships with her mother, the Queen and Selia, the Lady in Waiting with powers of her own that she uses to assume Ani's place as Queen in the Kingdom of her husband-to-be. Ani's ambivalent feelings about her own role as Princess of Kidenzee, future Queen of Bayern and then as a goose girl in hiding add dept and texture to this novel.

Although it didn't totally charm me as Book of a Thousand Days did, this was an excellent read and a great addition to the re-imagined fairy tale genre.