Book Review

After reading Princess Academy, I reserved Shannon Hale's earlier book, The Goose Girl. This tome is longer and harder to get emotionally involved in. The plot is slow and drags a bit at the beginning, but eventually - if you stick with it - the pay-off is there.

I read somewhere that Hale had wondered about the fairy tale she heard as a child, about the princess who was living as a common goose girl, and has always wanted to know why the princess was in disguise, and "the rest of the story." Never finding a satisfying explanation, she ended up writing her own.

Of course you know in the end the princess gets her prince (there is a thinly veiled attempt at a misunderstanding of who the true prince is; astute readers will see right through that!) but the interesting portions of this story are the tales of how Isi, the princess/Goose Girl, ends up hiding to protect her life, and how she strategizes to get her rightful title back from the evil imposter. The side plot of her ability to communicate with animals would be, you might think, interesting and captivating, but it really isn't that central to the enjoyment of the book.

Not as good as Princess Academy, and definitely requires some patience early on, but nevertheless a good read.