A Goose Girl: A Retelling of The Goose Girl by K. M. Shea
Fantasy. 117 Pages. 4 Stars
Synopsis:
As a royal lady’s maid, Rynn has one task: Escort the princess of Astoria to her intended’s kingdom and return home. Unfortunately for the former goose girl, the princess has other plans.
When her charge flees, Rynn’s not only forced to take the princess’s place, but she must also contend with a spiteful fairy horse, a good dose of political intrigue, and Conrad…the mysterious and all-too observant lord who consumes more of her thoughts than he should.
But with war looming on the horizon, Rynn stands to lose more than her heart. Can she convince the princess to return, end the charade, and make peace between the kingdoms?
More importantly, can she possibly avoid a death sentence when the truth is revealed?
A Goose Girl is a romantic fairy tale novella. It can be read on its own but is more fun when read as a part of the Entwined Tales, a series of interconnected fairy tales by six different authors. Each story follows the adventures of one of seven children from the same family as they seek out their own happily ever afters in spite of their reluctant fairy-godfather.
My Review:
This is the first novella in a series of six, told by six different authors. The Goose Girl has long been a favorite fairy tale of mine, so I was very excited to read this! I thought the twist on the tale was positively wonderful! I’d never thought of a rendition in which the servant was the one forced into the switch. The story was full of surprises and lovely little nods to the original. In some ways it did remind me of Shannon Hale’s The Goose Girl, but for the most part, it was quite original. I loved the characters and would have loved to see more development in a longer story. In fact, I think that was my main problem with the novella, it was too short! There was great room for some deep development, both in plot and character, but the story was just too short to accommodate for that. Now, that said, I think Shea did an excellent job with the length she did have. Though it was breezed past (haha, no pun intended) in several places, the depth was hinted at just enough to satisfy me. I’ll certainly be continuing the six and I may even have to check out some of Shea’s other books…Well-written, fun little read. I’d definitely recommend it to fairy tale lovers for a quick, creative little read.
No language. Mild violence. No explicit romance.
More:
Book 2 in the Entwined Tales is An Unnatural Beanstalk: A Retelling of Jack and the Beanstalk by Brittany Fichter (4 Stars)
Book 3 is A Bear’s Bride by Shari L. Tapscott (4 Stars)
Book 4 is A Beautiful Curse: A Retelling of The Frog Bride by Kenley Davidson (5 Stars)
Book 5 is A Little Mermaid: A Retelling of the Little Mermaid by Aya Ling (4 Stars)
Book 6 is An Inconvenient Princess: A Retelling of Rapunzel by Melanie Cellier (5 Stars)
I have rated and reviewed each of the above on Goodreads. Check out the links for more information. Because each book was written by a different author, I’m posting reviews for each of them here, so stay tuned!
The books are best read in order, though I guess technically they can each stand on their own.