Loved loved loved this book. Beautifully textured with uncommon imagery; I felt my mind travel to new places with Hale's descriptions. Such life-like characters, and the plot gripped me from start to finish.

** spoiler alert ** Except for the time when the princess was running for her life through an unfamiliar forest, I felt almost no sympathy or even basic connection to her. Beyond her talent to speak to animals, she's dumb as rocks. She succeeds because she's lucky more than anything else. http://pussreboots.com/blog/2022/comm... (Bought at Jordan's Books.)

June 2020: YEE JAVELINS -- Has been quite a while since I first read this, but I can remember an amazing plot + strong characters to bolster said plot. I loved it haha

OMG! this book waqs totally awesome totally five star.

I love this book. It's such a sweet and creative adaptation of the original fairy tale.

Its a decent book I guess - but it is a little too 'happily ever after' for me

I really enjoyed this audiobook. It has a full cast of characters. The characters are so well written, and you want them to succeed. The story was very good, not the most original, but it was very well done. I already want to reread this book. I think I will purchase my own copy and read it in the physical format.

Read as part of the Live100Lives Patreon Throwback book Club, March 2022. Really liked it, though sometimes the writing style wasn’t my favorite (nothing *wrong* just personal preference). The characters didn’t have a lot of personality but the overall story was lovely and the worldbuilding/magic was cool. Definitely got emotional near the end. I figured out the character “big reveal” well before.

Wow loved this way more than I thought. It was amazing and wonderful. There is nothing better than an old fashioned fairy tale.

This was one of those books that make you care about the characters and what is happening to them. I loved this book so much and can't wait to tell you why. The Goose Girl is based off of a Brother Grimm fairy tale. In the fairy tale a young princess is sent to be married to a prince far off. Her mother sends her with a talking horse, a handkerchief with three drops of blood her blood on it, a dowry fit for a queen, and lastly a chambermaid to assist the princess in the long journey. Essentially the chambermaid takes advantage of the princesses good heart and threatens her life. The chambermaid and the princess arrive to the far off home of the prince and everyone believes that the chambermaid is the true princess. Now the book stays very true to the old fairy tale, which always doubles my happiness. The book very much embellishes the story a bit. Firstly, Ani is the first born to a modest king. She loves her aunt and her aunt's stories dearly. As a child she tells her that there are three kinds of people. People who are gifted with "people-speaking", which is the power to say things and have people believe what is said. People-speaking can be used for good and bad and is just as rare as any talent. People who are gifted with "animal-speaking" which clearly can speak to animals. You do learn that each animal does have it's own language, just because you can speak to one animal does not mean you can speak to all. Falada and Ani speak to each other mentally. Lastly are the people who are gifted with "nature-speaking". Nature-speaking is very rare and is believed to no longer exist. People that were gifted with this could speak to the elements like fire and wind. To read the rest of the review please go to: http://thebookprojectandme.blogspot.c...

4.5 I loved this fairy tale retelling. Its such a sweet and fun story. Its such a fun and fast read. I loved the friendship group and Enna. I didn't really like how unproblematic the ending was. Everything was tied neatly in a bow at the end. But overall I enjoyed it.

*3.5*

Hervertelling van het sprookje. Niet zo magisch waar ik op hoopte.

I can't decide whether I love Ani or Enna more. Both, equally. Fierce, protective, strong young women, and a softer side too, both sweet girls who cared. And now I can't decide whether I want to go straight to Enna Burning (and therefore, River Secrets and Forest Born) or switch it up and go to a different book/genre.

Come with me to a magical world of Bayern. Where the elements have speech and animals form spoken bonds with a single person. If I EVER lived in one of the worlds I have read about, I would live in this world that Shannon Hale has created. I always say that if I had a super power, I would have power over the elements (water, air, fire, earth). The world that Hale has created has that, and more. Imagine a world where you could learn the speech of different animals. You can communicate with them and practically have animal friends. No, it isn’t like talking animals on TV; it’s like, for example, you would understand what a certain bark means, or a honk of a goose. You would understand their body language. And in return, you can talk to them back in their language. Again, imagine that you can hear what the wind is saying. The wind talks about what it has seen and where it is going. You talk back by telling it where to go. IS THAT NOT AMAZING? There is a downside, you see. People-speaking. This is where a person’s words are persuasive to the point that you just agree with them because you “know: it is right. That is what Anidori-Kiladra Talianna Isilee, Crown Princess of Kildenree has to deal with. Her most trusted friend and hand-maiden has this tricky speech, and wants to take Ani’s crown.. And she will do anything to get it. I mean it shouldn’t be hard since Ani is a little quirky and talks to horses and swans, right? What can this little person do compared to someone who’s words are like silk to the ears? I absolutely love this series. This is my sixth time to read them and it is as great as the first time.