Here, There, and Everywhere  

Read at least 5 books that fit somewhere within the Once Upon a Time II criteria. They might all be fantasy, or folklore, or fairy tales, or mythology…or your five books might be a combination from the four genres.

Book 3:  The Goose Girl   by Shannon Hale

Hardcover: 300 pages
ISBN-10: 158234843X

Amazon:      16-year-old Princess Anidori–Kiladra Talianna Isillee, Crown Princess of Kildenree, is betrayed by Selia, her jealous and evil lady-in-waiting, and takes refuge as a goose girl while plotting how to reclaim her rightful place as the bride-to-be of the Prince of Bayern. Gifted with the ability to speak to animals and talk to the wind, PrincessAnidori–now called Isi–falls in love, makes new friends, and collects allies in her quest to claim her title.

This is my first re-written fairy tale.  I was pretty uncertain sending for this book but so many were reading it I thought I would once again go out of that comfort zone and give it a try.

The first 1/3 of the book I can say I was not thrilled with and kept thinking that I wasn't going to finish this book.  The whole fairytale aspect just didn't sit well with me... I know, I strange thing to say to someone who reads almost nothing but Fantasy Fiction.  You'd think I'd love "fairy tales", but for the most part I can't really think of any fairy tales that I'd care to reread.

I don't remember ever hearing or reading The Goose Girl so I thought that, at least for me, it wouldn't be a "reread" of any sort.  That much held true, though as anyone having read this knows, the ending isn't tooooo difficult to figure out. :o)

After that first 1/3 of the book the writing seemed less "fairy tale-ish". And some of the characters were beginning to have personalities and I did wind up enjoying the book.  I can't say I'll order any other "retold fairy tales" but this one was enjoyable.  I don't have anything to compare to this book to say if it better or worse than any other, but for anyone who's delving into this sort of thing for the first time I'd say this is the book to read.  I doubt it would be a disappointment.