#43 in Middle grade
The Goose Girl
- 400
- Pages
- about 7 h
- Reading time
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Our view
Shannon Hale turns a Grimm fairy tale into a full novel in “The Goose Girl”, and its warm, vivid characters are what readers remember. A crown princess travelling to marry a foreign prince is supplanted by her lady-in-waiting and has to prove who she is. Some praise the fairy-tale quality of the prose. For some the story drags in places, and for others it only comes alive in the second half.
The view of the BookRank editors, written from readers’ ratings and comments. It does not affect the score or the book’s place in a ranking.
About the book
The Goose Girl is a fantasy novel by Shannon Hale based on the Brothers Grimm fairy tale of the same title, published by Bloomsbury in 2003. It is Hale's debut novel and the first in her Books of Bayern series. It follows the story of Anidori-Kiladra "Ani" Talianna Isilee, Crown Princess of Kildenree, as she travels to the neighboring kingdom of Bayern to wed their crown prince. On the journey, she is usurped by her jealous lady-in-waiting and must prove her true identity as the princess. Critical reception of the novel was mostly positive. The book won the 2003 Josette Frank Award for fiction and has been published in English, Spanish, Hungarian, Dutch, Japanese, and Vietnamese.
Reading order · The Books of Bayern
Full order & progress →- The Goose GirlThis book
8.08.0 / 10 - Enna BurningEnna Burning–Not ranked yet
- River SecretsRiver Secrets–Not ranked yet
- Forest BornForest Born–Not ranked yet
Where the score comes from
The sources average 8.1 across 145 ratings — not yet many, so the reader vote carries 50% of the weight and the rest pulls toward the Rankings average of 7.8. That is how 8.0 comes out.
| Source | Average | Ratings | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open Library | 7.5 | 12 | 8% |
| Hardcover | 8.2 | 133 | 92% |
Frequently asked
What age is The Goose Girl for?
The Goose Girl sits on the Middle grade shelf in the sources we use, which by convention means roughly ages 8–12. This is a guide from the book’s category, not a publisher’s age rating.
In this book
Themes this book shares with others — each leads to the best books on it.
