THE NEW "GOOSE GIRL"

 

Hello, friends. Welcome to my space.

This time, I am reviewing a debut novel by Intisar Khanani, Thorn, which is a retelling of Goose Girl. 

Thorn by Intisar Khanani

My rating: ★★★★

A princess with two futures. A destiny all her own.

Between her cruel family and the contempt she faces at court, Princess Alyrra has always longed to escape the confines of her royal life. But when she’s betrothed to the powerful prince Kestrin, Alyrra embarks on a journey to his land with little hope for a better future.

When a mysterious and terrifying sorceress robs Alyrra of both her identity and her role as princess, Alyrra seizes the opportunity to start a new life for herself as a goose girl.
But Alyrra soon finds that Kestrin is not what she expected. The more Alyrra learns of this new kingdom, the pain and suffering its people endure, as well as the danger facing Kestrin from the sorceress herself, the more she knows she can’t remain the goose girl forever.

With the fate of the kingdom at stake, Alyrra is caught between two worlds and ultimately must decide who she is, and what she stands for.

Thorn is a retelling of the Goose Girl by the Brothers Grimm. Our Goose Girl in this story—Alyrra—is a princess of Adania kingdom. Because of an incident in the past, her mother and brother treat her badly, to the point of abusing, so Alyrra seeks her consolation to the palace staffs. One day, the king of Menaiya comes to Adania. He intends to ask Alyrra's hand for his son, prince Kestrin. Her mother, queen of Adania, accepts it. She sends Alyrra to the Menaiya for marriage. Alyrra asks one attendant to go with her, and her mother gives her Valka who is Alyrra's nemesis. On the journey to Menaiya, with a sorceress' help, Valka swaps her body for Alyrra's, and now she becomes the princess.

When I picked up this book, I didn't know that this was a Goose Girl retelling. So when I read this, I was wondering why I felt like I'd read this before. The main plot of this book is very similar to Goose Girl. There are only a few different details, but the big parts are the same even the ending.

The thing that makes this book interesting is actually the subplot which will be the focus in the second book. At this time, I have read almost half of it, and it is amazing. The second book makes the first book looks like an introduction.

So...do I like this book? Yes. But, because I already knew the Goose Girl story, I felt less excited when I read this.

That's it from me for now. HAPPY READING!