Wednesday, November 9

Book Review: The Secret Princess by Melanie Cellier



Author: Melanie Cellier
Title: The Secret Princess - A Retelling of The Goose Girl
Series: Return to the Four Kingdoms #1
Genre: Fantasy, YA, Romance, Fiction, Retelling, 
Format: ebook
Pages: 317 
Published: May 22, 2020
Where I Got It: My shelf (Amazon)

Summary: 
Princess Giselle is excited to be leading her first royal delegation--until everything goes wrong before they even reach their destination. With her rank and authority stripped away and her people scattered, she's left with nothing but a gaggle of geese.

Giselle is determined to prove herself a true princess--in action as well as in name. But to do so she must uncover a conspiracy that threatens far more than her own future. With her life in danger and only a talking horse and an irritable goose boy at her side, she needs assistance. One of the servants is willing to help her, but Philip's attractive smile hides yet more secrets, and Giselle is running out of time.

In this reimagining of the classic fairy tale, The Goose Girl, the wronged princess must prevail in a deadly game of identities with the fate of kingdoms at stake.


Review:
This was a book a friend shared with me that was a freebie for a bit. Finally getting to it!

We follow Princess Giselle is who excited to be leading her first royal delegation. She is ready to earn her title. However...everything goes wrong before they even reach the final destination. With her rank and authority stripped away by a curse...she is left with only a gaggle of geese. She is determined to prove herself a true princess and save herself from her curse. With her talking horse and a servant named Phillip...maybe this can happen. 

Gotta love retellings! They are always fun to see what the author changes...adds...etc. 

This was fun, but it felt super familiar. Did I read this before? I checked Goodreads and it doesn't appear that I have. I have read a different retelling...so maybe that is it? Mmmm it was bugging me the whole time. A lot of the "twists" I saw coming a mile away. 

Poor Giselle...she was easily tricked. 

I liked Phillip a lot, but you could tell he had a secret. Won't spoil what though. 

I loved the horse! He had me chuckling. 

This was a quick read and it was fun. It was super duper YA so be warned there. 

In the end, this was a fun retelling. It seems so familiar, but I don't think I read this version before. It is YA and pretty predictable, but still fun at the end of the day. 3 stars from me. 






5 comments:

Mary Kirkland said...

I've never heard of The Goose Girl. Interesting though.

Jen Twimom said...

I don't recall the Goose Girl story - but I believe I read a novella retelling by Jeffe Kennedy years back and I had never heard of it then. Glad you enjoyed it.

Carole Rae said...

Mary, neither did I until a few years back.

Jen, it's been years since I heard the original tale.

Blodeuedd said...

We did read a goose retelling together...

Carole Rae said...

I feel like I want to re-read that one...I feel like this was SUPER familiar to a retelling i read before.