Review: Golden Goose

If you subscribe to my author newsletter, you saw that today is the first day of Fairy Tale Summer. This is a great annual event that takes place in the Clean Fairytales Facebook group. Readers can share reviews of fairy tale-inspired books with the hashtag #2025 all summer long to earn points for fun book-related prizes. I am one of over 40 featured authors in the event, along with all three books from The Stolen Trilogy. My "author takeover" night in the group will be Monday, July 21st. I hope you join me. Golden Goose by Lea Doue marks my first official review for this year's Fairy Tale Summer. This is the fourth ARC I have received from the multi-author All That Glitters series of fairy tale retellings. The book incorporated a lot of creativity to add depth to a relatively simple fairy tale.

The first thing that stood out to me about Golden Goose is that it takes place in an unapologetic fantasy world. Although the main character, Elowen, is poor and lives on a farm, she encounters unicorns, dragons, and trolls as a regular part of her everyday life. This is an interesting deviation from the traditional fairy tale retelling, where magic is rare or only accessible to certain people. In this world, it is often seen as an inconvenience rather than something worth celebrating. This is especially true when Elowen's brother, Cedar, gets kidnapped by trolls. On her quest to find a magical solution to the problem, Elowen encounters a fairy who turns her dragon friend, Ash, into a golden goose. Matters only get worse when a handful of townspeople get magically stuck to her precious goose friend.

There aren't many retellings of "The Golden Goose" from the Brothers Grimm, and for a good reason. There isn't much depth in a simple story about a bunch of villagers getting stuck to a golden goose and making a princess fall in love with the main character after witnessing the comedic sight. This is a gender-bent version of the story that enhances it with adventure and excitement by turning it into a rescue mission. Elowen becomes engaged to a prince as a result of the sticky goose antics, but that is far from the end of her story. Prince Vale is an unusual character who doesn't care much for royal traditions but still knows how to keep up appearances. After hearing Elowen's story, he decides to help her find her brother and escape from the bizarre circumstances that forced them into wedlock.

Ash is technically the title character, and was my favorite in the book. He acts nothing like a dragon would be expected to. He is neither grand nor intimidating and treats Elowen like a dear friend. When he learns what happened to Cedar, he does not hesitate to do everything in his power to help her. When the fairy spell turns him into a golden goose by day, he is hardly even phased by the transformation. Instead, he wants to take advantage of the situation to rescue Cedar. It works in his favor that very few people know he turns into a dragon at night. Although he reminds me of Spike from My Little Pony, he is apparently still big enough for Elowen to ride, which comes in handy on more than one occasion.

Golden Goose by Lea Doue is a creative and engaging retelling of a lesser-known fairy tale. By incorporating a rich fantasy world and a strong female protagonist, the story adds depth and excitement to the original tale. The unique dynamic between Elowen, Ash, and Prince Vale makes for a compelling narrative that explores themes of friendship, loyalty, and self-discovery. If you're a fan of fairy tale retellings with a twist, Golden Goose is definitely worth checking out. I'm excited to share more of my thoughts on other fairy tale books as Fairy Tale Summer continues!