Kate Cullifer

Young Princess Anidiori-Kiladra (Ani) was born with a word on her tongue, didn't wake for three days to taste the word. After the death of her father she must travel to the distant kingdom of Byern to fulfill the promise of an arranged marriage with Kilandrea. Her group falls prey to an act of treason and Princess Ani must disguise herself as a Goose Girl to get the message of treachery to the king. This is a coming of age story, and even though it's a YA book there is still enough intrigue and action to appeal to adults. Ani begins as a timid character who has always been taught not to trust who she really is, but along the journey she learns she might be the only one she can trust. The beginning of the book starts rather slow, but really picks up in the second half where Ani begins to trust her abilities, and learns what the word on her tongue is. Like most fairytales this has an element of romance to it that was well done, but as usual it's the man rescuing the woman in the end. I really wish YA books for girls were more about women rescuing themselves. But I guess the author wanted to keep elements of the original folktale. Over all I enjoyed the book, and would recommend it to anyone looking for a story with action, love, intrigue, and friendships. Tea while reading: Scottish Breakfast, strong and bracing. Music: Germanic folk music, after all that's where the original fairy tale originated.