Feathers of Snow

A Goose Girl Retelling (Kingdom of Birds and Beasts, Book 1)

By: Alice Ivinya

Narrated by: Lillian Rachel

In Brianna’s new world of ice and snow, the coldest things by far are the eyes of her betrothed...

Brianna bears a deadly secret: she’s not the princess she is pretending to be. If the prince finds out, her life will be forfeit and her country plunged into war.

But there is more to the icy prince than meets the eye, and Brianna slowly unravels the secrets of his dark past while surviving in a strange culture.

However her goodness and wit will only get her so far. Terrifying beasts stalk the border and a murderer is at work in the town. They know the truth of Brianna’s identity and will stop at nothing to destroy all she has fought for.

©2019, 2020, 2021 Alice Ivinya (P)2024 Alice Ivinya

Fantastic Re-Telling of The Fairy Tale

I enjoyed this story a lot. This story was a creative reimagining of the German fairy tale titled, "The Goose Girl" which was originally published in 1815 by the Brothers Grimm per Wikipedia. The author put her own spin on the fairy tale, and I found it very entertaining. In this story, the protagonist's name was Brianna, and her story didn't end with this first book, unlike the original fairy tale. I'm looking forward to the next book in the series. Lillian Rachel's narration was great, and her performance enhanced the story's entertainment. I was given a free copy of the audiobook, and I have voluntarily posted this review.

Wonderful fairy tale retelling

This retelling of the classic was filled with delightful characters and world building. The author kept a steady pace allowing the perfect amount of detail, intrigue, and action. The narrator did a wonderful job providing unique accents to the characters while remaining clear and understandable. I hope the series will continue to be released in audio as I am eager to know what happens next and know other will be too.

Remarkable Fairy Tale Retelling

It's hard to tackle a fairy tale retelling when someone else has already done it well. In this case, The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale has become a classic. However, Alice Ivinya gave it a new twist and knocked it out of the park. First off, she reversed the roles. Imagine if the servant was forced by the evil princess to switch costumes so that the princess could go off and have fun rather than submit to an undesirable marriage. The worldbuilding was also incredible. Different regions were represented by different spirit animals. This is the first time an author had made Falada, the princess's talking horse, a logical part of the story rather than this odd magical nonsensical being. And Brianna, the lady-in-waiting, suddenly turned princess is a delight. She has her immature moments, but overall, she's such a good person. The same can be said of the prince. This made the twist at the end such a nerve-wracking experience. The false princess is always discovered, but how and by whom and what happens to her afterward, let's just say Brianna doesn't deserve any of those things. I'm happy to be left on a cliffhanger. There are a lot of details that remain unresolved, but I was pleased with the overall story arc and cannot wait for the next book to come out.

I received a free ARC from the author and have reviewed it willingly.

**Update for audio edition** Darn it, Alice, you made me cry again. I read this book three years ago. It was my introduction to Alice Ivinya's writing, and I loved instantly. When I saw she had just released an audio version, I knew I needed to revisit the story. It was as beautiful as I'd remembered. Alice has a beautiful way of writing characters that you fall in love with, despite their faults and struggles. Actually, it may be because of those very faults and struggles. It's a different experience to listen to a story, knowing how it's going to end, but I still rooted for Jian and Brianna. Despite everything, they're couple goals. I loved Brianna's guards as well. They each had a unique personality and so much heart. And I cried through the entire last chapter. I think audio frees up even more tears. But it's okay, I keep telling myself. I know what happens next. Lillian Rachel did a beautiful job narrating the story, and as always, I appreciate the author for giving me an audio ARC.

Great story and narrator!

I read Feathers of Snow quite a well ago and loved it. It is one of my favorite Goose Girl retellings. Lillian Rachel is a great narrator, I loved her narrating in Legendary Inge, so I was excited to see she was the narrator for this book! Definitely recommend! Content: clean, romance is clean slow burn, no swearing

Great retelling!!

This story was wonderful. A great retelling of Aesop's Goose Girl with shifting roles. The narrator does a marvelous job and even varies her tone when speaking for the different characters.
Heartwarming with under currents of sorrow and grief that really draw you into the characters. I built such an emotional attachment to the Princess that when the book neared competition I was sad to leave her story. I'm so glad there will be a book 2.