Enna Burning

 

          

Rating: 3.5/5

Author: Shannon Hale

Pages: 317

Genre: Young Adult Fantasy

Synopsis:

Enna Burning is the sequel to The Goose Girl. In this story, Enna is the main character whereas Ani/Isi has a supporting role.

A few years have passed since Isi married Geric, and Enna finds herself back at home in the forest and no longer working in the city. When her brother, Leifer, starts behaving strangely and suddenly demonstrates the ability to wield fire, Enna returns to the city to talk to the only person who would understand—Isi who not only has the power to speak with birds but to speak with the wind. Upon her return, Enna discovers that there is more to worry about than this sudden appearance of fire. War is upon them from the land of Tira in the south. Determined to stay by her friend’s side, Enna joins the war effort as Isi’s maiden. But when Leifer gives his life using the power of fire in a major battle, Enna can’t fight the need to do more and to understand her brother’s sacrifice.

Before she realizes what she’s gotten herself into, Enna herself has learned the gift of fire, but this is a gift that needs to be controlled. If she masters the skill, she can aid in the victory of Bayern. If she can’t, she could find herself consumed by the flames.

My Reaction:

Enna Burning is a well crafted story, much like The Goose Girl. It is somewhat darker than its predecessor in that much of the story deals with this inner struggle to control the fire within her. Fire has a need to consume and burn, so it encourages her to burn, even to burn other people especially since she’s in the middle of a war.

One of the things I liked best about this story is how it all wrapped up in the end. The last few chapters were honestly my favorite (and no, it wasn’t just because it was all over!). I think for me it was in those last few scenes where I personally connected most with the characters. Speaking of which, there are a few other characters from The Goose Girl that make reappearances as well, most notably Finn and Razo.

In the end, I gave this book a little bit of a lower score than The Goose Girl. It was a good read with some good conflict and resolution, but it just didn’t quite pull me in to the same level that The Goose Girl did. I’d still say it’s worth a read if you enjoyed the first book.

Reader Guidance:

It shouldn’t surprise you that a book dealing with war is going to have some violence to it. For the most part, I felt the violence was dealt with appropriately and wasn’t overly graphic. The thing that would probably be most concerning to me was when she burns people or fights the urge to burn people. When I was reading this book, a 9 year old girl asked me to read out loud to her, and because it was a little darker and dealt with this people burning aspect (and because I didn’t know the sorts of things her parents might approve of) I didn’t really feel comfortable reading it to her. I’d say it’s more for a mid-teen audience.

Here are some of the things to consider for this book:

•       The book opens with a woman burning to death
•         Battle descriptions—arrows biting soft flesh, metal tearing their middles, delivering death blows, etc.
•         The dead from battle are stacked in a heap and burned
•         There’s a fight to the death
•         It causes Enna physical pain to use the fire—describes the pain and her screaming
•         Enna burns a man to free herself
•         There’s a story mentioned of a mother who bathed her child in blood to make him an invincible warrior
•         Mention of soiling oneself
•         A man comes to taunt Enna and possibly take advantage of her, but another soldier shows up just in time and beats up the first guy.
•         There are two instances of language, both times using the ba— word
•         There are a few instances of people being stabbed or shot in the back or people punching other people
•         There are some more instances of people being burned alive

As I mentioned above, I didn’t feel like these were overly graphic.

Similar Books:

There are currently four books total in the stories of Bayern:

The Goose Girl

Enna Burning

River Secrets

Forest Born

Next Book:

I was ready for a break from the world of Bayern, but I wasn’t quite sure where to go next. I ended up doing exactly what I told my husband I would do: I went to the library, stepped into a random aisle, and checked out the first book I randomly set my hand on. As it happens, I recognized the cover as being a book I’d noticed before while perusing books, and it was one I was interested in reading. Clearly fate has brought us together! So next up is The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate.

                                                    

I must say, yesterday I started reading the first little bit of this book (I even read it out loud to that same nine year old mentioned above), and I'm already enjoying it (as was the nine year old). I'm excited to see how this one progresses!

The Goose Girl

Rating: 4.5/5

Author: Shannon Hale
Pages: 383
Genre: Young Adult/Fantasy

Synopsis:

Anidori-Kiladra Talianna Isilee, or just plain ol' Ani, is the crown princess of the kingdom of Kildenree, although she doesn't think she's very good at the role. As a child she would much rather spend time listening to her aunt's stories and learning to talk the language of the birds, something the queen frowned upon to say the least. As she grew older, she tried to be the princess she ought to be, and often found solace is long rides on her horse with her father riding his own steed beside her.

But when the king dies, Ani's mother determines that the best use for her first born is to marry her off the prince of the neighboring kingdom Bayern and thus avoid any potential future threat of war. Ani reluctantly sets off never guessing what her future would hold. Before they reach her destination, Ani's lady in waiting, Selia, rises up against her with a devious plan to take over Ani's identity as princess of Kildenree. Ani's only choices are to run or lose her life. Forced into hiding and finding work tending the king of Bayern's flock of geese, Ani must form a plan and bide her time to stop Selia before her treachery leads to, not only the deaths of many of her kinsmen, but the death of Ani herself!

My Reaction:

The Goose Girl is a book I've been meaning to read for a long time. I enjoy a good retelling of a fairy tale, and when I saw the cover of this book on a bookshelf some years ago it stuck out to me. It's about time I actually got around to reading it!

The story is based of off the fairy tale of the same title by the Brothers Grimm. It wasn't one I was familiar with, so I didn't know entirely what to expect, which I think was a good thing because I had no idea where things were going. In retrospect, I feel like I really should have seen some of those things coming. So I suppose Shannon Hale gets some points for keeping me interested with some surprises.

I really enjoyed this book. I read a synopsis of the original fairy tale, and I feel that Hale did a good job of staying true to the story while at the same time making it uniquely her own. She has good use of simile in her writing that I enjoyed. Ani is a relatable character with some insecurities, but also with such a great desire to do her part and to do well. It's good to see her change over time and become more of the princess she always wanted to be--strong, confident, capable of changing lives for the better.

It's a great story with some great characters. I also loved the way things were wrapped up in the end. Overall, a good book I could recommend, and I look forward to reading the companion books to it!

Reader Guidance:

It shouldn't surprise you that a book based on one of Grimm's fairy tales should have some grim moments...pun intended. I'll try not to give any spoilers, but here's some bullet points of violence and suggestive material in the book:

• The queen near the beginning pricks her finger with a broach to put a few drops of blood on a handkerchief as a symbolic gesture when Ani leaves on her journey.
• A man hits on Ani a bit, saying something like, "You like that I'm a man." I don't recall the exact quote.
• There are multiple stabbings in the back, a few mentioning swords going clean through the chest, some just cuts because the attacker was unsuccessful in getting their sword/knife deep enough in to kill. There's also a javelin to the back at one point.
• In Bayern, after men have been hanged for their crimes, their bodies are left hanging from the wall of the city. This sight and the sickening effect it has on Ani is mentioned a few times.
• There's one scene at a knacker's yard, a place where dead or unwanted animals are disposed of, especially those not fit for human consumption (some of the meat would be used for dog food). It's a bit of a gross and traumatizing scene through the eyes of Ani. It mentions blood and things like fur and feathers and discarded animal parts.
• A horses head is hung up at a gate.
• At one point a character relates an old story about women encouraging their men during war by alluding to the fact that they would be captured and the enemy would have their way with them.
• There is one line that says, "You would have touched [her]. You would have shared her bed." The man who says it is jealous and angry towards a man that was meant to marry.
• There's also someone who gets stabbed with a knife to the side and a man who receives a sword wound to the shoulder.

With things like war and treachery, there's bound to be some dark stuff. It is intended for a teenage audience. 

Similar Books:

There are three other books that take place in Bayern. My understanding is that they are independent stories from The Goose Girl, but they do involve characters first mentioned in this book. They are:

Enna Burning

River Secrets

Forest Born

Other fairy tale type books you may enjoy include:

- Anything by Gail Carson Levine

- Beauty by Robin McKinley

- Beauty Sleep by Cameron Dokey

Next Book:

I think I've got to give one of these companion books a try! I really liked Enna in The Goose Girl, so I think the next book up will be Enna Burning.

What did you guys think of The Goose Girl? What should we read after Enna Burning? Happy reading!