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Echo North #1
Echo North
Echo Alkaev's safe and carefully structured world falls apart when her father leaves for the city and mysteriously disappears. Believing he is lost forever, Echo is shocked to find him half-frozen in the winter forest six months later, guarded by a strange talking wolf-the same creature who attacked her as a child. The wolf presents Echo with an ultimatum: if she lives with him for one year, he will ensure her father makes it home safely. But there is more to the wolf than Echo realizes.In his enchanted house beneath a mountain, each room must be sewn together to keep the home from unraveling, and something new and dark and strange lies behind every door. When centuries-old secrets unfold, Echo discovers a magical library full of books-turned-mirrors, and a young man named Hal who is trapped inside of them. As the year ticks by, the rooms begin to disappear and Echo must solve the mystery of the wolf's enchantment before her time is up-otherwise Echo, the wolf, and Hal will be lost forever.
10 pages, Audiobook
First published January 15, 2019
239 people are currently reading
21743 people want to read
About the author
Joanna Ruth Meyer
8 books910 followersJoanna Ruth Meyer is the author of five YA fantasies, including the critically acclaimed ECHO NORTH. She lives in Mesa, AZ, with her husband, son, two orange cats, and a giant grand piano named Prince Imrahil. She loves forests and rainstorms and stories that make her feel things, and in all likelihood, she’s drinking tea right now.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,481 reviews
May 16, 2022
i will never not read a ‘beauty and the beast’ retelling. and although this isnt the best one ive read, there is still so much to adore.
firstly, the scandinavian folklore that is intertwined with this story is something to live for. i imagine retellings are some of the hardest books to write because the story needs something fresh and unique to make it stand out from other retellings. yes, the backbone of the story is familiar, but the norwegian influence present in this is just so lovely. it provides such a wintery atmosphere and a different view of magic than i have read before.
additionally, the writing is gorgeous. its magically lush - i dont know how else to describe it. however, even though the prose is simply a thing of beauty, sometimes JRMs storytelling can be a bit crowded with different elements. ive seen this in her other book where its just nonstop in terms of people and magic and world-building and information and plot and it can be a bit much. sometimes less is more, you know? a convoluted story doesnt necessarily mean its better than a simplistic one. but thats just a personal preference.
overall, im really happy with this. i love the new fairy tale quality of this that enhances an old story i enjoy so much. i definitely recommend it to any ‘beauty and the beast’ fans.
↠ 4 stars
firstly, the scandinavian folklore that is intertwined with this story is something to live for. i imagine retellings are some of the hardest books to write because the story needs something fresh and unique to make it stand out from other retellings. yes, the backbone of the story is familiar, but the norwegian influence present in this is just so lovely. it provides such a wintery atmosphere and a different view of magic than i have read before.
additionally, the writing is gorgeous. its magically lush - i dont know how else to describe it. however, even though the prose is simply a thing of beauty, sometimes JRMs storytelling can be a bit crowded with different elements. ive seen this in her other book where its just nonstop in terms of people and magic and world-building and information and plot and it can be a bit much. sometimes less is more, you know? a convoluted story doesnt necessarily mean its better than a simplistic one. but thats just a personal preference.
overall, im really happy with this. i love the new fairy tale quality of this that enhances an old story i enjoy so much. i definitely recommend it to any ‘beauty and the beast’ fans.
↠ 4 stars
March 19, 2019
“I held him like the world had spun away beneath me, and I was left to dance with the stars, not mortal any longer but a creature made of moonlight and magic.”
This was BRILLIANT. Seriously, I don’t know why it isn’t getting more hype!!! What an underrated gem! Do yourselves a favour and give this retelling a go! This magical book had me spellbound and held me captive as I turned page after page, desperate to see what would happen next. I would’ve finished this in one sitting if I hadn’t begun it so late in the night…but at 4am, my stupid brain decided that it wanted sleep for some odd reason, ugh. By the time I reached the end of the novel, my heart was screaming NO! Despite being nearly 400 pages in length, I still found it too short.
“Wild house and unpredictable wolf aside, I didn’t care where I’d promised to stay for a whole year, as long as there was something to read.”
While being primarily a retelling of East of the Sun, West of the Moon, there are also elements of Beauty and the Beast, Cinderella, Tam Lin, and Cupid and Psyche. It was a smorgasbord of different faery tales and I loved every second of it. Meyer creatively used her imagination to take classic and beloved tales and then weaved them in such a new and original manner, creating such an enchanting and compelling story. Thus, despite how many retellings I’ve read in the past, I never once felt as though I’ve read this story before, as I have with other retellings.
Hal: “If I knew, would you want me to tell you? I wouldn’t want to spoil your reading experience.”
Echo: “If I’d thought this story wouldn’t have a happy ending, I would have read something else.”
Hal: “Must you always know a story ends happily before you feel equal to beginning it?”
Echo: “Sometimes the adventure is enough.”
Hal: “Adventure is all I live for. Come on!”
The novel has a Siberian-esque setting, which was quite reminiscent of my other beloved Russian-inspired retellings, such as Hunted, Uprooted, and Spinning Silver. It reminded me of Hunted because the Wolf remains a wolf for the duration of the story, and isn’t someone hiding behind a mask or just a hot guy with a minor imperfection. I prefer retellings where the Beast is, in fact, a beast. It was reminiscent of Uprooted because of the evil woods that surrounds the castle. And it had a similar magical and wintry feel that Spinning Silver had. All in all, this was the perfect mixture of some of my favourite faery tales and my favourite retellings.
“I learned very early that in the old tales of magic the wicked were always ugly and scarred, the good beautiful; I was not beautiful, but I wanted to be good, and after a while I couldn’t bear to read those stories anymore.”
Echo Alkaev was an enthralling and sympathetic protagonist. Her face was disfigured as a small child, when she stopped to help a white Wolf caught in a trap in the woods. Rather than empathising with her plight, the village reviles her, declaring that she was marked by the Devil and went a step further by throwing rocks at her. I’m not even kidding when I say that I wanted to leap into this book and beat up that entire village. She couldn’t control her injuries! Why on Earth would they treat her this way?! SHE DESERVES SO MUCH BETTER!!!
“Books are very dull without someone to share them with.”
Luckily, she had a doting father and kind-hearted older brother. Their family dynamics and unconditional love for one another were some of the highlights of this book…at least until her demon of a stepmother was introduced into the story anyway. Despite being a sweet and good person, Echo led a very lonely existence, buried in books, where no one would ridicule her. Honestly, this made me want to cry at some points. Poor Echo. :( Rather than having to deal with the scorn from the villagers, she spends her days in her father’s bookshop, pursuing her thirst for knowledge.
“Then why do you blame yourself? … What others see in you reflects upon them, not you. Your stepmother treated you poorly—your whole village did—but that is not your fault. It never was. It never could be.”
As a result of her loyalty to her father, she goes off into the woods – alone – when he goes missing because he was trying to find a way to pay off the debt that her stepmother has accumulated. She comes across the Wolf a second time and agrees to spend one year with him in exchange for her father’s safe return, as he is frozen and unconscious by the time that she finds him.
“Echo would have come to save me anyway. That is who she is: she gives of herself to the people around her. Gives and gives and gives. Because at the heart of it, in her heart, there is compassion and strength, goodness and knowledge and truth.”
The Wolf takes her to an enchanted house under a mountain and gives her but one rule…She must never look upon him in between the hours of midnight and dawn. If she does, she’ll be removed from the house’s premises to face the frigid woods alone. BRRR! The house was a place of wonder and magic though. I really, really loved it! In all actuality, it was falling apart. There were a number of earthquakes and Echo was responsible for collecting silk from silver spiders to bind the collapsing rooms. The house moaned in a haunted manner at night and there was a venomous garden with poisoned roses. I just adored how dark and twisty the house was!!!
“In the book-mirrors … you don’t have to follow the story—you can explore the world around it, instead. Just walk away from the main character … and you’re free to do as you please. There are limits, of course—you can’t go anywhere the author never imagined, but if the book is even somewhat well written, there are layers of places to visit barely touched upon in the story.”
The best part of the house, however, was the magical library with mirror-books that you could step into like a portal to another world, which is basically the DREAM for us readers. ;) That’s basically all I’ve ever wanted from a book. I’d love to be able to step into Hogwarts (Harry Potter), Narnia (Chronicles of Narnia), Red London (A Darker Shade of Magic), or Weep (Strange the Dreamer) – ok fine, especially the latter – and see them and explore them for myself. :P
“‘What is the oldest magic?’
‘Love. That is what created the universe, and that is what will destroy it, in the end. Threads of old magic, binding the world together.’”
Eventually, her loved ones moved on with their lives and left Echo behind in their memories, so she resolved to do whatever it takes to uncover the Wolf’s past and set him free. Her friendship with him grows and she goes on countless adventures with Hal and Mokosh within the book-mirrors. Echo discovers her inner strength and realises that facial scarring doesn’t make her any less beautiful. Meyer included such an understated message about self-empowerment, which was quite lovely. Hal was also a really sweet love interest. Honestly, my heart aches for him. The poor bloke was put through SO MUCH pain! :( We meet Hal within the book-mirrors and from the minute we met him, I fell in love. He was so fun and daring when zipping from book to book and engaging in sword fights, yet also tragic and desperate because he had no idea where he came from and he definitely had some demons in his past. SOMEONE PROTECT HIM!!!
“It isn’t about deserving, Hal. It never was … The old magic is stronger than guilt or betrayal. Stronger than everything she did to you, and to me. It’s stronger than time.”
I highly, highly recommend this wonderful retelling. The writing style was never overpoweringly lyrical. Rather, it was simply addicting storytelling. It was so beautiful and mysterious! My only complaint is that the main villain and the stepmother were rather one-dimensional antagonists. So…when is Joanna Ruth Meyer writing her next one? GIMMEE!
This was BRILLIANT. Seriously, I don’t know why it isn’t getting more hype!!! What an underrated gem! Do yourselves a favour and give this retelling a go! This magical book had me spellbound and held me captive as I turned page after page, desperate to see what would happen next. I would’ve finished this in one sitting if I hadn’t begun it so late in the night…but at 4am, my stupid brain decided that it wanted sleep for some odd reason, ugh. By the time I reached the end of the novel, my heart was screaming NO! Despite being nearly 400 pages in length, I still found it too short.
“Wild house and unpredictable wolf aside, I didn’t care where I’d promised to stay for a whole year, as long as there was something to read.”
While being primarily a retelling of East of the Sun, West of the Moon, there are also elements of Beauty and the Beast, Cinderella, Tam Lin, and Cupid and Psyche. It was a smorgasbord of different faery tales and I loved every second of it. Meyer creatively used her imagination to take classic and beloved tales and then weaved them in such a new and original manner, creating such an enchanting and compelling story. Thus, despite how many retellings I’ve read in the past, I never once felt as though I’ve read this story before, as I have with other retellings.
Hal: “If I knew, would you want me to tell you? I wouldn’t want to spoil your reading experience.”
Echo: “If I’d thought this story wouldn’t have a happy ending, I would have read something else.”
Hal: “Must you always know a story ends happily before you feel equal to beginning it?”
Echo: “Sometimes the adventure is enough.”
Hal: “Adventure is all I live for. Come on!”
The novel has a Siberian-esque setting, which was quite reminiscent of my other beloved Russian-inspired retellings, such as Hunted, Uprooted, and Spinning Silver. It reminded me of Hunted because the Wolf remains a wolf for the duration of the story, and isn’t someone hiding behind a mask or just a hot guy with a minor imperfection. I prefer retellings where the Beast is, in fact, a beast. It was reminiscent of Uprooted because of the evil woods that surrounds the castle. And it had a similar magical and wintry feel that Spinning Silver had. All in all, this was the perfect mixture of some of my favourite faery tales and my favourite retellings.
“I learned very early that in the old tales of magic the wicked were always ugly and scarred, the good beautiful; I was not beautiful, but I wanted to be good, and after a while I couldn’t bear to read those stories anymore.”
Echo Alkaev was an enthralling and sympathetic protagonist. Her face was disfigured as a small child, when she stopped to help a white Wolf caught in a trap in the woods. Rather than empathising with her plight, the village reviles her, declaring that she was marked by the Devil and went a step further by throwing rocks at her. I’m not even kidding when I say that I wanted to leap into this book and beat up that entire village. She couldn’t control her injuries! Why on Earth would they treat her this way?! SHE DESERVES SO MUCH BETTER!!!
“Books are very dull without someone to share them with.”
Luckily, she had a doting father and kind-hearted older brother. Their family dynamics and unconditional love for one another were some of the highlights of this book…at least until her demon of a stepmother was introduced into the story anyway. Despite being a sweet and good person, Echo led a very lonely existence, buried in books, where no one would ridicule her. Honestly, this made me want to cry at some points. Poor Echo. :( Rather than having to deal with the scorn from the villagers, she spends her days in her father’s bookshop, pursuing her thirst for knowledge.
“Then why do you blame yourself? … What others see in you reflects upon them, not you. Your stepmother treated you poorly—your whole village did—but that is not your fault. It never was. It never could be.”
As a result of her loyalty to her father, she goes off into the woods – alone – when he goes missing because he was trying to find a way to pay off the debt that her stepmother has accumulated. She comes across the Wolf a second time and agrees to spend one year with him in exchange for her father’s safe return, as he is frozen and unconscious by the time that she finds him.
“Echo would have come to save me anyway. That is who she is: she gives of herself to the people around her. Gives and gives and gives. Because at the heart of it, in her heart, there is compassion and strength, goodness and knowledge and truth.”
The Wolf takes her to an enchanted house under a mountain and gives her but one rule…She must never look upon him in between the hours of midnight and dawn. If she does, she’ll be removed from the house’s premises to face the frigid woods alone. BRRR! The house was a place of wonder and magic though. I really, really loved it! In all actuality, it was falling apart. There were a number of earthquakes and Echo was responsible for collecting silk from silver spiders to bind the collapsing rooms. The house moaned in a haunted manner at night and there was a venomous garden with poisoned roses. I just adored how dark and twisty the house was!!!
“In the book-mirrors … you don’t have to follow the story—you can explore the world around it, instead. Just walk away from the main character … and you’re free to do as you please. There are limits, of course—you can’t go anywhere the author never imagined, but if the book is even somewhat well written, there are layers of places to visit barely touched upon in the story.”
The best part of the house, however, was the magical library with mirror-books that you could step into like a portal to another world, which is basically the DREAM for us readers. ;) That’s basically all I’ve ever wanted from a book. I’d love to be able to step into Hogwarts (Harry Potter), Narnia (Chronicles of Narnia), Red London (A Darker Shade of Magic), or Weep (Strange the Dreamer) – ok fine, especially the latter – and see them and explore them for myself. :P
“‘What is the oldest magic?’
‘Love. That is what created the universe, and that is what will destroy it, in the end. Threads of old magic, binding the world together.’”
Eventually, her loved ones moved on with their lives and left Echo behind in their memories, so she resolved to do whatever it takes to uncover the Wolf’s past and set him free. Her friendship with him grows and she goes on countless adventures with Hal and Mokosh within the book-mirrors. Echo discovers her inner strength and realises that facial scarring doesn’t make her any less beautiful. Meyer included such an understated message about self-empowerment, which was quite lovely. Hal was also a really sweet love interest. Honestly, my heart aches for him. The poor bloke was put through SO MUCH pain! :( We meet Hal within the book-mirrors and from the minute we met him, I fell in love. He was so fun and daring when zipping from book to book and engaging in sword fights, yet also tragic and desperate because he had no idea where he came from and he definitely had some demons in his past. SOMEONE PROTECT HIM!!!
“It isn’t about deserving, Hal. It never was … The old magic is stronger than guilt or betrayal. Stronger than everything she did to you, and to me. It’s stronger than time.”
I highly, highly recommend this wonderful retelling. The writing style was never overpoweringly lyrical. Rather, it was simply addicting storytelling. It was so beautiful and mysterious! My only complaint is that the main villain and the stepmother were rather one-dimensional antagonists. So…when is Joanna Ruth Meyer writing her next one? GIMMEE!
April 15, 2019
The first quarter of Echo North was wonderful and had me captivated as everything was setting up, but the rest of the book was up and down for me. I wanted to fall in love with this book, but it turned out to be just an okay read for me.
The story begins with Echo, a young girl who lost her mother at birth and now lives with her father and brother. After attempting to help a wolf in a trap escape, Echo is attacked and her face is permanently scared. She’s treated differently because of her scars and ends up working in her father’s bookshop with little belief in herself. After being reunited with the wolf who attacked her, she agrees to live in his magical house for one year which will spare her father’s life. The wolf intends for her to be the new ‘keeper’ of the house because he’s dying and there is no one to tend to it. Echo wishes to find a way to save his life as she struggles to help keep the house from unbinding, with more rooms disappearing each day.
“Everyone is searching for their true selves. But everyone hides their true selves from each other. Look for the truth. If you find it, you will see through the enchantment.”
I love retellings and did feel the similarities (although subtle) to Beauty and the Beast and East of the Sun and West of the Moon, but the book had some definite uniqueness to it. I can say with certainty that I haven’t read a book with a library of enchanted ‘book mirrors’ in it before, where you enter a mirror and become part of the story within in, visiting all different sorts of book-worlds, all containing different adventures. The idea is unique to me and what I found most interesting in the tale. I also had questions throughout the story with certain parts that were puzzling, but appreciated that everything was nicely wrapped up by the end of the book.
Something I didn’t love about the tale was how Echo was treated poorly by the village people due to the scars on her face, as if she were plagued with some horrible disease. It really does damage her character. It seemed as though her brother was the only one that actually believed in her. I did appreciate their close family relationship with their father though. It was parts like these that reminded me of Robin McKinley’s Beauty because that close family bond was something I was drawn to in that retelling as well. Echo’s character is flawed, but she really blossoms throughout the book as she begins to understand true beauty and just how important she is.
“If others cannot see your true self, if they refuse to see it— that is a flaw in their own character. Not in yours.”
The writing here is beautiful, lush, and descriptive; it’s hard not to appreciate this book. Unfortunately, there just wasn’t enough going on to fully keep my interest and I didn’t have a whole lot of connection to the characters by the end of the story. I had to push through the slower parts, especially where the story was drawn out at times. I was very pleased with the ending though, and extremely thankful for the epilogue.
I did still enjoy this tale and I’m happy to have read it. If you like retellings, give this one a try.
3.5 stars
Hardcover: 400 pages
Publisher: Page Street Kids (January 15, 2019)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1624147151
ISBN-13: 978-1624147159
Genre: Young Adult Fiction
You can also see this review @www.readrantrockandroll.com
The story begins with Echo, a young girl who lost her mother at birth and now lives with her father and brother. After attempting to help a wolf in a trap escape, Echo is attacked and her face is permanently scared. She’s treated differently because of her scars and ends up working in her father’s bookshop with little belief in herself. After being reunited with the wolf who attacked her, she agrees to live in his magical house for one year which will spare her father’s life. The wolf intends for her to be the new ‘keeper’ of the house because he’s dying and there is no one to tend to it. Echo wishes to find a way to save his life as she struggles to help keep the house from unbinding, with more rooms disappearing each day.
“Everyone is searching for their true selves. But everyone hides their true selves from each other. Look for the truth. If you find it, you will see through the enchantment.”
I love retellings and did feel the similarities (although subtle) to Beauty and the Beast and East of the Sun and West of the Moon, but the book had some definite uniqueness to it. I can say with certainty that I haven’t read a book with a library of enchanted ‘book mirrors’ in it before, where you enter a mirror and become part of the story within in, visiting all different sorts of book-worlds, all containing different adventures. The idea is unique to me and what I found most interesting in the tale. I also had questions throughout the story with certain parts that were puzzling, but appreciated that everything was nicely wrapped up by the end of the book.
Something I didn’t love about the tale was how Echo was treated poorly by the village people due to the scars on her face, as if she were plagued with some horrible disease. It really does damage her character. It seemed as though her brother was the only one that actually believed in her. I did appreciate their close family relationship with their father though. It was parts like these that reminded me of Robin McKinley’s Beauty because that close family bond was something I was drawn to in that retelling as well. Echo’s character is flawed, but she really blossoms throughout the book as she begins to understand true beauty and just how important she is.
“If others cannot see your true self, if they refuse to see it— that is a flaw in their own character. Not in yours.”
The writing here is beautiful, lush, and descriptive; it’s hard not to appreciate this book. Unfortunately, there just wasn’t enough going on to fully keep my interest and I didn’t have a whole lot of connection to the characters by the end of the story. I had to push through the slower parts, especially where the story was drawn out at times. I was very pleased with the ending though, and extremely thankful for the epilogue.
I did still enjoy this tale and I’m happy to have read it. If you like retellings, give this one a try.
3.5 stars
Hardcover: 400 pages
Publisher: Page Street Kids (January 15, 2019)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1624147151
ISBN-13: 978-1624147159
Genre: Young Adult Fiction
You can also see this review @www.readrantrockandroll.com
December 31, 2019
”I went north, to where the stories always said the wild things lived, where the folktales came from and still magic in the mountaintops.”
This book was something else. It started as a mix of a few other retellings of Beauty and the Beast and then was something uniquely its own. The writing is truly enchanting pulling along for a magical journey in a world that we will never fully understand for all the secrets that remain unlocked with the potential this world will always hold.
Reading this book has to be a decision you make for you to enjoy, I have a feeling that having someone force you into will make it somehow less special to you as the reader. It’s definitely a book that hold your attention because you’re always trying to untangling the plot and you just keep receiving more clues as you read.
While the characters themselves were unimpressive in some ways, the protagonist takes the world by storm with her capacity to love, her eternal selflessness, and generally being a great person despite everything life has thrown her way.
With this book I find that I tend to fixate more on the magic, the world, and the plot rather than the characters themselves but I do love the protagonist.
Echo lives in a small village where everyone deems her as marked by the devil, or a variation of that. Whe Echo was young she was attacked by a white wolf which left the left side of her face scarred. Echo’s father runs a bookstore and Echo helps him out as his assistance. Echo’s brother is currently undertaking an apprenticeship with a clockmaker and will eventually move on to start his own store.
One day Echo’s father heads out to the city and doesn’t return. Echo grows troubled and because of another thing that happens in her personal life which I will not tell you, runs out into the woods and stumbles upon her father’s partially frozen form. Then a wolf strikes a deal with her in which she stays with the wolf for an year in exchange for her father’s safe return to their house.
“If you love something you will not give it up, not for anything. It belongs to you, it is part of you. If you grab hold of it and never let it go—no one can take it from you.”
The book starts as a version of Beauty and the Beast but then moves on to be a story about a girl, a talking wolf, and a story in which the girl might not be the only one bound by a deal. Now I realise that doesn’t seem very different form the Beauty and the Beast but I really can’t tell you more without spoiling something. Trust me this book is more than just a retelling and the world grows to be bigger than we expect.
Along the road you’ll come across a storyteller when we need him the most, he is my favorite character.
The writing is amazing because it reflects the intensity of everything the characters are going through. The book is not overly descriptive while still painting the necessary picture in a beautiful way.
I would recommend it to both the people who want to read a Beauty and the Beast retelling and those who just want a quick fantasy read.
This book was something else. It started as a mix of a few other retellings of Beauty and the Beast and then was something uniquely its own. The writing is truly enchanting pulling along for a magical journey in a world that we will never fully understand for all the secrets that remain unlocked with the potential this world will always hold.
Reading this book has to be a decision you make for you to enjoy, I have a feeling that having someone force you into will make it somehow less special to you as the reader. It’s definitely a book that hold your attention because you’re always trying to untangling the plot and you just keep receiving more clues as you read.
While the characters themselves were unimpressive in some ways, the protagonist takes the world by storm with her capacity to love, her eternal selflessness, and generally being a great person despite everything life has thrown her way.
With this book I find that I tend to fixate more on the magic, the world, and the plot rather than the characters themselves but I do love the protagonist.
Echo lives in a small village where everyone deems her as marked by the devil, or a variation of that. Whe Echo was young she was attacked by a white wolf which left the left side of her face scarred. Echo’s father runs a bookstore and Echo helps him out as his assistance. Echo’s brother is currently undertaking an apprenticeship with a clockmaker and will eventually move on to start his own store.
One day Echo’s father heads out to the city and doesn’t return. Echo grows troubled and because of another thing that happens in her personal life which I will not tell you, runs out into the woods and stumbles upon her father’s partially frozen form. Then a wolf strikes a deal with her in which she stays with the wolf for an year in exchange for her father’s safe return to their house.
“If you love something you will not give it up, not for anything. It belongs to you, it is part of you. If you grab hold of it and never let it go—no one can take it from you.”
The book starts as a version of Beauty and the Beast but then moves on to be a story about a girl, a talking wolf, and a story in which the girl might not be the only one bound by a deal. Now I realise that doesn’t seem very different form the Beauty and the Beast but I really can’t tell you more without spoiling something. Trust me this book is more than just a retelling and the world grows to be bigger than we expect.
Along the road you’ll come across a storyteller when we need him the most, he is my favorite character.
The writing is amazing because it reflects the intensity of everything the characters are going through. The book is not overly descriptive while still painting the necessary picture in a beautiful way.
I would recommend it to both the people who want to read a Beauty and the Beast retelling and those who just want a quick fantasy read.
February 25, 2019
I held him like the world had spun away beneath me, and I was left to dance with the stars, not mortal any longer but a creature made of moonlight and magic.
Beautiful and poignant.
Honestly, I'm finding more hidden gems of books that are not too popular either on book-tube or other platforms (from what I've seen and I was lucky enough to stumble upon this gem on Amazon), having the forcing curiosity of not very many people talking about it.
Sometimes those are the best kinds of stories. The ones unknown. The ones scattered about....like a forgotten fairy tale— restless and thriving. This was a slow and quiet book, full of prose, promise, and magic— full blown god forced fairy tale of a book. It was fantastic.
This book spun multiple aspects of different old and classic fairy tales into a something different and filled with a warmth of a smile— I savored every aspect of it. Winter is a deep aesthetic for the setting of this story but I never felt the feeling or tension of the cold.
This is one of the books you can read once and remember everything about it: slow, steady, and true. Definite recommend.
"I was named after the echo of my mother's heart."
Not sure if this is the exact quote, (I tried so hard scrambling through the book to find it but to no avail dammit), but I know this quote, this book— its story, will resonate with me for a very long, long time.
Just as it should be.
4 STARS
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February 6, 2021
9.43 on CAWPILE. A new favourite of mine, for sure.
January 20, 2019
This début novel makes a valiant attempt at retelling the Beauty and the Beast fairy tale mixing the original French tale with its Nordic variant East of the Sun and West of the Moon and the Scottish folk ballad Tam Lin. But rather than retelling the original tales directly, it opts for being a retelling of three retellings: Robin McKinley's Beauty, Edith Pattou's East, and Diana Wynne Jones' Fire and Hemlock.
The result is a somewhat messy and flawed story, albeit quite readable and probably fit to be enjoyed a lot more by people who've not read the above mentioned retellings first, as I did. Knowing the other retellings will definitely inform your reaction to Echo North, more so if you loved those a lot and are perhaps going to see the "copycat" elements Meyer lifted in a not exactly charitable light. I happen to think McKinley did better the creepy house plot and Pattou handled the white bear & girl love story much better, plus I believe the Tam Lin element smelt more of self-indulgence than plot necessity. Yet, even so, Echo North doesn't suffer only by comparison, it has its own flaws.
First off, the cartoony villainy is strong in this one. Echo's stepmother is mean and cruel merely for the sake of being mean and cruel as all fairy tale stepmothers are required to be by the laws of fairy-taledom. The heroine has to play the required poor abused girl role for sympathy and because the author couldn't find better motives or a better way to have her leave the house to end up with Wolf. And then, there's the Big Baddie, the source of the curse on the white wolf, who also is another that's evil for the funsies.
Then there's the defective worldbuilding. Well, in reality there's no worldbuilding to speak of here, the world is all just lifted elements from McKinley and Pattou with a little sprinkling of 19th century Siberia that doesn't go beyond "perpetually snowy forest and cute village."And it's the latter element that brings me to the third and very, very annoying flaw: the major blunder on the author's part as regards Russian names. Why on Earth is Echo's surname kept in the masculine form, Alkaev, instead of turning it into the feminine, Alkaeva? Come on, surely the author can't be this hugely ignorant, what with her fangirly admission that she used Siberian Russia as an inspiration and having Google quite ready to inform anyone about foreign naming conventions! I'm so tired of authors constantly showing their disregard for the fact that not everyone in the world has the same naming traditions, and Russian is one of the most frequent victims of such ignorance.
And then there's the characterisation of the protagonist herself, Echo Alkaev (agh!). The girl was scarred when very small due to a childish foolishness with a savage white wolf that she thought was a kindness. Somehow, this tragic event that'd have made any decent people anywhere and anytime feel pity for the little girl's accident is turned instead into unexplained hate towards her. Seriously, why do many people believe that in the past they all were so backwards and supertitious that any corporal disfigurement was automatically seen with fear and hate and condemnation? Really, there's the past attitudes towards inherited disabilities and disfigurements and there's past attitudes towards ACQUIRED bodily flaws. Do you really think that if, say, you fell on your face over the oven whilst cooking and that left your with burn scars, the whole village was going to look at you as if the Devil cursed you and you're to be the town's pariah now? Seriously? There's absolutely NO credible reason for Echo to be so hated and feared because of her scars, none at all but for the authorial need to force her into artificial isolation and feed her self-pity. Angst, you know, it fuels the plot.
There's also other stuff that'd have used a good editor: too much wandering 'round here, which bloats the book a tad, making it longer than it should be; there's the need for the Big Villain's motives to be better explained instead of just dropping it all by the end when the story needs to be wrapped up; and then there's the cutesy ending, with the stepmother being her cartoony wicked self for the last time for plot convenience. I'm not sure why the powerful Winds decided to solve things for Echo either, as she did nothing to win them over... Enfin.
I do think the author is a good storyteller, though. Once she gets her writer's legs and produces her own stories with less heavy borrowing from others, she'll probably be one to keep an eye on for those of us who like fairy tale retellings.
The result is a somewhat messy and flawed story, albeit quite readable and probably fit to be enjoyed a lot more by people who've not read the above mentioned retellings first, as I did. Knowing the other retellings will definitely inform your reaction to Echo North, more so if you loved those a lot and are perhaps going to see the "copycat" elements Meyer lifted in a not exactly charitable light. I happen to think McKinley did better the creepy house plot and Pattou handled the white bear & girl love story much better, plus I believe the Tam Lin element smelt more of self-indulgence than plot necessity. Yet, even so, Echo North doesn't suffer only by comparison, it has its own flaws.
First off, the cartoony villainy is strong in this one. Echo's stepmother is mean and cruel merely for the sake of being mean and cruel as all fairy tale stepmothers are required to be by the laws of fairy-taledom. The heroine has to play the required poor abused girl role for sympathy and because the author couldn't find better motives or a better way to have her leave the house to end up with Wolf. And then, there's the Big Baddie, the source of the curse on the white wolf, who also is another that's evil for the funsies.
Then there's the defective worldbuilding. Well, in reality there's no worldbuilding to speak of here, the world is all just lifted elements from McKinley and Pattou with a little sprinkling of 19th century Siberia that doesn't go beyond "perpetually snowy forest and cute village."And it's the latter element that brings me to the third and very, very annoying flaw: the major blunder on the author's part as regards Russian names. Why on Earth is Echo's surname kept in the masculine form, Alkaev, instead of turning it into the feminine, Alkaeva? Come on, surely the author can't be this hugely ignorant, what with her fangirly admission that she used Siberian Russia as an inspiration and having Google quite ready to inform anyone about foreign naming conventions! I'm so tired of authors constantly showing their disregard for the fact that not everyone in the world has the same naming traditions, and Russian is one of the most frequent victims of such ignorance.
And then there's the characterisation of the protagonist herself, Echo Alkaev (agh!). The girl was scarred when very small due to a childish foolishness with a savage white wolf that she thought was a kindness. Somehow, this tragic event that'd have made any decent people anywhere and anytime feel pity for the little girl's accident is turned instead into unexplained hate towards her. Seriously, why do many people believe that in the past they all were so backwards and supertitious that any corporal disfigurement was automatically seen with fear and hate and condemnation? Really, there's the past attitudes towards inherited disabilities and disfigurements and there's past attitudes towards ACQUIRED bodily flaws. Do you really think that if, say, you fell on your face over the oven whilst cooking and that left your with burn scars, the whole village was going to look at you as if the Devil cursed you and you're to be the town's pariah now? Seriously? There's absolutely NO credible reason for Echo to be so hated and feared because of her scars, none at all but for the authorial need to force her into artificial isolation and feed her self-pity. Angst, you know, it fuels the plot.
There's also other stuff that'd have used a good editor: too much wandering 'round here, which bloats the book a tad, making it longer than it should be; there's the need for the Big Villain's motives to be better explained instead of just dropping it all by the end when the story needs to be wrapped up; and then there's the cutesy ending, with the stepmother being her cartoony wicked self for the last time for plot convenience. I'm not sure why the powerful Winds decided to solve things for Echo either, as she did nothing to win them over... Enfin.
I do think the author is a good storyteller, though. Once she gets her writer's legs and produces her own stories with less heavy borrowing from others, she'll probably be one to keep an eye on for those of us who like fairy tale retellings.
January 7, 2019
Title: Echo North
Series: Standalone
Author: Joanna Ruth Meyer
Release date: January 15, 2019
I went into this book thinking it was going to be a simple fairy tale retelling, a fresh spin on something I've heard a million times. Beauty and the Beast is a beloved fairy tale and known to many, but I guarantee nothing about this will feel stale or uninspired. This book is more of a mash up of several fairy tales with the author's imagination stamped in the fine details. Meyer held me spellbound and captive to her words, there's no other way to describe it. One minute you're strolling through her world, naively thinking you'll coast on comfortably 'til the end. The next, the force of the story slaps you in the back with unexpected momentum. And you're careening through its twisted, thorny path so fast you're breathless with wonder.
They were fairies, I think, or something like fairies: wispy creatures as tall as trees that seemed to be made of rain, or flowers; willowy spiders with laughing hair; bears with long fingers and masques instead of faces; hundreds of others harder to describe. They all danced together in the center of the clearing, a mass of strangeness and swirling color. In their midst sat a woman on a writhing throne, her hair the same shade as the starlight.
I'm sitting here trying to form coherent, linear thoughts to write down. But my mind is still dizzy with the adventure I reluctantly returned from. I'm in the enchanted house under the mountain where nothing is as it seems. Your smallest wish is granted, and the nightmare you never knew existed waits for time to slip through your fingers. The answers to this enigmatic puzzle are as ephemeral as a dream you can't quite remember when you wake. Teasing the edge of your consciousness. Echo must have the cunning to solve the mystery, and the courage fight an ancient adversary with immeasurable power. You will agonize every step of the way with her. One wrong move will have all hope for the future folding in on itself like a house of cards.
Echo Alkaev was disfigured by a mysterious white wolf in the woods as a child. Once she led a normal life, now she's reviled and feared because of the scars mapping one side of her face. Her father and brother have always given her unconditional love, but her confidence has been shattered by small minded people who cannot see past her surface imperfections.
I learned very early that in the old tales of magic the wicked were always ugly and scarred, the good beautiful; I was not beautiful, but I wanted to be good, and after a while I couldn’t bear to read those stories anymore.
Growing up in her father's book shop has garnered a passion for reading, and a thirst for knowledge. Yet nothing outweighs the loyalty and love she has for her family. So when her father disappears one winter after a journey into the woods, she sets off alone. Desperate to find him. Stumbling upon his half frozen and unconscious body, she's frantic to get him home. The white wolf from her past appears, and offers a bargain. One year of her life in exchange for her father's safe return.
That year is a two-sided paradox of euphoria and despair, like a coin flipped and suspended in the air holding her fate in the balance. Even as she swears to uncover the wolf's past and set him free, the house's magic dazzles her with distractions. It's a visceral feast on your senses. Who wouldn't be enthralled with a library that allows you to enter its mirror-books, silver spiders spinning webs that can bind collapsing rooms, and a venomous garden with poison roses and vines? At night the house cracks and moans, cackling in evil delight. Echo doesn't know what forces threaten outside her locked bedroom door, but she doesn't truly know who's locked inside with her either.
"What happens at midnight?"
"The magic ceases to function, and the house is unbound."
Did that mean he would become unbound too?
This book had so many dualities to explore. Layered characters with secrets and muddled intentions. Jaw clenching, white knuckled suspense where time ceases to exist. Just when you think you've reached the pinnacle of the adventure, you're steered on a harrowing voyage that seems doomed to end in failure. But this is where Echo's heart is exposed the most. She's a true heroine that may get knocked down, but she dusts herself off and runs fiercely towards the challenge again. Her courage never fails her, even on her darkest days.
I was nothing short of frenzied this morning when I woke up and immediately dove right back into the book. I blew through 300 pages without pause, refusing to put it down until the conclusion. That's how good it was, I didn't have any choice in the matter. The lush, dark landscape was constantly shifting, the characters along with it. I loved not only this author's writing, but her finesse in storytelling. I'm an instant fan and cannot wait to read more from her in the future. Do not hesitate!! If I could heft a huge a neon sign up that blinks, "READ ECHO NORTH" I would. I want everyone to experience this exhilarating, fantastical tale.
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January 8, 2019
There is absolutely No Reason that this book should be 400 pages.
I just ... ugh yet another case of Cover Catfish.
Thank you Page Street for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!
I just ... ugh yet another case of Cover Catfish.
Thank you Page Street for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!
March 29, 2021
I want to get lost in the woods during a winter storm if it means I can have the experience of going to a magical sentient house that provides me with immersive mirror-books. Down to have fun times in the forest, 10/10
seriously this book needs to be hyped up more!!!! It’s so amazing and wondrous and just!!!! It deserves more attention
Also, while reading this book I freaked out so much that I created recordings of myself talking about the book while reading it. Will the world ever get to see sleep-deprived me rambling about wolves? No, unfortunately (truly, a loss 😔)
When I was a third through this book I immediately knew that it was going to be one of my favorites and uhhh not to exaggerate but Joanna Ruth Meyer is clearly an actual, literal god sent down to us from the heavens to bless us with this book.
This book is a retelling from East of Sun, West of the Moon and it also pulls from Beauty and the Beast, the tale of Eros and Psyche, Tam Lin, and Cinderella. And she pulls from these stories in such an amazing way that creates such an atmospheric world that made me feel like I was there.
This gave me very Spinning Silver vibes without the jumping from perspective to perspective so if you enjoyed Spinning Silver, then I highly recommend this book because it’s just as beautiful and lyrical.
→ so what the heck is this book about?
Echo is a highly intelligent girl who was attacked by a wolf when she was younger, leaving her with scars across her face that cause anyone who sees her to be disgusted. First of all, I want to fight everyone in Echo’s village who DARED to make fun of her for her scars. I’ll be meeting those villagers in the freaking town square, ok???
Furthermore, the one that I really want to fight is Echo’s terrible, terrible stepmother. Can she leave forever pls?
So basically, the only person that doesn’t really judge Echo for her scars is her father. I stan one (1) man and that is Echo’s dad. When Echo sees her father injured and on the brink of death, she immediately jumps at the chance to save him-- but in order to do that, she needs to stay with a wolf in a mystical, magical house for a year.
The house that they stay in is made up of amazing, magical rooms. One in particular, that’s both Echo and my favorite, is the room of book-mirrors: you can jump into a mirror and travel into another virtual world where you can either watch the story unfold or simply relax and have some tea in a tavern. But the marvelous house that they live in comes with a problem-- the house is falling apart. Earthquakes occur every so often, and it becomes Echo’s duty to collect silk from the spiders and sew the rooms together. Oh, and Echo isn’t allowed to look at the wolf during the nighttime-- otherwise, she’ll be kicked out of the house to face the woods all alone.
The thing is, you think you know what’s going on. And yes, a lot of the plot twists that I predicted did occur, but also… the ending unfurled in a way that I did not expect, and I was NOT ready for it.
→ the writing
I’m sorry, I need a moment.
This section is literally just going to be me gushing about how beautiful the writing is, because it just captivated me from the first chapter and yea, I did suffer sleep deprivation after reading until 2 am but it was worth it. *blinks at you through half-closed eyes*
You’re just pulled into the storyline, and I just??????? I think Joanna Ruth Meyer is officially my writing idol because I lowkey can’t comprehend how she really did this.
It’s just this! Fairytale world! Which we’ve all probably experienced before! But this book just does it so beautifully that I think it’s going to be The Standard for all western fairytale worldbuilding that I read from now on.
This book can have my heart and more. Any body part, really
→ the characters
Echo is a strong female heroine, and I would fight everyone for her. She’s been mistreated and bullied all throughout her life because of the scars on her face, and her character arc was really so moving as she spent time with the wolf- who didn’t care about her scars- and she learned not to yearn for the attention and approval of others and instead find strength in herself. She learns to stop wishing that her face was normal and perfect and embraces herself for the way she is.
Strong and empowering self-image messages are built into this book in an artful way that I only just realized. When you travel into a book-mirror world, your appearance is how you wish to be. And in the book-mirrors, Echo looks as if she has no scars.
Hal is someone that Echo meets within the book-mirrors (people can meet within them if they’re in the same story) and I think literally 80% of my notes were just gushing over how much I loved Hal. He’s a tricky, cocky boy who zips in and out of the book worlds so often that he’s been to every story multiple times-- all he wants is a friend and I just want to give him a HUG okay. He acts happy and clever but secretly he wants to find out what his past was while also trying to run away from the pain that always shadows him.
Mokosh is also someone that Echo meets in the book-mirrors and she’s just. Amazing. SHE NEEDS HER OWN NOVEL IN MY OPINION. JUST SAYING. She has her own, dark flaws, but I still love her so much?? She deserves the world. Also, I pictured her as South Asian when we first met her, but… I don’t think she’s South Asian.
→ seriously, this is so amazing?
I expected a lush fantasy and this book delivered and more.
This book is told in three parts, and each part is so meaningful and I kind of screamed when I reached part three. The only bad thing about this book was that it ENDED. (how dare)
I think others have said this already but this felt like it was a real fairytale, like it wasn’t just a retelling but something that’s been part of folklore for years. If you uhhh like to breathe, then you’re going to like this book.
Trigger and content warnings for sickness, animal attacking a human (specifically a wolf attacking a human’s face), and death.
// this was a buddy read with my super secret fav, Mith <3
Thank you so, so much to Page Street Kids for sending me a copy of this book. Seriously you guys are the best I love you guys so much for blessing me with this book
seriously this book needs to be hyped up more!!!! It’s so amazing and wondrous and just!!!! It deserves more attention
Also, while reading this book I freaked out so much that I created recordings of myself talking about the book while reading it. Will the world ever get to see sleep-deprived me rambling about wolves? No, unfortunately (truly, a loss 😔)
When I was a third through this book I immediately knew that it was going to be one of my favorites and uhhh not to exaggerate but Joanna Ruth Meyer is clearly an actual, literal god sent down to us from the heavens to bless us with this book.
This book is a retelling from East of Sun, West of the Moon and it also pulls from Beauty and the Beast, the tale of Eros and Psyche, Tam Lin, and Cinderella. And she pulls from these stories in such an amazing way that creates such an atmospheric world that made me feel like I was there.
This gave me very Spinning Silver vibes without the jumping from perspective to perspective so if you enjoyed Spinning Silver, then I highly recommend this book because it’s just as beautiful and lyrical.
→ so what the heck is this book about?
Echo is a highly intelligent girl who was attacked by a wolf when she was younger, leaving her with scars across her face that cause anyone who sees her to be disgusted. First of all, I want to fight everyone in Echo’s village who DARED to make fun of her for her scars. I’ll be meeting those villagers in the freaking town square, ok???
Furthermore, the one that I really want to fight is Echo’s terrible, terrible stepmother. Can she leave forever pls?
So basically, the only person that doesn’t really judge Echo for her scars is her father. I stan one (1) man and that is Echo’s dad. When Echo sees her father injured and on the brink of death, she immediately jumps at the chance to save him-- but in order to do that, she needs to stay with a wolf in a mystical, magical house for a year.
The house that they stay in is made up of amazing, magical rooms. One in particular, that’s both Echo and my favorite, is the room of book-mirrors: you can jump into a mirror and travel into another virtual world where you can either watch the story unfold or simply relax and have some tea in a tavern. But the marvelous house that they live in comes with a problem-- the house is falling apart. Earthquakes occur every so often, and it becomes Echo’s duty to collect silk from the spiders and sew the rooms together. Oh, and Echo isn’t allowed to look at the wolf during the nighttime-- otherwise, she’ll be kicked out of the house to face the woods all alone.
The thing is, you think you know what’s going on. And yes, a lot of the plot twists that I predicted did occur, but also… the ending unfurled in a way that I did not expect, and I was NOT ready for it.
→ the writing
I’m sorry, I need a moment.
This section is literally just going to be me gushing about how beautiful the writing is, because it just captivated me from the first chapter and yea, I did suffer sleep deprivation after reading until 2 am but it was worth it. *blinks at you through half-closed eyes*
You’re just pulled into the storyline, and I just??????? I think Joanna Ruth Meyer is officially my writing idol because I lowkey can’t comprehend how she really did this.
It’s just this! Fairytale world! Which we’ve all probably experienced before! But this book just does it so beautifully that I think it’s going to be The Standard for all western fairytale worldbuilding that I read from now on.
This book can have my heart and more. Any body part, really
→ the characters
Echo is a strong female heroine, and I would fight everyone for her. She’s been mistreated and bullied all throughout her life because of the scars on her face, and her character arc was really so moving as she spent time with the wolf- who didn’t care about her scars- and she learned not to yearn for the attention and approval of others and instead find strength in herself. She learns to stop wishing that her face was normal and perfect and embraces herself for the way she is.
Strong and empowering self-image messages are built into this book in an artful way that I only just realized. When you travel into a book-mirror world, your appearance is how you wish to be. And in the book-mirrors, Echo looks as if she has no scars.
Hal is someone that Echo meets within the book-mirrors (people can meet within them if they’re in the same story) and I think literally 80% of my notes were just gushing over how much I loved Hal. He’s a tricky, cocky boy who zips in and out of the book worlds so often that he’s been to every story multiple times-- all he wants is a friend and I just want to give him a HUG okay. He acts happy and clever but secretly he wants to find out what his past was while also trying to run away from the pain that always shadows him.
Mokosh is also someone that Echo meets in the book-mirrors and she’s just. Amazing. SHE NEEDS HER OWN NOVEL IN MY OPINION. JUST SAYING. She has her own, dark flaws, but I still love her so much?? She deserves the world. Also, I pictured her as South Asian when we first met her, but… I don’t think she’s South Asian.
→ seriously, this is so amazing?
I expected a lush fantasy and this book delivered and more.
This book is told in three parts, and each part is so meaningful and I kind of screamed when I reached part three. The only bad thing about this book was that it ENDED. (how dare)
I think others have said this already but this felt like it was a real fairytale, like it wasn’t just a retelling but something that’s been part of folklore for years. If you uhhh like to breathe, then you’re going to like this book.
Trigger and content warnings for sickness, animal attacking a human (specifically a wolf attacking a human’s face), and death.
// this was a buddy read with my super secret fav, Mith <3
Thank you so, so much to Page Street Kids for sending me a copy of this book. Seriously you guys are the best I love you guys so much for blessing me with this book
May 18, 2019
The farther away I get from reading Echo North the more I dislike it. That's always a bad sign. Joanna Ruth Meyer uses old fairy tales/stories with themes from Beauty and the Beast, Tam Lynn and East of the Sun, West of the Moon. These three tales all have something in common; they marginalize women and there is some sort of 'beast' in the men. Obviously the original stories are not really suitable for today's society; so you would expect updates of them in a re-telling. That is not what Joanna Ruth Meyer gives us in Echo North.
Characters, Plot & Boring
There is perhaps one thing about Echo North I liked; the setting. An old forest that hides and changes where stands an odd house that has rooms 'stitched together' which begin to un-stitch themselves and fall away into oblivion. Cool right? Yep I agree. Except that's all that's really good for story set-up. Our characters are two dimensional at best, I almost liked our wolf but he was just deep freeze cold and gave me no reasons to care about him; and the plot of what is happening to our leading girl is just boring. Honestly I get it, she's trapped, he probably needs her to love him (as we know this is a beauty and the beast retelling) and he's a shapeshifter. Okay, all good but why do I care? Oh right, I'm never given a reason to care.
Really, Disney references?
The number one thing to NOT do when you write a retelling is to take aspects of the Disney version and pop it into your book. It's cheap, annoying and honestly just lazy. Meyer couldn't come up with a better dress than Belle's gold? She just had to include a chipped tea set? These moments feel forced and used as a crutch to avoid coming up with details by using the ones Disney has spoon-fed us our whole lives.
Predictable
Almost every moment of Echo North is predictable. From the wolf's mystery to our leading girls decisions to the really long and drawn out ending. I actually really enjoy retelling's. But I want re-told stories that use the themes and maybe some of the aspects of characters and place them into a new setting, story and situation. I know these stories; I don't want them regurgitated to me. Instead I want them to be uniquely interpreted. Amazing examples of this are; Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik and Heart's Blood by Juliet Marillier. In both these stories there is a connection with the characters so deep that you care about their romantic triumphs and falls. The curses or repercussions from the original stories exist but happen in unique and different ways. I also just read A Curse So Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer and was pleasantly surprised by her interpretation of Beauty and the Beast. These are the kinds of re-tellings readers want. Not cardboard cut-out characters with stolen Disney flare.
Overall
There was so much disappointment in this book. I'm not even glad I read it to the end to be honest. It's not often that I actually rate a book lower a week or two after reading it than before. Usually I increase my (possibly harsh) ratings but for Echo North I just can't come up with any reason why anyone should read it. And if I can't imagine a possibility in which I would recommend a book it's gotta go to two stars. It's rare I actually regret reading a book to completion; but this is an instance where I feel I wasted my time. Meyer probably has great ideas but she needs to spend more time connecting with her reader and less time worrying about including nods to any/all source material she may be borrowing from.
To read this and more of my reviews visit my blog at Epic Reading
Please note: I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. This is an honest and unbiased review.
Characters, Plot & Boring
There is perhaps one thing about Echo North I liked; the setting. An old forest that hides and changes where stands an odd house that has rooms 'stitched together' which begin to un-stitch themselves and fall away into oblivion. Cool right? Yep I agree. Except that's all that's really good for story set-up. Our characters are two dimensional at best, I almost liked our wolf but he was just deep freeze cold and gave me no reasons to care about him; and the plot of what is happening to our leading girl is just boring. Honestly I get it, she's trapped, he probably needs her to love him (as we know this is a beauty and the beast retelling) and he's a shapeshifter. Okay, all good but why do I care? Oh right, I'm never given a reason to care.
Really, Disney references?
The number one thing to NOT do when you write a retelling is to take aspects of the Disney version and pop it into your book. It's cheap, annoying and honestly just lazy. Meyer couldn't come up with a better dress than Belle's gold? She just had to include a chipped tea set? These moments feel forced and used as a crutch to avoid coming up with details by using the ones Disney has spoon-fed us our whole lives.
Predictable
Almost every moment of Echo North is predictable. From the wolf's mystery to our leading girls decisions to the really long and drawn out ending. I actually really enjoy retelling's. But I want re-told stories that use the themes and maybe some of the aspects of characters and place them into a new setting, story and situation. I know these stories; I don't want them regurgitated to me. Instead I want them to be uniquely interpreted. Amazing examples of this are; Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik and Heart's Blood by Juliet Marillier. In both these stories there is a connection with the characters so deep that you care about their romantic triumphs and falls. The curses or repercussions from the original stories exist but happen in unique and different ways. I also just read A Curse So Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer and was pleasantly surprised by her interpretation of Beauty and the Beast. These are the kinds of re-tellings readers want. Not cardboard cut-out characters with stolen Disney flare.
Overall
There was so much disappointment in this book. I'm not even glad I read it to the end to be honest. It's not often that I actually rate a book lower a week or two after reading it than before. Usually I increase my (possibly harsh) ratings but for Echo North I just can't come up with any reason why anyone should read it. And if I can't imagine a possibility in which I would recommend a book it's gotta go to two stars. It's rare I actually regret reading a book to completion; but this is an instance where I feel I wasted my time. Meyer probably has great ideas but she needs to spend more time connecting with her reader and less time worrying about including nods to any/all source material she may be borrowing from.
To read this and more of my reviews visit my blog at Epic Reading
Please note: I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. This is an honest and unbiased review.
January 16, 2019
Originally posted on my book blog.
My favorite books are the ones I find most difficult to review. AAHH. How can I explain my love for this book? IT’S SO, SO GOOD.
Echo North is so beautiful it hurts. I found myself utterly enchanted by this story of the girl Echo and the white wolf and Hal and the Winds, and I’m so sad it’s over because I wanted to just LIVE in it for ages and ages. <3
Don’t you love those retellings that feel like they’re the REAL story? This one felt that way. A retelling of East of the Sun, West of the Moon, I loved how it seemed like this was the real history behind it. More than seemed, it WAS and—well, you’ll have to read it. ;) There’s also a hint of Beauty and the Beast, and just a dash of Tam Lin. All the retelling bits were brilliant and I loved them!
This is the story of Echo, our heroine, trapped by her scars, who tells the story in words so heartfelt and gorgeous that I wanted to melt into them. It’s the story of the white wolf in the house under the mountain, of his sorrow and secrets, trapped by a curse. It’s the story of Hal, the . . . I don’t have a word for him, because all of them fall short of his irrepressible personality! The indescribable young man Echo meets, who is trapped in the worlds of the book-mirrors and by a shadow of his own past. They’re my FAVORITE. I love them all. Their stories intertwine flawlessly and paint a stunning picture I happily lost myself in.
I sometimes almost forgot I was reading a retelling, because there was just so much MORE to this book. I think of it in three parts—the part where Echo is at home, the part in the House under the mountain, and the quest. They’re all fantastic (although the beginning part is kind of sad, but I somehow didn’t mind because it’s just what HAPPENED, you know?), but the middle bit is my absolute favorite. :D
The book-mirrors were one of my favorite things—how cool is the idea of stepping into a mirror which is actually a book, and experiencing that? There were other awesome things about the book-mirrors but I don’t want to spoil them—you must read it for yourself! :) Another thing I loved was the House! It almost has its own personality, and all the different unique rooms, full of fantasy and wonder and peril and bound together like patches on a quilt, were incredible. It was like having separate pockets of Faerie all tied together.
The sheer imagination left me speechless. This is what fantasy was made for. I was spellbound by all the many different imaginative worlds and stories and fantastical elements woven together by this author’s skillful pen. How did she come up with them all? It’s like the full potential of fantasy has been explored in these pages. There are a thousand unique things in this tale, all perilous and beautiful like frozen starlight.
It’s a story full of echoing joy and heart-rending sorrow, of stars and wind and snow, of a magical house and books explored through mirrors, of love and fire and woods and thorns, of music and wonder and mystery and adventure. None of it’s safe, exactly, but it’s all stunning. It was so vivid I absolutely BREATHED this story, both thrilling and quiet, on the edge of my seat but cozy at the same time, and got to know each of these dear characters so well. <3
Because these CHARACTERS. Hal is the absolute BEST. I have a new favorite character, guys. ;) He’s so full of LIFE and his dialog and exuberance are just—the best. But I love how there’s something deeper back there, with several layers of mystery. He’s like all my most favorite character types! I love Hal and Echo together—they are my favorite! <3 The wolf was also awesome and also mysterious. He and Echo have a great dynamic as well! And I love Echo. And the romance was the best.
All the dialog and interactions in this book . . . SO GOOD. And there were side characters I loved as well! Everyone was so alive. Echo’s brother Rodya—there need to be more good brother characters in fiction!—is not in it terribly much but he was fantastic. And I absolutely loved Ivan the storyteller and his wife and just . . . this whole book, guys. I want to hug it forever!
Also, there are PLOT TWISTS. One of them I guessed and was totally hoping would be a thing. Another was hinted at and I vaguely suspected something was up, but oh, the glorious reveal of this mind-blowing twist! :O And some of the side characters had stories that were twisty as well. Did I mention how breathtaking the writing was? I just want to eat it! And I loved the music in the story and its descriptions. :) It was all so masterfully done!
Some books simply enchant you, you know? This one stole a part of my heart and crept in as the last book I read in 2018 but one of my top favorites. I’m going to treasure my memories of reading this late at night near the cold end of the year, when I didn’t mean to read so late but couldn’t stop. ^_^
I could probably talk about this book for ages but I’m going to stop now and simply say: If you love fairytales and the fantastic and characters who will steal your heart, you absolutely must read this gorgeous tale, full of the wild echoes of Faerie, of piercing starlight and wind and ice and fierce love.
Just read it.
Thanks to the publisher providing a free ARC of this book. A positive review was not required. All opinions are entirely my own.
My favorite books are the ones I find most difficult to review. AAHH. How can I explain my love for this book? IT’S SO, SO GOOD.
Echo North is so beautiful it hurts. I found myself utterly enchanted by this story of the girl Echo and the white wolf and Hal and the Winds, and I’m so sad it’s over because I wanted to just LIVE in it for ages and ages. <3
Don’t you love those retellings that feel like they’re the REAL story? This one felt that way. A retelling of East of the Sun, West of the Moon, I loved how it seemed like this was the real history behind it. More than seemed, it WAS and—well, you’ll have to read it. ;) There’s also a hint of Beauty and the Beast, and just a dash of Tam Lin. All the retelling bits were brilliant and I loved them!
This is the story of Echo, our heroine, trapped by her scars, who tells the story in words so heartfelt and gorgeous that I wanted to melt into them. It’s the story of the white wolf in the house under the mountain, of his sorrow and secrets, trapped by a curse. It’s the story of Hal, the . . . I don’t have a word for him, because all of them fall short of his irrepressible personality! The indescribable young man Echo meets, who is trapped in the worlds of the book-mirrors and by a shadow of his own past. They’re my FAVORITE. I love them all. Their stories intertwine flawlessly and paint a stunning picture I happily lost myself in.
I sometimes almost forgot I was reading a retelling, because there was just so much MORE to this book. I think of it in three parts—the part where Echo is at home, the part in the House under the mountain, and the quest. They’re all fantastic (although the beginning part is kind of sad, but I somehow didn’t mind because it’s just what HAPPENED, you know?), but the middle bit is my absolute favorite. :D
The book-mirrors were one of my favorite things—how cool is the idea of stepping into a mirror which is actually a book, and experiencing that? There were other awesome things about the book-mirrors but I don’t want to spoil them—you must read it for yourself! :) Another thing I loved was the House! It almost has its own personality, and all the different unique rooms, full of fantasy and wonder and peril and bound together like patches on a quilt, were incredible. It was like having separate pockets of Faerie all tied together.
The sheer imagination left me speechless. This is what fantasy was made for. I was spellbound by all the many different imaginative worlds and stories and fantastical elements woven together by this author’s skillful pen. How did she come up with them all? It’s like the full potential of fantasy has been explored in these pages. There are a thousand unique things in this tale, all perilous and beautiful like frozen starlight.
It’s a story full of echoing joy and heart-rending sorrow, of stars and wind and snow, of a magical house and books explored through mirrors, of love and fire and woods and thorns, of music and wonder and mystery and adventure. None of it’s safe, exactly, but it’s all stunning. It was so vivid I absolutely BREATHED this story, both thrilling and quiet, on the edge of my seat but cozy at the same time, and got to know each of these dear characters so well. <3
Because these CHARACTERS. Hal is the absolute BEST. I have a new favorite character, guys. ;) He’s so full of LIFE and his dialog and exuberance are just—the best. But I love how there’s something deeper back there, with several layers of mystery. He’s like all my most favorite character types! I love Hal and Echo together—they are my favorite! <3 The wolf was also awesome and also mysterious. He and Echo have a great dynamic as well! And I love Echo. And the romance was the best.
All the dialog and interactions in this book . . . SO GOOD. And there were side characters I loved as well! Everyone was so alive. Echo’s brother Rodya—there need to be more good brother characters in fiction!—is not in it terribly much but he was fantastic. And I absolutely loved Ivan the storyteller and his wife and just . . . this whole book, guys. I want to hug it forever!
Also, there are PLOT TWISTS. One of them I guessed and was totally hoping would be a thing. Another was hinted at and I vaguely suspected something was up, but oh, the glorious reveal of this mind-blowing twist! :O And some of the side characters had stories that were twisty as well. Did I mention how breathtaking the writing was? I just want to eat it! And I loved the music in the story and its descriptions. :) It was all so masterfully done!
Some books simply enchant you, you know? This one stole a part of my heart and crept in as the last book I read in 2018 but one of my top favorites. I’m going to treasure my memories of reading this late at night near the cold end of the year, when I didn’t mean to read so late but couldn’t stop. ^_^
I could probably talk about this book for ages but I’m going to stop now and simply say: If you love fairytales and the fantastic and characters who will steal your heart, you absolutely must read this gorgeous tale, full of the wild echoes of Faerie, of piercing starlight and wind and ice and fierce love.
Just read it.
Quotes:
“What is your name?” I asked.
“I do not have a name.”
“Then what am I to call you?”
“Whatever you like.”
***
“If I’d thought this story wouldn’t have a happy ending, I would have read something else.”
His blue eyes locked on mine, suddenly serious. “Must you always know a story ends happily before you feel equal to beginning it?
***
We dined with the Winds in a hall looking out over the world, and the colors tasted bright and the wine smelt of music.
***
“It’s all very exciting, if rather ridiculous.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. “/You/ are rather ridiculous.”
He winked at me again. “Are you ready to run?”
“What?”
That’s when one of the soldiers spotted us, his blade flashing toward our hiding spot.
“Run, Echo!” cried Hal. He grabbed my hand and we dashed into the wood.
Thanks to the publisher providing a free ARC of this book. A positive review was not required. All opinions are entirely my own.
May 11, 2023
2.5 stars
**Please note that I "read" the audio version of Echo North.**
I really wanted to give this one a high rating, but I just couldn't. Echo North is amazing on so many levels, but it also had multiple fatal shortcomings that I can't gloss over.
There's no doubt that the prose is beautiful. In a way, Echo North gives readers the same feelings we get from reading Andersen and the Brothers Grimm—the timeless fairy tales of the past. I started this book in the middle of the night—like at 1 AM—and felt like I couldn't pull myself away. It's filled with magic and mystery and romance and sorrow: the prose and "aesthetics" of this book are the best part of it.
The start of Echo North felt comfortable and familiar, like the beginnings of a Cinderella retelling. Quaint town, gullible widower, cruel stepmother, unfortunate orphan girl. It then shifts into a Beauty and the Beast situation. Trapped father, beast in the forest, girl who must sacrifice her freedom to save him. After that comes the references to Cupid and Psyche with a lamp that must not be lit and a creature that perhaps turns human at night.
I thought all of this was done well enough, with a good balance of the familiar and the new. Echo's character as well as Hal and the Wolf's secrets intrigued me, and I also thought Mokash (I have no clue how to spell her name) and the book mirrors and the magic of the House were incredibly creative.
Hal's story begins to unravel, and the growing friendship between him and Echo is both sweet and sad. I'm quite impressed with the way Meyer was able to make readers ache for her characters—for Hal, especially.
But then things start to fall apart. Echo is able to trek through a seemingly endless terrain of ice and snow with little clothing and even fewer provisions. Then, when the climax comes, it's not terrible, but it's also not the most impressive. A terribly strange and terribly sudden plot twist is revealed. Then Mokash just fades out of the story, and her character is never given a resolution. And most of all, readers find out that the entire time, Hal was planning to . I mean, are you kidding me?! Because it's really messed up that he/you-know-who was planning to . This last revelation was what shocked me most. And it seemed to shock Echo at first, too. But then she just seemed to forget about it? Hal also never properly addresses the issue, and readers are left with the impression that we were tricked into liking Hal.
Plus these sorts of sentences:
"plunged [her] hand to the elbow" "[she] slammed into a crescendo" <<--- What the heck, yk?
Anyway, I just think that sometimes it's too easy for us book reviewers to only focus on the positive. It's difficult for me to give low ratings as well as to write critical reviews, but this world really does need a good balance. Very rarely have I read a book that truly lives up to its hype (I read 100+ books every year and have only found one or two of those).
But to summarize this book in particular: It is written with beautiful, mature prose and has a distinctly magical aura, but the author's pacing, character development, and plot development are completely off. 💔
**Please note that I "read" the audio version of Echo North.**
I really wanted to give this one a high rating, but I just couldn't. Echo North is amazing on so many levels, but it also had multiple fatal shortcomings that I can't gloss over.
There's no doubt that the prose is beautiful. In a way, Echo North gives readers the same feelings we get from reading Andersen and the Brothers Grimm—the timeless fairy tales of the past. I started this book in the middle of the night—like at 1 AM—and felt like I couldn't pull myself away. It's filled with magic and mystery and romance and sorrow: the prose and "aesthetics" of this book are the best part of it.
The start of Echo North felt comfortable and familiar, like the beginnings of a Cinderella retelling. Quaint town, gullible widower, cruel stepmother, unfortunate orphan girl. It then shifts into a Beauty and the Beast situation. Trapped father, beast in the forest, girl who must sacrifice her freedom to save him. After that comes the references to Cupid and Psyche with a lamp that must not be lit and a creature that perhaps turns human at night.
I thought all of this was done well enough, with a good balance of the familiar and the new. Echo's character as well as Hal and the Wolf's secrets intrigued me, and I also thought Mokash (I have no clue how to spell her name) and the book mirrors and the magic of the House were incredibly creative.
Hal's story begins to unravel, and the growing friendship between him and Echo is both sweet and sad. I'm quite impressed with the way Meyer was able to make readers ache for her characters—for Hal, especially.
But then things start to fall apart. Echo is able to trek through a seemingly endless terrain of ice and snow with little clothing and even fewer provisions. Then, when the climax comes, it's not terrible, but it's also not the most impressive. A terribly strange and terribly sudden plot twist is revealed. Then Mokash just fades out of the story, and her character is never given a resolution. And most of all, readers find out that the entire time, Hal was planning to . I mean, are you kidding me?! Because it's really messed up that he/you-know-who was planning to . This last revelation was what shocked me most. And it seemed to shock Echo at first, too. But then she just seemed to forget about it? Hal also never properly addresses the issue, and readers are left with the impression that we were tricked into liking Hal.
Plus these sorts of sentences:
"plunged [her] hand to the elbow" "[she] slammed into a crescendo" <<--- What the heck, yk?
Anyway, I just think that sometimes it's too easy for us book reviewers to only focus on the positive. It's difficult for me to give low ratings as well as to write critical reviews, but this world really does need a good balance. Very rarely have I read a book that truly lives up to its hype (I read 100+ books every year and have only found one or two of those).
But to summarize this book in particular: It is written with beautiful, mature prose and has a distinctly magical aura, but the author's pacing, character development, and plot development are completely off. 💔
December 12, 2018
”There is one thing you must not do, one rule you must not break.”
Echo North is a brilliant and magical retelling of East of the Sun and West of the Moon, while also pulling inspiration from the stories of Cupid & Psyche, as well as Tam Lin. I read this in less than a day and was completely enthralled with everything about it.
Echo is the daughter of a bookseller that has always struggled to find her place and purpose in the world. She loves her family, her books and is a devourer of knowledge - but a fateful encounter with a wolf as a child left her face terribly scarred. Because of this Echo has experienced terrible rumors and unnecessary cruelty.
Tragically, Echo's father goes missing for months, until Echo, lost in the woods herself, finds him half-frozen with the wolf from her childhood by his side. She makes a deal with the wolf to live with him in his enchanted house for one year. The only rule is that Echo may never look upon him between midnight and dawn.
I LOVED the wolf's magical house in this book, the stories within stories in the mirror library, the growing companionship and dependence between Echo and the wolf, Echo's adventures with Hal and Mokosh, the budding romance, as well as the mystery surrounding how to save the characters under "her" enchantments. If you've read the stories that inspire Echo North, its no surprise as to where the plot will take us, however Meyer puts her own twists into the story, creating a refreshing and new take on time honored classics.
Echo North is one of those books that drops breadcrumbs along the way, while you're fully engrossed in the beauty and mystery of the story. They are there to piece together or you can let the answers come to you, while the story sweeps you off your feet.
I highly recommend this one!
Review copy provided by Page Street Publishing via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Blog | Bookstagram
Echo North is a brilliant and magical retelling of East of the Sun and West of the Moon, while also pulling inspiration from the stories of Cupid & Psyche, as well as Tam Lin. I read this in less than a day and was completely enthralled with everything about it.
Echo is the daughter of a bookseller that has always struggled to find her place and purpose in the world. She loves her family, her books and is a devourer of knowledge - but a fateful encounter with a wolf as a child left her face terribly scarred. Because of this Echo has experienced terrible rumors and unnecessary cruelty.
Tragically, Echo's father goes missing for months, until Echo, lost in the woods herself, finds him half-frozen with the wolf from her childhood by his side. She makes a deal with the wolf to live with him in his enchanted house for one year. The only rule is that Echo may never look upon him between midnight and dawn.
I LOVED the wolf's magical house in this book, the stories within stories in the mirror library, the growing companionship and dependence between Echo and the wolf, Echo's adventures with Hal and Mokosh, the budding romance, as well as the mystery surrounding how to save the characters under "her" enchantments. If you've read the stories that inspire Echo North, its no surprise as to where the plot will take us, however Meyer puts her own twists into the story, creating a refreshing and new take on time honored classics.
Echo North is one of those books that drops breadcrumbs along the way, while you're fully engrossed in the beauty and mystery of the story. They are there to piece together or you can let the answers come to you, while the story sweeps you off your feet.
I highly recommend this one!
Review copy provided by Page Street Publishing via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Blog | Bookstagram
September 18, 2022
So here's a tale as old as time...that has been told better by other people. Including the authors Joanna Ruth Meyer thanks in her dedication: Robin McKinley and Diana Wynne Jones. (Edith Pattou...eh.) This Beauty and the Beast / Tam Lin / East o' the Sun, West o' the Moon mashup has some creative elements but reads, for the most part, like generic young adult fantasy, down to the chemistry-free romance and too stupid to live heroine.
Our heroine Echo was scarred by a great white wolf when she was a child. The local villagers ostracize her for being marked by the Devil, so she grows up surrounded by books instead. All is well until her father remarries, outspends his income, and has to go to the city to sell his rare books and doesn't return.
Sound familiar so far? Yep, so Echo finds him frozen in the snow and is offered a choice by the great white wolf who claims to have saved him from a mysterious her and can talk (convenient!): save her father (for real this time) and come live with him for a year, or let him die and don't. Note that there is no 'Sorry about ruining your face' or even a reasonable 'Why should I trust you when you attacked me ten years ago?'
I suspected this book would not be for me as soon as the stepmother was introduced, a two-dimensional character who seems to be beat-by-beat following the guidebook to being a wicked stepmother. But I kept reading, and things improved once Echo arrives in Wolf's magic house with its strange and beguiling rooms:
It's a little like The Night Circus: fun spectacle that doesn't actually advance the plot. Other rooms have spiders that spin the thread that binds the house together ("We always made sure to bring the spiders a treat, so they wouldn't get too cross: honey or fruit or little pieces of cheese" - Echo, have you any idea what spiders actually eat?), and of course, there's a magical library with thousands of book-mirrors that allow readers to literally step into a story. And in those stories are two other mysterious readers who might have answers to Echo's many questions about the house, the wolf, and the enchantments they are under.
The pacing goes a bit sludgy in the middle. There's a lot of piano playing (whoa, brings back the eight years of piano lessons forced on me by my parents), a lot of romping around through book-mirrors feeling all pulse-fluttery when a certain mysterious reader is near...a lot of time for Echo to not arrive at some obvious conclusions. I facepalmed in real life when I got to a scene that can be paraphrased thus:
Friend: Do not do this thing.
Friend's enemy: Do this thing.
Friend: She's lying to you. Do not do this thing.
Heroine: ... [Does this thing.]
There are also some eye-rolling lines about the power of love that I am way too old for and in fact may never have been young enough for:
I plunged into Echo North emboldened by my last (good) encounter with YA fantasy, Holly Black's Folk of the Air trilogy, thinking that I would be in a less critical (=more pathetic and in need of comfort) mood after receiving both my omicron booster and flu shot the same day. Instead, I spent it wondering how effectively a wolf could wield an axe using only its jaws (powerful jaws, sure, but maybe not enough dexterity or height to achieve the necessary force to swing an axe down?). Having to think about physics equations when I already have a headache makes me cranky, so 2.5 stars, rounding down.
Our heroine Echo was scarred by a great white wolf when she was a child. The local villagers ostracize her for being marked by the Devil, so she grows up surrounded by books instead. All is well until her father remarries, outspends his income, and has to go to the city to sell his rare books and doesn't return.
Sound familiar so far? Yep, so Echo finds him frozen in the snow and is offered a choice by the great white wolf who claims to have saved him from a mysterious her and can talk (convenient!): save her father (for real this time) and come live with him for a year, or let him die and don't. Note that there is no 'Sorry about ruining your face' or even a reasonable 'Why should I trust you when you attacked me ten years ago?'
I suspected this book would not be for me as soon as the stepmother was introduced, a two-dimensional character who seems to be beat-by-beat following the guidebook to being a wicked stepmother. But I kept reading, and things improved once Echo arrives in Wolf's magic house with its strange and beguiling rooms:
That room contained, unbelievably, the inside of a huge circus tent, where a trio of white bears sang a sort of song in strange throaty voices.
"I like to bring them honey every day or so," said the wolf. "It soothes their throats."
I stared. "Do they do anything besides sing?"
"Not really."
It's a little like The Night Circus: fun spectacle that doesn't actually advance the plot. Other rooms have spiders that spin the thread that binds the house together ("We always made sure to bring the spiders a treat, so they wouldn't get too cross: honey or fruit or little pieces of cheese" - Echo, have you any idea what spiders actually eat?), and of course, there's a magical library with thousands of book-mirrors that allow readers to literally step into a story. And in those stories are two other mysterious readers who might have answers to Echo's many questions about the house, the wolf, and the enchantments they are under.
The pacing goes a bit sludgy in the middle. There's a lot of piano playing (whoa, brings back the eight years of piano lessons forced on me by my parents), a lot of romping around through book-mirrors feeling all pulse-fluttery when a certain mysterious reader is near...a lot of time for Echo to not arrive at some obvious conclusions. I facepalmed in real life when I got to a scene that can be paraphrased thus:
Friend: Do not do this thing.
Friend's enemy: Do this thing.
Friend: She's lying to you. Do not do this thing.
Heroine: ... [Does this thing.]
There are also some eye-rolling lines about the power of love that I am way too old for and in fact may never have been young enough for:
"He traded his power for the oldest of magics."
"What is the oldest magic?"
"Love. That is what created the universe, and that is what will destroy it, in the end."
I plunged into Echo North emboldened by my last (good) encounter with YA fantasy, Holly Black's Folk of the Air trilogy, thinking that I would be in a less critical (=more pathetic and in need of comfort) mood after receiving both my omicron booster and flu shot the same day. Instead, I spent it wondering how effectively a wolf could wield an axe using only its jaws (powerful jaws, sure, but maybe not enough dexterity or height to achieve the necessary force to swing an axe down?). Having to think about physics equations when I already have a headache makes me cranky, so 2.5 stars, rounding down.
May 26, 2023
3, 0 ✨✨✨
( Audiobook)
( Audiobook)
April 19, 2023
THIS BOOK!!!!!!
I've been wanting to read this author's work since I discovered her Instagram profile and found out we shared so many things (like learning Welsh and teaching piano and loving Rosemary Sutcliff and J.R.R. Tolkien!)
At the same time, I was terrified of being disappointed.
Good news. I wasn't.
I'm not sure what I expected to read, just that I hoped it was good and it was. I have been burnt out with most retellings since they're usually cringey and bleh, but this one. This one!!! It is the best retelling of Beauty and the Beast I've found yet and the hangover is going to last me for days. This book was so beautiful and pure and the love so selfless and— *runs out of descriptions to perfectly describe how beautiful this book is*
To put it simply...I absolutely love this book. It owns my heart now and a bit of my soul and is definitely going to be one of my top reads of this year. Go read it. Do yourself a favor.
Now I must suffer until I can get my own copy.
I've been wanting to read this author's work since I discovered her Instagram profile and found out we shared so many things (like learning Welsh and teaching piano and loving Rosemary Sutcliff and J.R.R. Tolkien!)
At the same time, I was terrified of being disappointed.
Good news. I wasn't.
I'm not sure what I expected to read, just that I hoped it was good and it was. I have been burnt out with most retellings since they're usually cringey and bleh, but this one. This one!!! It is the best retelling of Beauty and the Beast I've found yet and the hangover is going to last me for days. This book was so beautiful and pure and the love so selfless and— *runs out of descriptions to perfectly describe how beautiful this book is*
To put it simply...I absolutely love this book. It owns my heart now and a bit of my soul and is definitely going to be one of my top reads of this year. Go read it. Do yourself a favor.
Now I must suffer until I can get my own copy.
May 3, 2019
2.5 stars rounded up
It was ok. Obviously that's personal opinion, and my irritation and disappointment are compounded by the fact that I probably overhyped myself on this book. It may even be that I just fall outside the target audience for this one. It was a quick read and I did enjoy parts of it. The following is an account of my frustrations so please apply a generous pinch of salt.
There are chefs and cooks out there who are so natural and instinctive in the culinary art, that they can eye-measure and throw seemingly random ingredients into a pot together and still get a marvellous meal. There are authors out there who can do the literary equivalent - no plotting or planning ahead of time, no careful characters studies, no persistent 'but why' at various aspects of the growing book. Based on Echo North I would respectfully suggest that Joanna Ruth Meyer is not one of them.
The overall story is alright. I imagine many people will enjoy it. I am well aware that I am hamstrung by my love of sub-plots (there are none, very linear narrative) and well thought out plot structure. The writing itself is lovely, clear and clean. The imagery used is good. And as a concept, there's a lot going for this book.
Echo is horribly disfigured with facial scars when she attempts to rescue a wolf from a trap as a little girl of seven. This makes her something of an outcast - after all, how else does the Devil mark his own (I am well aware that that was a common belief but dear gods bring the Christian religion into fantasy and you'd better be telling a stonking good story to keep my attention). Her father remarries disastrously many years later and Echo finds herself drawn to a white wolf who keeps appearing at the edge of the forest. Could it be the same wolf who injured her ten years ago? When she argues with her stepmother over her missing father and storms out into the snow, the wolf offers her a bargain.
This is a retelling of Beauty and the Beast, East of the Sun, West of the Moon and the Scottish folk ballad Tam Lynn. Meyer basically took three of my favourite things and mashed them together to make something I couldn't stomach. It could have been a book written for me, but in actual fact it didn't work. Here's the thing with fairy tale retellings, if you want them to work then you must incorporate and re-imagine the themes because the stories themselves are dated and often misogynistic but the themes are eternal. When someone says they have a favourite fairy tale, what they're really saying is that they have a favourite fairy tale theme. So in my case, I love the theme of compassion and looking beyond the surface in Beauty and the Beast, I love the acquisition of wisdom through experiencing suffering and having the grit to continue in East of the Sun, and I love the courage, understanding and sheer bone headed stubbornness, the demand to be self directing despite your sex in Tam Lynn. I saw literally none of these themes examined at all in Echo North, so that was strike one for me. And then ignoring the inherent sexual nature of all three of those sources just seemed to demonstrate a lack of understanding.
Or more accurately, this book was just not for me. As in it was literally not written with someone like me in mind.
Two other issues for me were contrivance and lack of deep characterisation. I never felt we were really allowed into Echo's head or that we ever experienced what she felt, so consequently the other characters became quite 2D - with the Wolf Queen and the Stepmother being very moustache twirly. Echo is a very passive character too, which sat ill when you think of the MCs of the source material - Janet from Tam Lynn in particular. (Literally ignored every suggested husband ever presented to her, climbed out of the castle and went to find a man she did want to sleep with. Later, stood toe-to-toe with the Fairy Queen to get the father of her unborn child back.)
As for contrivance, yes I know in fairy tales the fairy godmother shows up, or the North Wind, or someone who can endow our heroine with something that gives her a shot, but here it felt like a cop out. There were characters whose arcs were never tied off. What was the Wolf Queen's motivation, for instance? This is not a hard question - there's an entire body of folklore to dip into and borrow from. But even in fairy tales the villain's motive is never 'just because'. I felt like there were a lot of elements here that were just thrown in and while fabulous in their own right - the mirror library for instance - they just didn't add anything to the story. What was the purpose? Was it just whimsy? Because the whole point of whimsy is that it has a dark side; it's unsettling. This was just...random. Further emphasised by the fact that the structure of this book was very wobbly.
Anyway, it didn't really work for me BUT I can see someone else loving it. Someone who wants a simple, undemanding, fantasy fairy tale love story, that's clean and sweet, and not especially driven by conflict. I have the hardback edition of this book and it's gorgeous btw. Personally I would recommend Diana Wynn Jones' Fire and Hemlock, Edith Pattou's North Child (East), Sarah Beth Durst's Ice, Pamela Dean's Tam Lynn and Juliet Marillier's Son of Shadows and Heart's Blood, if you're looking for retellings of the stories I mention in my review. However if you love fairy tale retellings and are looking for a quiet book that doesn't tax your brain at all, give this a go.
It was ok. Obviously that's personal opinion, and my irritation and disappointment are compounded by the fact that I probably overhyped myself on this book. It may even be that I just fall outside the target audience for this one. It was a quick read and I did enjoy parts of it. The following is an account of my frustrations so please apply a generous pinch of salt.
There are chefs and cooks out there who are so natural and instinctive in the culinary art, that they can eye-measure and throw seemingly random ingredients into a pot together and still get a marvellous meal. There are authors out there who can do the literary equivalent - no plotting or planning ahead of time, no careful characters studies, no persistent 'but why' at various aspects of the growing book. Based on Echo North I would respectfully suggest that Joanna Ruth Meyer is not one of them.
The overall story is alright. I imagine many people will enjoy it. I am well aware that I am hamstrung by my love of sub-plots (there are none, very linear narrative) and well thought out plot structure. The writing itself is lovely, clear and clean. The imagery used is good. And as a concept, there's a lot going for this book.
Echo is horribly disfigured with facial scars when she attempts to rescue a wolf from a trap as a little girl of seven. This makes her something of an outcast - after all, how else does the Devil mark his own (I am well aware that that was a common belief but dear gods bring the Christian religion into fantasy and you'd better be telling a stonking good story to keep my attention). Her father remarries disastrously many years later and Echo finds herself drawn to a white wolf who keeps appearing at the edge of the forest. Could it be the same wolf who injured her ten years ago? When she argues with her stepmother over her missing father and storms out into the snow, the wolf offers her a bargain.
This is a retelling of Beauty and the Beast, East of the Sun, West of the Moon and the Scottish folk ballad Tam Lynn. Meyer basically took three of my favourite things and mashed them together to make something I couldn't stomach. It could have been a book written for me, but in actual fact it didn't work. Here's the thing with fairy tale retellings, if you want them to work then you must incorporate and re-imagine the themes because the stories themselves are dated and often misogynistic but the themes are eternal. When someone says they have a favourite fairy tale, what they're really saying is that they have a favourite fairy tale theme. So in my case, I love the theme of compassion and looking beyond the surface in Beauty and the Beast, I love the acquisition of wisdom through experiencing suffering and having the grit to continue in East of the Sun, and I love the courage, understanding and sheer bone headed stubbornness, the demand to be self directing despite your sex in Tam Lynn. I saw literally none of these themes examined at all in Echo North, so that was strike one for me. And then ignoring the inherent sexual nature of all three of those sources just seemed to demonstrate a lack of understanding.
Or more accurately, this book was just not for me. As in it was literally not written with someone like me in mind.
Two other issues for me were contrivance and lack of deep characterisation. I never felt we were really allowed into Echo's head or that we ever experienced what she felt, so consequently the other characters became quite 2D - with the Wolf Queen and the Stepmother being very moustache twirly. Echo is a very passive character too, which sat ill when you think of the MCs of the source material - Janet from Tam Lynn in particular. (Literally ignored every suggested husband ever presented to her, climbed out of the castle and went to find a man she did want to sleep with. Later, stood toe-to-toe with the Fairy Queen to get the father of her unborn child back.)
As for contrivance, yes I know in fairy tales the fairy godmother shows up, or the North Wind, or someone who can endow our heroine with something that gives her a shot, but here it felt like a cop out. There were characters whose arcs were never tied off. What was the Wolf Queen's motivation, for instance? This is not a hard question - there's an entire body of folklore to dip into and borrow from. But even in fairy tales the villain's motive is never 'just because'. I felt like there were a lot of elements here that were just thrown in and while fabulous in their own right - the mirror library for instance - they just didn't add anything to the story. What was the purpose? Was it just whimsy? Because the whole point of whimsy is that it has a dark side; it's unsettling. This was just...random. Further emphasised by the fact that the structure of this book was very wobbly.
Anyway, it didn't really work for me BUT I can see someone else loving it. Someone who wants a simple, undemanding, fantasy fairy tale love story, that's clean and sweet, and not especially driven by conflict. I have the hardback edition of this book and it's gorgeous btw. Personally I would recommend Diana Wynn Jones' Fire and Hemlock, Edith Pattou's North Child (East), Sarah Beth Durst's Ice, Pamela Dean's Tam Lynn and Juliet Marillier's Son of Shadows and Heart's Blood, if you're looking for retellings of the stories I mention in my review. However if you love fairy tale retellings and are looking for a quiet book that doesn't tax your brain at all, give this a go.
Read
August 13, 2018GORGEOUS
January 19, 2022
"If I'd thought this story wouldn't have a happy ending, I would have read something else."
His blue eyes lock on mine, suddenly serious. "Must you always know a story ends happily before you feel equal to beginning it?"
Y'all... I LOVED this. Which, considering I picked it up at the library sale on a whim, was a delightful surprise. I'd heard a few friends enjoy this, and the first paragraph of the synopsis hooked me right away. I knew I wanted to pick it up in the winter season, which was an excellent choice, let me just say. "East of the Sun, West of the Moon" is a fairytale I've loved retellings of for a long time (especially ones that have all the Beauty and the Beast vibes) so I had a feeling it was going to be a win for me. And it was.
Echo's story slowly but surely nestled its way into my heart. The writing was just gorgeous, the atmosphere is fantastic. I felt like I was in a snowy wood, or a crumbling mansion, or a gorgeous library. The magic was fascinating, mysterious and eerie, and hello? Books you can go inside of and explore the world within them? Yes please!! (granted the stories inside are darker than i'd prefer, but still. it sounds awesome.)
The characters are ones I have mixed feelings about, but in the best way. Do I love them? Yes, very much so. Did I trust any of them? ... no, not particularly, hahaha. Echo herself, though, I adored, and let me just mention that I am SO soft for her relationship with her brother. We don't see much of him, but I adored their bond so much. Hal and the wolf had me feeling all the things, and while I don't want to spoil anything, I have to say I loved the ending so much.
Overall, I was just completely enchanted by every moment of this story. There were definitely moments that were hard to read (there are some moments I would consider horror, but very mild horror), and I cried probably four times, but it's definitely a story I'm going to be revisiting in the future.
5 stars from me!
His blue eyes lock on mine, suddenly serious. "Must you always know a story ends happily before you feel equal to beginning it?"
Y'all... I LOVED this. Which, considering I picked it up at the library sale on a whim, was a delightful surprise. I'd heard a few friends enjoy this, and the first paragraph of the synopsis hooked me right away. I knew I wanted to pick it up in the winter season, which was an excellent choice, let me just say. "East of the Sun, West of the Moon" is a fairytale I've loved retellings of for a long time (especially ones that have all the Beauty and the Beast vibes) so I had a feeling it was going to be a win for me. And it was.
Echo's story slowly but surely nestled its way into my heart. The writing was just gorgeous, the atmosphere is fantastic. I felt like I was in a snowy wood, or a crumbling mansion, or a gorgeous library. The magic was fascinating, mysterious and eerie, and hello? Books you can go inside of and explore the world within them? Yes please!! (granted the stories inside are darker than i'd prefer, but still. it sounds awesome.)
The characters are ones I have mixed feelings about, but in the best way. Do I love them? Yes, very much so. Did I trust any of them? ... no, not particularly, hahaha. Echo herself, though, I adored, and let me just mention that I am SO soft for her relationship with her brother. We don't see much of him, but I adored their bond so much. Hal and the wolf had me feeling all the things, and while I don't want to spoil anything, I have to say I loved the ending so much.
Overall, I was just completely enchanted by every moment of this story. There were definitely moments that were hard to read (there are some moments I would consider horror, but very mild horror), and I cried probably four times, but it's definitely a story I'm going to be revisiting in the future.
5 stars from me!
February 9, 2023
Ummm, I could literally cry right now 😭 This is one of the most BEAUTIFUL books I have ever read—words can’t do it justice. Just…wow. It’s beautiful and heartbreaking and literally everything an unforgettable story should be. Please do yourself a favor and read this book. Like now. 😭🤍
March 1, 2020
The best East of the Sun, West of the Moon retelling that I've read in a LONG, long time!
I love that story with all my heart; it is, alongside Beauty and the Beast, my favorite fairytale of all (of course they are related), and Joanna Ruth Meyer has woven her own ideas into it masterfully.
Beautiful writing, beautiful world - bursting with imagination, beautiful characters.
I didn't expect to enjoy this the way I did, but Echo North blew me away like all 4 winds combined.
I might even up this to 5 stars further down the line.
If you like Howl's Moving Castle, you will enjoy this as well. It's the same peculiar brand of magic.
I love that story with all my heart; it is, alongside Beauty and the Beast, my favorite fairytale of all (of course they are related), and Joanna Ruth Meyer has woven her own ideas into it masterfully.
Beautiful writing, beautiful world - bursting with imagination, beautiful characters.
I didn't expect to enjoy this the way I did, but Echo North blew me away like all 4 winds combined.
I might even up this to 5 stars further down the line.
If you like Howl's Moving Castle, you will enjoy this as well. It's the same peculiar brand of magic.
September 8, 2019
An amazing retelling of East of the Sun, West of the Moon.
I loved the world Meyer created in . It was vivid and I could easily picture it. I read East earlier this year and really enjoyed it. While this book was similar in tone, they were not identical by any means.
Echo Alkaev works with hr father as much as she can. When she was a young child, her face was scarred by a strange white wolf she helped rescue from a trap. She's been ostracized from her community besides her father and brother. After her father remarries and falls into financial ruin, he sets out on risky journey in order to save the family. Months pass and he doesn't return or send word. One day Echo finds him half frozen in the woods protected by the same wolf that scarred her. They make a bargain so that Echo can save her father.
The wolf takes Echo to a strange manor house. She finds that nothing is as it seems especially not the wolf. As she tries to help him keep the manor from unraveling, she desperately tries to unlock his secrets so she can find her freedom. However, what she discovers is more than she could ever imagine.
There's something about books set in winter and near forests that always pull me in. I love the winter/wood setting so damn much. My love for The Bear and the Nightingale can attest to that. I also love retellings and this book delivered. Echo was such a curious and determined protagonist. When she loves, she loves fiercely and she will not let go.
The audiobook was also narrated by Elizabeth Evans and omg I love her!!! She narrated the Throne of Glass series and that's like my fave series ever. I digress, but anyway this was such a joy to read and I will be adding the actual book to my library ASAP!
I loved the world Meyer created in . It was vivid and I could easily picture it. I read East earlier this year and really enjoyed it. While this book was similar in tone, they were not identical by any means.
Echo Alkaev works with hr father as much as she can. When she was a young child, her face was scarred by a strange white wolf she helped rescue from a trap. She's been ostracized from her community besides her father and brother. After her father remarries and falls into financial ruin, he sets out on risky journey in order to save the family. Months pass and he doesn't return or send word. One day Echo finds him half frozen in the woods protected by the same wolf that scarred her. They make a bargain so that Echo can save her father.
The wolf takes Echo to a strange manor house. She finds that nothing is as it seems especially not the wolf. As she tries to help him keep the manor from unraveling, she desperately tries to unlock his secrets so she can find her freedom. However, what she discovers is more than she could ever imagine.
There's something about books set in winter and near forests that always pull me in. I love the winter/wood setting so damn much. My love for The Bear and the Nightingale can attest to that. I also love retellings and this book delivered. Echo was such a curious and determined protagonist. When she loves, she loves fiercely and she will not let go.
The audiobook was also narrated by Elizabeth Evans and omg I love her!!! She narrated the Throne of Glass series and that's like my fave series ever. I digress, but anyway this was such a joy to read and I will be adding the actual book to my library ASAP!
Read
October 31, 2020***DNF***
Time of death: 89 pages
It absolutely breaks my heart to DNF a book inspired by Beauty and the Beast. It's my favorite fairytale retelling, and yet here I am.
I just can't get on board with any of this. We're supposed to take everything at face value with no explanation. There isn't any real world building. You're just thrown in.
And it certainly doesn't help that Echo doesn't question anything. She doesn't live in a magical world, and yet when a talking wolf comes out of nowhere with a "I'll make sure your dad is okay if you come live with me for a year," she's says "okay" and starts walking.
And from that point she is transported to a magical and creepy world under a mountain.
Upon arrival, she's given something to eat and then as midnight approaches the house starts to come "alive." So her and the wolf run like hell to a bedroom where she's told that she's not allowed to leave until morning, to ignore the hissing, howling and banging against the bedroom door, that part of her one-year commitment is that the wolf must sleep in her room every night but she has to keep the lights off and under no circumstances is she allowed to turn them on. Does she maybe think about asking any questions at this point? Nope.
And situations like this kept coming. Echo discovering a new magical feature in this world, and not questioning anything.
Is she in an alternate world? Has there always been magic, but it's been hidden? Hey wolf, how come you can talk? Oh, you need two things from me so I can see into this magical mirror....here's some hair and blood. I mean, who just offers that up?! I'd be like here's a button and a sock, does that work? I'm not jumping right into hair and blood.
There's just no depth here.
July 8, 2024
В умовах маємо:
• одну головну героїню на ім'я Ехо - дівчинку добру, але яку ніхто не хоче розуміти;
• одного зачарованого вовка;
• одного зачарованого хлопця;
• одну лиху відьму;
• одного батька з тих, хто для другої дружини зробить все, хоч це і нашкодить рідним дітям;
• одну злу мачуху;
• і звісно ж один зачарований будинок.
Тож можемо зробити висновок, що перед нами казка. До того ж історія, яку розповідає книжка "Echo North" не просто казка, а ретелінг сюжету, який найчастіше відомий нам під назвою "Красуня та Чудовисько". Не скажу, що першоджерело історії було авторкою дуже переосмислено, скоріше до казки були додані деякі нові елементи.
При цьому під час читання я не могла не помітити, що книга щедро приправлена відсилками до міфу про Ероса та Психею. Зі слів авторки виявилося, що всі існуючі історії про Красунь і Чудовиськ сягають своїми коріннями саме до цього давньогрецького міфу.
У цілому книга створює певну зимову атмосферу, в яку можна поринути навіть, якщо за вікном лютнева сльота. Проте мені історія здалася дуже поверховою. Я не вірила та не симпатизувала героям, навіть з казковою передбаченістю хотілося більше логічного, більшої глибини персонажів і менше в них непрохідної дурості.
• одну головну героїню на ім'я Ехо - дівчинку добру, але яку ніхто не хоче розуміти;
• одного зачарованого вовка;
• одного зачарованого хлопця;
• одну лиху відьму;
• одного батька з тих, хто для другої дружини зробить все, хоч це і нашкодить рідним дітям;
• одну злу мачуху;
• і звісно ж один зачарований будинок.
Тож можемо зробити висновок, що перед нами казка. До того ж історія, яку розповідає книжка "Echo North" не просто казка, а ретелінг сюжету, який найчастіше відомий нам під назвою "Красуня та Чудовисько". Не скажу, що першоджерело історії було авторкою дуже переосмислено, скоріше до казки були додані деякі нові елементи.
При цьому під час читання я не могла не помітити, що книга щедро приправлена відсилками до міфу про Ероса та Психею. Зі слів авторки виявилося, що всі існуючі історії про Красунь і Чудовиськ сягають своїми коріннями саме до цього давньогрецького міфу.
У цілому книга створює певну зимову атмосферу, в яку можна поринути навіть, якщо за вікном лютнева сльота. Проте мені історія здалася дуже поверховою. Я не вірила та не симпатизувала героям, навіть з казковою передбаченістю хотілося більше логічного, більшої глибини персонажів і менше в них непрохідної дурості.
April 13, 2023
Wow 😭
One of my favorite fairy tales is East of the Sun, West of the Moon, and Echo North was the perfect retelling. It had some Beauty and the Beast elements as well, which I really enjoyed.
The prose is so lyrical. The characters are so believable and real. The heartache and despair so poignant, but the light and hope even more so. And the themes of forgiveness so amazing.
I love Hal and Echo 🥹 their stories are packed with sorrow, but there is healing and light and freedom.
And I cried during the epilogue.
I am in love with this book and can’t wait to read Wind Daughter! Amazing job, Joanna!
Content:
A few minor swears - d*mn
Lots of blood but nothing super graphic
Incredibly sweet and pure romance
Amazing themes of love and sacrifice
One of my favorite fairy tales is East of the Sun, West of the Moon, and Echo North was the perfect retelling. It had some Beauty and the Beast elements as well, which I really enjoyed.
The prose is so lyrical. The characters are so believable and real. The heartache and despair so poignant, but the light and hope even more so. And the themes of forgiveness so amazing.
I love Hal and Echo 🥹 their stories are packed with sorrow, but there is healing and light and freedom.
And I cried during the epilogue.
I am in love with this book and can’t wait to read Wind Daughter! Amazing job, Joanna!
Content:
A few minor swears - d*mn
Lots of blood but nothing super graphic
Incredibly sweet and pure romance
Amazing themes of love and sacrifice
October 25, 2019
For the most part I really enjoyed Echos perspective. She was the relatable quiet book loving type with a sense of adventure she never had the chance to nurture. I loved her relationship with her father and brother. I also liked the wolf, but I didnt understand how she was able to forgive him so quickly. Im all for forgiveness, but I feel like there has to be enough good there to justify it and I just didnt see that here. I didnt really feel their chemistry so I couldnt figure out why they loved each other. I also found it super frustrating to see Echo make the worse decision possible for the sake of advancing the plot. Despite predicting most of the twists early on I still found something compelling about our main characters journey to uncover the wolf's secrets.
I know this is a fairytale retelling, but its inspired by beauty and the beast so I wasnt expecting another evil step mother. Im just so over it. I would have liked at least one decent female character in Echos life besides the ones we meet at the very end, especially with the main antagonist also being a woman. The villains motivations were simply being cruel for the sake of being cruel and I personally want more from my villains. We also meet Mokosh whose visit with Echo outside the books was never explained, but I did end up really liking her. I thought her decisions made sense and she was well developped for a secondary character.
The conflict was exactly what you would expect from a beauty and the beast retelling, find a way to break the curse the enchantress cast, which I dont usually mind if its done right. Sadly in this case the main character intellect suffered to propel the plot in that direction. The setting and the atmosphere was definitely my favorite part of the novel. The house under the mountain and its library filled with magical portal books was amazing. I loved how each room was completely different from one another with their own unique magical element. I thought the mythology of the Four Winds and how they came to play into the story was great. I also found the old magic interesting, if a little under developed.
The plot has some unbelievable moments, like when Echo managed to run faster than a pack of wolves. I also wasnt the biggest fan of the books lesson which is pretty much that love can forgive huge betrayals. Id rather a message focused on the character realising their worth and knowing when they deserve better. Towards the end when things should be getting more intense the main character spends a bunch of time describing her repetitive and boring travel routine. The resolution of the conflict was a little too simple for me and just felt off. I did love the family reunion though. I also enjoyed the writing and how easy it was to binge read so Im willing to try something else from this author in the future.
*This book was received for an honest review
** Why isnt this available in ebook format in Canada?
I know this is a fairytale retelling, but its inspired by beauty and the beast so I wasnt expecting another evil step mother. Im just so over it. I would have liked at least one decent female character in Echos life besides the ones we meet at the very end, especially with the main antagonist also being a woman. The villains motivations were simply being cruel for the sake of being cruel and I personally want more from my villains. We also meet Mokosh whose visit with Echo outside the books was never explained, but I did end up really liking her. I thought her decisions made sense and she was well developped for a secondary character.
The conflict was exactly what you would expect from a beauty and the beast retelling, find a way to break the curse the enchantress cast, which I dont usually mind if its done right. Sadly in this case the main character intellect suffered to propel the plot in that direction. The setting and the atmosphere was definitely my favorite part of the novel. The house under the mountain and its library filled with magical portal books was amazing. I loved how each room was completely different from one another with their own unique magical element. I thought the mythology of the Four Winds and how they came to play into the story was great. I also found the old magic interesting, if a little under developed.
The plot has some unbelievable moments, like when Echo managed to run faster than a pack of wolves. I also wasnt the biggest fan of the books lesson which is pretty much that love can forgive huge betrayals. Id rather a message focused on the character realising their worth and knowing when they deserve better. Towards the end when things should be getting more intense the main character spends a bunch of time describing her repetitive and boring travel routine. The resolution of the conflict was a little too simple for me and just felt off. I did love the family reunion though. I also enjoyed the writing and how easy it was to binge read so Im willing to try something else from this author in the future.
*This book was received for an honest review
** Why isnt this available in ebook format in Canada?
March 26, 2019
solid good 4 stars
It was a wild, wild ride. Joanna really did surprise me with her beautiful storytelling and to the very last moment, it kept surprising me with every twist and turn.
Echo - Echo was a bit of a downer, at the beginning, but I understand the "necessity" for her to undergo a progress. And she really did progressed a lot throughout the book. She was a bit slow for me (in a way that it took her to figure things out. Who was the wolf? Who was Hal? Who was Mokosh? etc....it took her a bit too long to 'realize' the facts and that is why is not a 5 star for me. I already guess/predicted the answers long before Echo did, so it was a bit frustrating to see her not getting it faster, LOL.)
I realize that not everyone read like 3 million different fairy tales and re-tellings of said fairy tales, so I apologize to anyone, who was guessing alongside Echo.
The finale was so well worth the read, if nothing else. To right the wrongs, to find one's strength and beauty within. Forgiveness and love is the center of the story, which I really liked. I was a bit skeptical (for all 3 seconds) about Echo's fast forgiveness, but than I was just happy for the outcome and shut up the naysayer inside of me :P
I really enjoyed the different fairy tales spun and weaved into one very well written and told story that definitely stand all on its own.
I love the music part of the book - I see that Joanna has a strong grasp of music theory, which I don't see very often in books. That was very refreshing. Also the fencing - even though I would liked more of it :)
I also love the Scandinavian and Baltic themes - those are my favorite folk tales. They are usually grim and dark and very little happy endings happen in them, so I am glad that this one was on the more cheerful note :)
The two parter of the book was definitely a happy surprise, because I thought at the end of part 1 'well, what more is there to do?' and like I said, I was blown away. Both part 1 and part 2 of the book are brilliant - but I liked the part 2 a bit more, because Echo finds the fiesty, spunky side of her in that one, which is great.
If you like great writing, fairy tales, re-tellings, magic, fantastical and fantastically told stories, this one is definitely for you.
It was a wild, wild ride. Joanna really did surprise me with her beautiful storytelling and to the very last moment, it kept surprising me with every twist and turn.
Echo - Echo was a bit of a downer, at the beginning, but I understand the "necessity" for her to undergo a progress. And she really did progressed a lot throughout the book. She was a bit slow for me (in a way that it took her to figure things out. Who was the wolf? Who was Hal? Who was Mokosh? etc....it took her a bit too long to 'realize' the facts and that is why is not a 5 star for me. I already guess/predicted the answers long before Echo did, so it was a bit frustrating to see her not getting it faster, LOL.)
I realize that not everyone read like 3 million different fairy tales and re-tellings of said fairy tales, so I apologize to anyone, who was guessing alongside Echo.
The finale was so well worth the read, if nothing else. To right the wrongs, to find one's strength and beauty within. Forgiveness and love is the center of the story, which I really liked. I was a bit skeptical (for all 3 seconds) about Echo's fast forgiveness, but than I was just happy for the outcome and shut up the naysayer inside of me :P
I really enjoyed the different fairy tales spun and weaved into one very well written and told story that definitely stand all on its own.
I love the music part of the book - I see that Joanna has a strong grasp of music theory, which I don't see very often in books. That was very refreshing. Also the fencing - even though I would liked more of it :)
I also love the Scandinavian and Baltic themes - those are my favorite folk tales. They are usually grim and dark and very little happy endings happen in them, so I am glad that this one was on the more cheerful note :)
The two parter of the book was definitely a happy surprise, because I thought at the end of part 1 'well, what more is there to do?' and like I said, I was blown away. Both part 1 and part 2 of the book are brilliant - but I liked the part 2 a bit more, because Echo finds the fiesty, spunky side of her in that one, which is great.
If you like great writing, fairy tales, re-tellings, magic, fantastical and fantastically told stories, this one is definitely for you.
July 19, 2019
This is ultimately yet another bland East of the Sun, West of the Moon retelling. It's not unique or compelling enough to be a true reinterpretation of the original (tacking on Tam Lin at the end doesn't count). Nor is the quality of writing good enough to make it satisfying as a straightforward retelling.
In the afterward, the author wrote that she was inspired by Beauty, East, and Fire and Hemlock. And I had to laugh because those were, I swear, exactly the three books I was thinking of while reading this. Which would normally be amazing! Except that this read like those three books mashed together to create something inexplicably bland. I felt general apathy at the 'twists' and big reveals because I wasn't invested at all in these characters. Flavorless dialogue, bland characterization, and vague world building all leech away the potential pathos of Echo North.
If you're looking for a (better) straightforward retelling of East of the Sun, West of the Moon then try East or Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow. For an actual reinterpretation of the fairy tale, Bleddynwood is fantastic.
(eARC provided by NetGalley)
In the afterward, the author wrote that she was inspired by Beauty, East, and Fire and Hemlock. And I had to laugh because those were, I swear, exactly the three books I was thinking of while reading this. Which would normally be amazing! Except that this read like those three books mashed together to create something inexplicably bland. I felt general apathy at the 'twists' and big reveals because I wasn't invested at all in these characters. Flavorless dialogue, bland characterization, and vague world building all leech away the potential pathos of Echo North.
If you're looking for a (better) straightforward retelling of East of the Sun, West of the Moon then try East or Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow. For an actual reinterpretation of the fairy tale, Bleddynwood is fantastic.
(eARC provided by NetGalley)
January 18, 2019
This was disappointing for me. I went into this hoping for a romantic BATB retelling, and that's not entirely what I got. I found this to be closer to a middle grade novel, and while it was beautifully written and lush in description, it just wasn't for me.
A really interesting aspect of this book was the magical library Echo discovers. Instead of books, they are book mirrors, and they transport you into the story and you can either pay attention to the story unfold or just wander around in the world the author created. Almost like a open world RPG game lol. If that ain't the coolest thing ever I don't know what is.
Unfortunately it wasn't enough to save this story for me.
The entire Part 2 of the book was so boring to me. I felt like it dragged on too much, became muddled and confused at some parts and I just wanted it to be over. Also I can't get over how badly Echo was betrayed and she kind of just brushed it off her shoulders. Girl c'mon have some self worth!
TL;DR
The writing was beautiful, lush and descriptive but the plot and story weren't what I was anticipating and left me rather bored.
A really interesting aspect of this book was the magical library Echo discovers. Instead of books, they are book mirrors, and they transport you into the story and you can either pay attention to the story unfold or just wander around in the world the author created. Almost like a open world RPG game lol. If that ain't the coolest thing ever I don't know what is.
Unfortunately it wasn't enough to save this story for me.
The entire Part 2 of the book was so boring to me. I felt like it dragged on too much, became muddled and confused at some parts and I just wanted it to be over. Also I can't get over how badly Echo was betrayed and she kind of just brushed it off her shoulders. Girl c'mon have some self worth!
TL;DR
The writing was beautiful, lush and descriptive but the plot and story weren't what I was anticipating and left me rather bored.
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