Early Review – Echo North by Joanna Ruth Meyer (5/5 stars)
Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Historical Fantasy
Length: 400 pages
Publisher: Page Street Kids
Release Date: January 15, 2019
ISBN-13: 978-1624147159
Stand Alone or Series: Stand Alone
Source: eGalley from NetGalley.com
Rating: 5/5 stars
“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.”
I got this book to review through NetGalley. I really loved this book! It’s a great blend of faerie tales that is beautifully written. I whipped right through it and enjoyed every minute of it.
This book is a blend of some different fairy tales. Primarily it is a retelling of “East of the Sun and West of the Moon” but it also contains elements of “Beauty and the Beast” and “Tam Lin”.
Echo is scarred in an accident when she is young and is shunned because of this. Her father and brother love and support her, but her new stepmother is somewhat evil. When Echo’s father goes missing, Echo ventures into the woods desperate to find him. She does find her father but she also finds the white wolf from her childhood and ends up involved in a dangerous enchantment.
I loved so many elements of this book; the characters, the magical house in the woods, the enchanting book mirrors, and the evil enchantress. I loved the folklore about the Winds and how effortlessly Meyer blends all these folklore/fairy tale elements into a beautiful story.
Overall I highly recommend this book to those who enjoy fantasy folklore and fairy tales. It’s beautifully written and was an amazing read! I can’t wait to see what Meyer writes next.
