Echo North

Starred review from October 22, 2018
In this reimagining of “East of the Sun, West of the Moon,” a young woman ostracized for the facial scars she received from a wolf attack finds new purpose when she bargains with that same wolf to save her father. Echo Alkaev must spend one year with the wolf in his mysterious “house under the mountain,” whose myriad rooms, packed with wonders and terrors, shift at random and require constant maintenance lest they vanish. Following the tale’s tradition, Echo grows close to the wolf over the course of the year; less predictably, she finds friends, such as lovely princess Mokosh and the charming Hal, while delving into the stories contained within the library’s enchanted mirrors. But in her efforts to save the wolf from falling prey to the sorceress who cursed him, Echo discovers complicated depths to their shared history and the beast’s enchantment. Meyer (Beneath the Haunting Sea) refreshes the familiar framework with additional fairy tale elements—“Cupid and Psyche,” “Beauty and the Beast,” and “Tam Lin” among them—producing a compelling, satisfying romantic adventure with metafictional undertones. Ages 14–up. Agent: Sarah Davies, Greenhouse Literary.

November 1, 2018
To save her father, a 16-year-old girl makes a difficult bargain with a wolf.Echo Alkaev lives a quiet life with her beloved father and older brother, working in the family bookstore. When Echo was 7, she found a white wolf caught in a trap. Inexplicably drawn to help it break free, Echo, attacked by the wolf, was left with scars across her face which villagers say are the devil's mark. After her father travels to the city to sell precious manuscripts and doesn't return, Echo is distraught and fights with her new stepmother, who continually belittles her. Echo flees, finding both her missing father and the white wolf in the woods. The wolf offers a bargain: He'll save her hypothermic father's life if she'll live with him for a year. She accepts. Though initially frightened, Echo tends the wolf's magical house, outfitted with fantastical rooms. She forms a bond with the wolf, who tells her he'll die when her year is over--and she decides she'll do anything to prevent that. Drawing on classic tales, Echo's story is epic and engrossing. Magic pulsates through every page; every landscape in this alternate Siberia lives and breathes. Echo is fierce, and her love for the wolf is hard-earned and true. Readers will ache when it's over and want to start all over again. All human characters are white.A lush, captivating new twist on beloved fairy tales. (author's note) (Fantasy. 14-adult)

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December 1, 2018

Gr 7 Up{amp}mdash;Echo has always known loneliness and rejection. The marks on her face, left by a rogue white wolf, brand her as an outcast and a demon. When her father marries a local widow who then bankrupts the family, he must travel to the city to find work. He disappears, and when Echo goes on a dangerous quest to find him, she discovers a world of magic and danger with the same white wolf who haunted her childhood. She is taken to an enchanted house deep in the woods where rooms must be sewn together daily and mirrors take her to new worlds she could never have imagined. As time passes, Echo realizes that she must make a decision if she wants to save the wolf and return to her family. This is a beautifully written retelling of several fairy tales, including "East of the Sun, West of the Moon" and "Tam Lin." The setting and characters are richly developed and the story moves at a leisurely pace so readers can enjoy all of the extra detail. The magic mirrors and haunted houses can sometimes feel overdone and trite, but Meyer weaves new life into these artifacts. Give this to fans of Melissa Bashardoust's Girls Made of Snow and Glass and Seanan McGuire's Down Among the Sticks and Bones. VERDICT A first purchase for libraries.{amp}mdash;Corey Hall, Manheim Central Middle School, PA

Copyright 2018 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 15, 2018
Grades 9-12 When Echo was seven, she saved a wolf from a trap. In return, he maimed her face. Now almost 16, Echo is used to taunts that she was marked by the devil. When her father announces his engagement to the baker's widow, whose extravagant ways leave them destitute, he heads toward the city to make money. Six months later, Echo finds him, almost dead, in the woods guarded by the wolf, who offers her a deal?he can save her father if she comes to live with him for a year. What follows is her adventure with Wolf in his enchanted house, which changes shape daily, contains a library with mirror-books she can literally walk into, and a mysterious "her," whom Wolf appears terrified of angering. As Echo begins to care for Wolf, she decides she must break whatever enchantment is going to take his life by year's end. Meyer's story provides a unique twist of the East of the Sun, West of the Moon fairy tale, which will engross readers from the first page to the very end.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)