Rose has always felt out of place in her family. So when an enormous white bear mysteriously shows up and asks her to come away with him, she readily agrees. The bear takes Rose to a distant castle, where each night she is confronted with a mystery. In solving that mystery, she finds love, discovers her purpose, and realizes her travels have only just begun.
As fresh and original as only the best fantasy can be, East is a novel retelling of the classic tale "East of the Sun and West of the Moon," told in the tradition of Robin McKinley and Gail Carson Levine.
Amazon.com Review: In the rural villages of Norway, there is an ancient belief that children inherit the qualities of the direction in which they are born. Nymah Rose, the last daughter of eight siblings born to a poor mapmaker and his superstitious wife, was a North-born baby. It is said that North-born babies are wild, unpredictable, intelligent, and destined to break their mothers' hearts because they all leave hearth and home to travel to the far ends of the earth. To keep her close, Rose’s mother lied and told her she had been born of the obedient and pliable East. But destiny cannot be denied. One day, a great white bear comes to the mapmaker’s door to claim Rose’s birthright. Everything that comes after, as richly imagined by author Edith Pattou, is the basis for one of the most epic romantic fantasies ever told. East is a deftly woven tapestry that melds traditional fairy tale motifs of both Beauty and the Beast and East of the Sun and West of the Moon, with the haunting icy lore of medieval northern lands. Told in a changing chorus of voices, including that of Rose, her hopeful brother Neddy, her regretful father, the charmed white bear, and the Troll Queen whose selfish wish is the catalyst that seals Rose’s fate, East will enchant any and all who venture within its pages. It is a tale for the Ages, and for all ages. Highly recommended. (Ages 12 and older) --Jennifer Hubert
Surprise! What a fantastic book! I've probably read it three or four times already. The plot and characters really reach out to me and I was immediately pulled into Rose's world.
While I was reading, I was very pleased and stunned to figure out the troll language. The language, in fact, is Finnish. Since I speak Finnish, I was able to find a few errors in the author's writing, but it didn't really bother me. I've just been wondering if anyone else noticed that.
All in all, though, this was an amazing book!
Could have been better I'm a big fan of fairytale retellings and am always exited to find something new I've never heard of before but I have to say, East wasn't my absolute favorite. The problem was that the original Norwegian story this book was based on was written purely for little kids and had a lot of repetition witch really didn't give the author all that much to go off of. I guess my biggest complaint was that the book was just too long, there was too much empty space for the reader to get bored and though it was kind of a nice change that the girl saves the guy I have to say it was a little slow.
I Couldn't Put It Down! I am a huge fan of fantasy books but I had never read a book like this one. But I gave it a try anyway adn I loved it! I stayed up almost all night reading this book, I loved how real the story seemed and it was very exciting, full of adventure, and just all around good book. It was kind of like beauty and the beast and it kind of seemed like a chornicles of narnia thing too. But it was a very good book and I loved how she showed all the charcaters point of view. I do recommend this book! :D
Intricate and Juicy Retelling of 'East of the Sun and West of the Moon' When I was a little kid,one of my favorite fairy tales was East of the Sun and West of the Moon,so I was thrilled to find a retelling of it in the library.I started reading it the moment I got home,and almost immeidietly I was sucked in.The style the novel in written in is interesting-multiple first-person POVs-something I haven't seen since Elizabeth Kerner.This story is a tapestry,colorful and intruiging.I found it to be both fresh and unique.
great this was a refreshing version of the east of the sun, west of the moon story. i found the characters to be well composed and believable. in other variations of this story, the mother has been portrayed as evil or as hating the daughter, as happens with so many mothers in fairy tales, but in this version the mother's actions were explained and even after she did what she did she showed remorse, and the birth direction thing, almost like a horoscope, was used very effectively in explaining the mother's passionate reactions, as she followed it like a religion.
the main character, rose, was well done. she was a 'north born' which means she's high strung and likes to travel. i think the author did a god job in constructing her character as that personality is very much what one would expect of the heroine of this story. this personality type also explained why she would go off to help the guy. in some reviews of this book people commented that the platonic relationship lessened the connection between the main characters and while i agree with this to some extent, i also feel that for the characters to have had sex would mean something different in today's society. it antiquity women were seen as more connected to the body, but in reality would you go running off to save someone just because they had sex with you? probably not, its the relationship. and while sex enhances the relationship, rose didn't know who the man was and only later made the connection that he was the bear. so while i believe that if crafted properly, the sexual aspect of the story would deepen the connection between the two, i think that the way the story was portrayed here doesn't leave much wanting.
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