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Despite her superstitious mother keeping the unusual circumstances of her birth a secret, it’s clear Rose has always been different. Adventure was in her blood, and Rose’s wanderlust nature could not be suppressed forever. When an enormous white bear shows up one evening and asks if Rose will go with him in exchange for health and prosperity for her struggling family, she agrees. The bear’s intentions are unclear, but Rose is not afraid.
Upon the back of the white bear, Rose travels to a distant castle where room after room are filled with wonderful things. By day, Rose spends her time weaving or playing music for the white bear in the seemingly empty castle. In the dark of night, however, she is joined in bed by a mysterious stranger. Whoever it is, they never speak, or touch, or even see each other.
Uncovering the stranger’s identity comes at a price, though. If Rose hopes to fix a mistake, break a troll curse, and save her white bear, she’ll have to travel to a mythical place that lies east of the sun and west of the moon.
Despite its daunting size, East is a cozy, atmospheric retelling of East of the Sun, West of the Moon and the perfect story for a chilly day and a fuzzy blanket or a cup of tea.
Edith Pattou offers a truly beautiful retelling that stays close to the original fairy tale while also being uniquely its own. Historical details, Scandinavian folklore and Inuit history are woven through the story. She also adds depth with multiple alternating character perspectives, from Rose, one of her brothers, her father, the troll queen and the white bear himself. For some, this might be a deterrent, but I feel it worked well. Through the many characters, the tight-knit dynamics of Rose’s family as she grew up are revealed, as well as her slow-growing friendship with the white bear.
This brings me to the romance. Some might be disappointed by the slow and tender feelings between Rose and the white bear, but I loved it. It made the human/animal relationship less awkward and gave the characters time to grow in their friendship first. When the romance finally did make an appearance, their emotions were fragile and realistic without feeling rushed.
Overall, I do feel that East tied up a little too neatly, but of all the East of the Sun, West of the Moon retellings, this is by far my favorite. I would definitely recommend this clean young adult fantasy book to anyone who loves fairy tale retellings. (I also really enjoyed Echo North.)
Rated: Mild. There is no profanity, though one reference to a bad Portuguese word is blanked out. A character shares a bed repeatedly with a stranger, though they never touch, speak or see each other. Violence is present but always vague. A woman is killed by a whip from a troll. Characters die from a drug withdrawal. A character stumbles over an icy graveyard where bodies were stripped of clothing and left to freeze to death in the harsh arctic elements. (The concept is horrid and only described further though the characters’ emotional reactions.) Many characters die when an ice castle collapses. A character kidnaps a child and continues to obsess over them.
