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Echo has grown up treated poorly by the villagers, who see her as plagued or cursed for her ugly scars. Despite this, she’s made a safe world for herself with her father and brother in their little bookstore. But when her father leaves for the city and mysteriously disappears, that safe world is shattered. Everyone believes he is gone, perished along the journey, but six months later, Echo finds him in the winter forest. He’s half-frozen but alive and guarded by a strange talking wolf — the same creature who scarred her as a child.
The wolf has an ultimatum for her: If she lives with him for one year, he will ensure her father makes it home safely. With little choice, Echo agrees, but she quickly learns there is more to the wolf than she realized, and he may have another reason for taking her.
In his enchanted house beneath a mountain, Echo discovers rooms that must be sewn together to keep the home from unraveling. Some doors even hide centuries-old secrets — secrets the wolf does not wish her to uncover.
Among the maze of rooms, Echo finds solace in a magical library full of mirror books the reader can enter. It’s within these story worlds that Echo finds an unlikely friend: Hal, a young man and fellow reader, is trapped within the books. He won’t tell her why or how. As the year ticks by and the rooms begin to disappear, Echo knows she must solve the mystery of the wolf’s enchantment before her time is up; otherwise she, the wolf and Hal will be lost forever.
Echo North is primarily an East of the Sun, West of the Moon retelling, but it also features strong elements of Beauty and the Beast and influences of the Scottish folktale Tam Lin.
Joanna Ruth Meyer definitely uses her imagination in weaving these tales into something new and original. It is an enchanting and compelling story, and it’s hard not to appreciate the beautiful, lush writing, though its oddness definitely makes it more of a story for fairy tale lovers.
Another unique aspect of the story is the heroine herself. Echo isn’t your classic fair maiden. She’s treated poorly because of the scars on her face, and this really does affect her character and self-esteem. Despite this, her family continues to believe in her when she cannot believe in herself, and her brother pushes her to follow her dreams, knowing she can succeed. This close-knit family relationship is another beautiful facet of the retelling.
And while it was sometimes hard to wrap my brain around the oddness and the unusual magic — especially of the house — I loved the magical library just about as much as Echo did. (I don’t know about you, but if I could step into a book, I’d go to Narnia first.)
Overall, this clean young adult fantasy book is brilliant, magical and weird and contains all the aspects of a classic fairy tale. (And for another wonderful retelling of this fairy tale, read East.)
Rated: Mild. For around 2 uses of mild language and 2 uses of the name of Deity. Violence is present throughout the story without being too descriptive. Echo’s face is ripped by the wolf. The wolf is found eating a dead rabbit with its throat torn out. Echo has dreams that are sometimes bloody. To survive the harsh elements, characters have to slaughter their ponies. Story worlds in the library are also violent, featuring slit throats, war, revolution, imprisonment and death.
