Name: East
ISBN: 0152045635

Edith Pattou

A young woman journeys to a distant castle on the back of a great white bear who is the victim of a cruel enchantment.

East

Rose has always longed for adventure, so when an enormous white bear appears one evening and makes her a mysterious offer, she accepts. In exchange for health and prosperity for her ailing family, she must live with the white bear in a distant castle. But Rose soon realizes that all isn’t as it seems. As she tries to settle into her new life, she makes a devastating mistake. Now she must choose: return to her safe and loving family or go on a dangerous quest to fix what she has broken—and perhaps lose her heart along the way. A sweeping romantic epic as timeless as any fairy tale and thrilling as only the best fantasy novels can be.

Colleen

3.5 Stars 

*An adventurous retelling of East of the Sun and West of the Moon*


I read East years ago in my early teens. When I saw that there is now a sequel (West), I decided to reread the original book.


  “For all that I loved the old tales of magic, I did not actually want there to be talking animals and mysterious requests on storm-tossed nights. Such things were for stories and ought to remain there.”

First, I had to make sure I was thinking of the right book. I read two retellings of East of the Sun and West of the Moon around the same time; one I liked and the other I did not. As it turns out, East was the one I enjoyed. The other one, Once Upon a Winter's Night, had too much of that sacrificial virgin vibe to it.

I think I enjoyed East more the first time around. There were definitely elements that seemed cheesier the second time around. For example, the heroine has purple eyes. I don’t know why people are so obsessed with giving girls purple eyes, but by this point, it is a cliché I am well tired of. Thirteen-year-old me thought it was super cool though.


  “For all that I loved the old tales of magic, I did not actually want there to be talking animals and mysterious requests on storm-tossed nights. Such things were for stories and ought to remain there.” 

I liked that the story had a real world setting in Andalsnes, Norway and La Rochelle, France among other places. The real locations and time period were blended well with the mythological and magical elements. The story balanced the real and fantasy elements well. East certainly has that timeless fairytale feeling. There is a reason these stories are told over and over and why generation after generation is so drawn to them. Fairytales allow for that perfect combination of moral and magic that will always have a place in this world.


RATING FACTORS:
Ease of Reading: 4 Stars
Writing Style: 3 Stars
Characters and Character Development: 3 Stars
Plot Structure and Development: 4 Stars
Level of Captivation: 4 Stars
Originality: 3 Stars

Kimber Severance 

This book is a rendition of my most favorite childhood story. The story of the King living in the arctic with his three daughters and how a great white bear comes and steals his youngest daughter away. I've always loved that story, with the magic, and enchanted bear. East has all the elements of the story that I love, while forming its own uniqe qualities that make East all the more magical.

This is one of those books that has a definite magical quality about it when you're reading, which makes sense being that it is a retelling of East of the Sun and West of the Moon. While it doesn't add much to the original tale (in fact, I discovered all my favorite bits of East come from it's inspiration upon research), it is a quintessential winter story and has the appeal of being the best of the Snow Queen and Beauty and the Beast combined. 

East is marketed as a tale about Rose, but I don't think this is entirely accurate. It is a story that gives a voice to all the cast, and is more often about the effect of her rather than Rose herself. I liked this about it, but not all do. Also, East has a lot of heart and research behind it and it shows.

All in all, if I had read this when I was younger it probably would have been a favorite book of mine. Now it's one I recognize the magic in and can be enchanted by momentarily, but reality and its flaws aren't too far away from my thoughts.

Brianna

This is one of those books that has a definite magical quality about it when you're reading, which makes sense being that it is a retelling of East of the Sun and West of the Moon. While it doesn't add much to the original tale (in fact, I discovered all my favorite bits of East come from it's inspiration upon research), it is a quintessential winter story and has the appeal of being the best of the Snow Queen and Beauty and the Beast combined. 

East is marketed as a tale about Rose, but I don't think this is entirely accurate. It is a story that gives a voice to all the cast, and is more often about the effect of her rather than Rose herself. I liked this about it, but not all do. Also, East has a lot of heart and research behind it and it shows.

All in all, if I had read this when I was younger it probably would have been a favorite book of mine. Now it's one I recognize the magic in and can be enchanted by momentarily, but reality and its flaws aren't too far away from my thoughts.

Michal Stone

I think Edith Pattou sounds like the person I would LOVE to have lunch with, but this book still wasn’t my favorite. 
The characters, I think because there were so many first person POVs, were never fully flushed out. The whole story felt more like a bullet pointed list of things occurring, rather than a story. I was never sucked in. 
I love this myth, and the author obviously did lots of research. But I think it could have been put together a little bit more like a story rather than a myth. Maybe that was the point.

Jordan Robinson

2.5 Stars

This was mediocre at best, unfortunately.

Faith

Dominique

I loved it, i liked the story till the end❤

Laura Allen

I love fairy tales especially Norwegian ones. East of the Sun and West of the Moon was one of my favorites growing up, so i was excited for this retelling. Although the author changed some of it, I throughly enjoyed this version of the story.

East

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