Review for East

East by Edith Pattou

Genre – Fantasy, YA, Fairy-tale Retelling

Rating – PG – for peril

Synopsis –

This is the story of Rose, a wild and free child whose name originates from a superstitious lie her mother believes. One night a polar bear shows up offering to heal Rose’s sick sister if Rose comes with him. Rose agrees and gets swept up in figuring out who the polar bear really is and the mystery surrounding the hidden castle. She embarks on an epic journey to save those who she loves.

My Thoughts –

I would say the first half the story has many elements from Beauty and the Beast. An enchantment holding a person prisoner, a girl who is trapped inside an underground castle, and mysterious servants. Yet, the last half the book turned into a quest involving traveling through various lands to save the lost prince.

The author tells the tale through different voices. We hear from Rose, her Father, her brother Neddy, Troll Queen, and the White Bear. It actually helped convey bits and pieces from the past. Most of the chapters are really short which made want to read more in one sitting. Anyway, back to the voices they all help us understand Rose and why the White Bear do what they do. I loved the sections from Neddy’s perspective. It took me a while to appreciate Rose.

Now lets discuss the plot. The first few chapters were slower, as we were introduced to everybody. Things start to pick up as Rose enters the castle. I found that section as one of the strongest. *Spoiler Alert * After the prince is taken to the troll’s hidden kingdom, the plot takes a drastic turn. I enjoyed Rose’s travels and the people she met along the way.

The book is divided into four sections titled North, South, East, and West. There is a person who plays a role in each of the sections.

East – Rose’s father

South – White Bear

West – Estelle and Sofi

North – Malmo

OK, I want to mention that the trolls seem to have some magic or power that enables them enchant the prince. Its not really mentioned how, but the author does mention that the Troll Queen has powers. Also a character is mentioned to be a shaman although she does nothing magical. Mostly teaching Rose practical survival skills. Lastly, Neddy tells Rose Norse legends of Thor and Odin.

Language – Pretty clean here, only one use of d- word

Violence – Again, not much violence. There is a polar bear attack on a main character. An evil character makes another character vanish into thin air. A character becomes trapped under ice and snow. I’ll also mention here that the trolls give all the humans a drug/drink that stupefies them and dulls their memory.

Innuendo – Only one thing here. During Rose’s stay at the underground castle, she sleeps in a huge bed. Midway through the night, someone comes in and sleeps on the opposite side of the bed. (nothing sexual about it) Rose has no idea who it is. She is not allowed to touch and see who it is. Eventually she figures it out. I didn’t really care for it and I think the author could have done something different, but it is in there.

It is super subtle, but Rose does fall for the prince.

Conclusion –

This book is based upon the fairy tale “East of the Sun and West of the Moon.” Once it got going I enjoyed the story and had a hard time putting it down. Rose’s character grew on me in the later half of the book. Didn’t really care for the prince, but most of the time he was either a polar Bear or drugged so much he couldn’t remember his name. Anyway it was different and had some good parts to it.

2 thoughts on “Review for East”

    1. Thanks for stopping by!! I had not heard of it before either. 🙂 It was interesting, reminded me a little bit like Frozen. I love reading retellings of famous legends.

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