The story also took a very surprising twist in the final third of the book. Instead, it’s easy to understand making the exact same decision she does, given the circumstances of her year in the magical house and her connection with the wolf and mysterious man she meets in the library regularly. It’s both understandable and doesn’t harm our perception of her going forward.
But I do think the author did a much better job than her contemporaries have for providing Echo with a reason for making this mistake. But that’s one of the best things this book did!Įcho’s story is different than the classic tale in a few ways, and I don’t want to spoil them all here. And the reasoning for these heroines making this mistake is often weak and hard to recover from. Of all the magical challenges that you see heroes/heroines tasked with in fairytales, simply not looking at someone at night is about as easy as it gets. So it’s a bit challenging to write a heroine who is doomed to make what seems like a really silly mistake. And then, of course, she does, and this is what sets off the second act of the story where she must travel north to battle the troll queen to save her love. The heroine is instructed to never look at the face of the man who sleeps beside her every night. One of the particular challenges of this story, I think, is the turn it takes about halfway through the tale. But she strains against some of the magical rules of this realm, and when she breaks one near the end of her time, she begins an entirely new adventure.Īs I mentioned earlier, I’ve read a decent number of adaptations of this fairytale. There, Echo grows closer and closer to the wolf and a mysterious man found in the magical library. She agrees and so starts a year filled with magical wonders and horrors, all found in a mysterious house within a hill. More surprising still, he is guarded by a talking wolf who promises to save her father if Echo comes and lives with him for a year. So she is shocked to discover him one day in the woods, near death. Well, I have my ARC in hand for book two, so there’s your spoiler for what I thought of this book ultimately!Įcho believes her father is lost forever when he leaves home and doesn’t return for six months.
When I saw that there was a companion book coming out in May, I knew now was the time so that I’d have a chance to read that one, too, if I ended up liking it. But hope springs eternal, so I’ve had my eyes on this one for a bit. I’ve read quite a few re-tellings over the years but have never found one that really clicked for me. Review: I’ve always loved the fairytale “East of the Sun and West of the Moon,” but for some reason, it’s one of those stories that has proven difficult to adapt and reimagine. As the year ticks by, the rooms begin to disappear, and Echo must solve the mystery of the wolf’s enchantment before her time is up, otherwise Echo, the wolf, and Hal will be lost forever.
Se7en seas layers of fear 2 full#
When centuries-old secrets unfold, Echo discovers a magical library full of books-turned-mirrors, and a young man named Hal who is trapped inside of them. In his enchanted house beneath a mountain, each room must be sewn together to keep the home from unraveling, and something new and dark and strange lies behind every door. But there is more to the wolf than Echo realizes. The wolf presents Echo with an ultimatum: If she lives with him for one year, he will ensure her father makes it home safely. Believing he is lost forever, Echo is shocked to find him half-frozen in the winter forest six months later, guarded by a strange talking wolf-the same creature who attacked her as a child. Where Can You Get this Book: Amazon | IndieBound | WorldCatīook Description: Echo Alkaev’s safe and carefully structured world falls apart when her father leaves for the city and mysteriously disappears.
Where Did I Get this Book: from the library! Publishing Info: Page Street Publishing Co., January 2019
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