Echo North
Written by Joanna Ruth Meyer
Narrated by Elizabeth Evans
4/5
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About this audiobook
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. 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. 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.
Joanna Ruth Meyer
Joanna Ruth Meyer writes stories about fierce teens finding their place in the world, fighting to change their fate, save the ones they love, or carve out a path to redemption.She lives with her dear husband and son, a rascally feline, and an enormous grand piano named Prince Imrahil in Mesa, Arizona. As often as she can, she escapes the desert heat and heads north to the mountains, where the woods are always waiting.
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Into the Heartless Wood Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Beneath the Haunting Sea Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Beyond the Shadowed Earth Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
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Reviews for Echo North
180 ratings18 reviews
What our readers think
Readers find this title to be a beautifully crafted retelling of East of the Sun, West of the Moon. The story is slow and quiet, gradually building up to a satisfying ending. The enchanting ideas and relatable characters make for a wonderful escapism, regardless of age. While some parts may be predictable, the unexpected twists and touching moments throughout make it a great read. The book also tackles important issues such as societal pressures on appearance. Overall, it is a captivating and underrated gem that deserves more recognition.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5That's definitely a beautiful story, maybe it drags a little towards the end, but you'll enjoy it!
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I was NOT expecting such a riveting story. This was absolutely amazing and well worth a read!
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Not the best one, but also not the worst. Perfect for listening to while doing mundande chores. A bit of too much stuffed into short sequences towards the end, and a meek martyrlike male-protagonist. Echo though serves well as a good example for a human growing from all insecurities to a blossoming assertive person facing her fears (and oh, the story also tackles the issue of pressures to look "beautiful" for girls & women). I do not like using the wolfs and strong earth-mother symbolism as a 100%negative character though, it feeds on a trope of rivalry between old and young women too much, which so many stories already have brainwashed us with. It is also amped up with the "evil stepmother" trope here, so cumulatively, if not analyzing it maturely, all more important supportive characters that are "good" are boys and men while all female evil, untrustwothy and vile. Seen like this it is a story of how women should never trust eachother (especially "older" women), and only believe in men. If you manage to look past that aspect in the symbolism of the story you can revel in fantasy and magical creatures, magical everchanging homes, and love as the most old and powerful mahig of all. Would not recommend to my own teen, if not listened to together.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This was (unexpected) a great read! I'm always wary of retellings, but I liked this one. The love was a bit too fast and all consuming for me, but I think that's just me growing out of YA romances
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5“I went north, to where the stories always said the wild things lived, where the folktales came from and still magic in the mountaintops.”
This little gem was Fantastic. It is so completely underrated and needs more HYPE. Beauty and the Beast retelling with a mash up of a few other tales and I could not put it down. Scandinavian Folklore at its finest kept me captivated throughout the entire book. The quotes you get from this one are some of the best I’ve read in awhile.
“I held him like the world had spun away beneath me, and I was left to dance with the stars, not mortal any longer but a creature made of moonlight and magic.”
Being a daughter of a bookseller Echo has struggled her whole life to find her place and purpose in the world. She adores her family, loves to learn, and her books give her life. Scarred as a young child by an encounter with a wolf Echo has been bullied and teased her whole life. Finding herself lost in the woods looking for her father, she finds him with the same wolf that scarred her as a child, making a deal with him to leave her father and she will come live with him in his enchanted house for a year.
“Everyone is searching for their true selves. But everyone hides their true selves from others.”
“There is one magic older than the Wolf Queen's, a magic not even she can defeat."
"Love," I say quietly.”
The wolf’s house is one of my absolute favorite parts of this book. The stories within the mirror library, being able to escape into those stories, the growing relationship between Echo and the wolf, ultimately becoming dependent on each other. Adventures with new friends, slow-burn romance, and mystery give this book all the features of a classic YA Fantasy. Meyer puts her own fresh twists into the tales which are refreshing and beautiful.
“If you love something you will not give it up, not for anything. It belongs to you, it is part of you. If you grab hold of it and never let it go-- no one can take it from you.” - Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5wow, at first I think this is another 'beauty and the beast' retelling but when the story goes on I realised this is 'east to the sun west to the moon' and it beautifully done.
the story was slow and quiet. it slowly build not that kind of that get into right away. but I kinda like it. I want the magical library! every detail was wrap up beautifully in the end.
If others cannot see your true self. if they refuse to see it. that is a flaw in their own character not in yours.
I highly recommend and if you like East by Edith Pattou you will like this as well or vice versa. - Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5I liked the enchanting ideas, but it was mostly predictable and so the reveals were not as exciting. Overall, happy I read it tho because of the touching moments throughout.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Great story that's a little bit of all the fairy tales... ?
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The writing in this book is absolutely stunning and the narrator is amazing! One of my new favorites
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Oh my ?? I love a beauty and the beast retelling but this one just hit a bit different. Just adorable ? so well written. I want to find a mirror to this story !
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I loved this retelling of East of the Sun, West of the Moon. Enough differences and details not in the original tale to have unexpected, fun twists. The beginning of part 2 felt a little rushed, but then the ending was well paced again. Excited to read Wind Daughter next!
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Beautifully crafted! The story swept me off from page one. Author has an easy and enjoyable writing style; the plot and characters relatable even I a fantasy dialogue. This story will provide wonderful escapism, whatever your age.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Lovely writing, and the story is different enough from the myths and stories it’s based nothing felt recycled. Definitely recommend.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5When Echo finds her missing father unconscious and half-frozen in the woods, she is given a choice by the white wolf -- if she agrees to live with the wolf for a year, her father will be sent home safely.This is a retelling of “East of the Sun, West of the Moon” with elements from “Beauty and the Beast” and “Tam Lin” thrown into the mix. There are so many things about this story which appeal to me, including the unexpected and wonderful library, with books Echo can literally step into, and a sequence where she learns to play piano music composed by a Bach-equivalent. (I have fond memories of learning Bach.)Yet I found this book frustrating and slow. Stories unfolding slowly can be compelling, if the prose is beautiful or the characters are nuanced and complicated, or the plot is full of suspense. Here, both the prose and the characters are rather straightforward, and I predicted nearly all the twists (bar the finale) because I already know how this sort of story goes.But I believe that this tale could delight a younger, or a less critical reader -- or even one who hadn’t encountered “East of the Sun, West of the Moon” as often before.Another book I would send back in time to my teenage-self, if I could.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This was a wonderful retelling of Beauty and the Beast as well as mythological stories. I understand that it was a young adult book, but that was not off-putting in the least. I was completely mesmerized by the prose and I do believe that this author has a lot to offer the world with her fiction. The characters were deep and developed, the imagery well placed, and the story smoothed along at a great pace. There is much to like here and I think that almost anyone, if they have an open mind, can enjoy this book.4.5 stars!
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5ECHO NORTH was a lyrical and imaginative fairy tale retelling. With elements from East of the Sun, West of the Moon and Tam Lin with lashings of Beauty and the Beast, Echo Alkaev goes to great lengths for her white wolf.After a wolf attack when she was a child, she lived a quiet life in her father's bookshop since she was bullied and reviled whenever she went out in public. Her father meets a woman and decides to marry her but he hasn't picked a good woman. Her constant demand for things is pushing her father into bankruptcy and causes him to go off to sell his last items of value. He is gone for six months before Echo finds himself injured in the woods. A white wolf offers to send him home if Echo will agree to spend a year with him at his home. Seeing no other way to save her father, Echo agrees and her adventure begins. She learns that the wolf is under a curse set by the Wolf Queen and Echo has to agree to let him spend the night with her every night but to never light a lamp and look at him. During the day, they explore the house and Echo learns to bind the rooms together.Echo's favorite room in the library which is filled with mirror-books. She can jump into any story. She meets two other readers as she explores the stories. Mokosh is the one who tells her the rules of stories but it is Hal who intrigues her more and who she falls in love with. She learns that he is trapped in the mirror-books and has few memories of anything but the stories. As the year comes near its end, rooms begin disappearing and her quest to find a way to help the wolf and free Hal from the mirror-books gets even more intense. She comes to know that Hal and the wolf are the same. Bad advice from Mokosh has her lighting a lamp and looking at the wolf turned Hal just hours before he would have been free.Echo vows to find him and free him from the Wolf Queen which is where the resemblance to Tam Lin kicks in. She needs to journey to a magical land and is lucky to have a storyteller/guide who was once the North Wind but gave up his powers because he fell in love. This was a beautiful story filled with wonderful images and lyrical prose. I enjoyed it very much.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A young adult fantasy that some older adults might enjoy. It involves a girl (Echo), a wolf, a boy (Hal), and an evil queen which is similar to many other books of this genre. Echo is attacked by the wolf and eventually has to live with him away from her family and evil step mother. In this house there is a library of books that you can step into and live within the stories. It is here that she meets her friend Hal. There are lots of adventures culminating in a showdown with the evil queen. People into fantasy will enjoy this novel.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I got this book to review through NetGalley. I really loved this book! It's a great blend of faerie tales that is beautifully written. I whipped right through it and enjoyed every minute of it.This book is a blend of some different fairy tales. Primarily it is a retelling of “East of the Sun and West of the Moon” but it also contains elements of “Beauty and the Beast” and “Tam Lin”. Echo is scarred in an accident when she is young and is shunned because of this. Her father and brother love and support her, but her new stepmother is somewhat evil. When Echo’s father goes missing, Echo ventures into the woods desperate to find him. She does find her father but she also finds the white wolf from her childhood and ends up involved in a dangerous enchantment.I loved so many elements of this book; the characters, the magical house in the woods, the enchanting book mirrors, and the evil enchantress. I loved the folklore about the Winds and how effortlessly Meyer blends all these folklore/fairy tale elements into a beautiful story.Overall I highly recommend this book to those who enjoy fantasy folklore and fairy tales. It’s beautifully written and was an amazing read! I can’t wait to see what Meyer writes next.