Stephanie S. (skywriter319) - , reviewed on 10/28/2011 + 784 more book reviews

EAST is the tale of Rose, who sacrifices her freedom to save her sister, grows to care for the cursed white bear who is her captor, unwittingly betrays him, then goes beyond the ends of the earth to make things right. Its a classic folktale that never fails to move me, but Edith Pattous retelling of East of the Sun, West of the Moon went above and beyond, astounding me with its magical rendering of a traditional story and simple literary elements.

EAST is not extraordinarily sophisticated in writing style: narration alters between several different voices, and none of them particularly stand out as individual examples of great literariness. However, the magic of EAST lies in how these common elementsstraightforward prose, a retellingfit together. The multiple narrators adds a unique rhythm and scope to the story that makes the whole so much more than the sum of its parts.

Edith Pattou sets EAST in historical Europe, and the story traverses lands, cultures, seas, and languages for an astonishing and engrossing read. This is the second retelling of East of the Sun, West of the Moon that Ive had the pleasure of reading, and Im astonished at the different directions in which each author took this folktale. Im no history buff, but I was mesmerized by Edith Pattous description of the various people that Rose meets on her journey, by the variety of people and cultures that existed over great distances at the same time.

Words fail me when I try to describe an extraordinary book; indeed, there is no part of this book that was not amazing, and thus there is no part that I can describe well. There is a reason I still see this book in bookstores: it has the rare lasting power that only the most accomplished of fantasy reads possess.

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