East (East, #1) in Into the Forest

Oct 12, 2007 Lacey Louwagie rated it it was ok

Shelves: retelling, youngadultfantasy, fairy-tales

This novel is a retelling of "East of the Sun and West of the Moon" which is probably one of the most underappreciated fairy tales out there. Unfortunately, this retelling doesn't quite do it justice. The author chose to use multiple viewpoints, which felt more like a gimmick and less like the best way to tell the story (especially since I was only really interested in the stories from two of the five narrators). Also, no one ever seems to have given Edith that all important advice to "show and ...more

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Oct 17, 2021 Mir rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: ya, fantasy, fairy-tale

I bought this book because
1) I like the story "East of the Sun and West of the Moon"
2) The cover is pretty

I've had this book for years -- I bought it when it was new in 2003 or 2004 -- and started multiple times and never got far because it is just so boring. Not terrible, not offensive, not badly researched, but for mercy's sake why are you talking about this for so many pages? Why is this included at all?! This book is 500 pages and could easily have been reduced to half that with no plots ch ...more

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May 29, 2010 Ronyell rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fantasy, fairy-tale-romance, read-in-2010, animal-books, my-blog-reviews, young-adult-teen-books, fairy-tales-folktales, remake, scandanavian-books, edith-pattou

4.5 stars

I never would have thought that there could be a whole chapter book retelling of a classic fairy tale other than Shannon Hale’s “The Goose Girl.” Well, I have just recently stumbled upon this book called “East” that happens to be a great retelling of a classic fairy tale! “East” is a retelling of a classic Scandinavian folktale called “East of the Sun West of the Moon” by Edith Pattou and anyone who is a huge fan of fairy tales will definitely get a kick out of this book!

Rose is the you East

4.5 stars

I never would have thought that there could be a whole chapter book retelling of a classic fairy tale other than Shannon Hale’s “The Goose Girl.” Well, I have just recently stumbled upon this book called “East” that happens to be a great retelling of a classic fairy tale! “East” is a retelling of a classic Scandinavian folktale called “East of the Sun West of the Moon” by Edith Pattou and anyone who is a huge fan of fairy tales will definitely get a kick out of this book!

Rose is the youngest child of seven children and because she was a born a North born child, according to her mother, she always loved exploring her homeland Njord and getting into trouble. One day, however, a mysterious white bear comes in and promises Rose’s family that he will make them rich if they agree to let Rose come away with him to his cave. At first, Rose’s family did not want her to leave with the white bear, but Rose decided to go with the white bear to save her family and so she and the white bear traveled for days until they reached the white bear’s magnificent cave where Rose lived for many years. During her years with the white bear, Rose realizes that a mysterious stranger has been sleeping in bed next to her and when she discovers the stranger’s true identity, she embarks on a journey to save her true love from a terrible curse!

Beautiful! Simply Beautiful! I never would have thought that I would have read a retelling of a popular folktale that was written so beautifully! Edith Pattou has certainly done an excellent job at retelling the ancient Scandinavian folktale. I loved the way that Edith Pattou added more elements to this story such as adding background information about each character in the book, especially Rose and we actually get to read about the other point of views of each character associated with Rose’s life like her father, her brother Neddy, the White Bear and the Troll Queen. What I loved the most about this book is that each chapter is split up into a different character’s point of view. Like for example, you have one chapter entitled “Rose” and the chapter is narrated by Rose herself and her point of view on the situation she is thrown into and then another chapter would be entitled “White Bear” and the white bear is narrating the chapter, and I really love this setup because you can actually get a feel of what each character is thinking about the situation at hand. Another thing that I loved about this book was the relationships between all the characters in this book, especially between Rose, Neddy and her father. I loved the way that Neddy and Rose’s father cared so much about Rose that they were willing to put their lives at stake in order to rescue her from any kind of danger. I also loved the fairy tale elements in this story, especially since this story is based off of “East of the Sun West of the Moon” and I am a huge fan of many fairy tales and folktales, so the fairy tale elements in this story (enchantment, epic journey) are always relaxing to me. I also think many people would enjoy this story if they enjoyed “The Golden Compass” since this book does have a similar element to “The Golden Compass” which is a girl riding a white bear on her journey.

East

Now the reason why I gave this book a four and a half star rating instead of a five star rating is because the story tends to drag on too long in certain scenes such as during the scenes where Rose is exploring the cave of the white bear and she is describing every single item she comes across. It is alright to describe some items that have significance to the story, but to describe every other item that has nothing to do with the main point of the story does become tiresome really fast.

Overall “East” is truly an absolute masterpiece in its own right as it is filled with drama, fantasy and romance that anyone who is a huge fan of fairy tales will instantly take a liking to.

Review is also on: Rabbit Ears Book Blog

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Nov 17, 2010 Christine rated it it was ok

Shelves: young-and-new-adult-fairy-tales, diverse-and-women-authors, beauty-and-the-beast

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

I'm conflicted about this novel. I really am.

On one hand, "East of the Sun, West of the Moon" is one of my favorite fairy tales and this isn't a bad retelling of it.

On the other hand, there are several parts to this novel that don't quite gel.

Let's nickpick.

But first, in case you don't know, "East of the Sun, West of the Moon" is a wonderful fairy tale. It is why I love polar bears. It is a Northern version of Cupid and Psyche, but instead of some silly boy with iddy biddy wings, it has a POLAR ...more

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Mar 17, 2009 Giselle rated it liked it

I had some issues with this but overall enjoy the retelling.

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Feb 09, 2010 Julia rated it really liked it

Shelves: based-on-folksong-myth, fantasy, ya

A combination of “East of the Sun and West of the Moon” and “Beauty and the Beast,” Rose is the eighth born child of a Norwegian farming couple, born facing north, which means, according to her superstitious mother, that she will be a traveler. When a polar bear promises the family wealth and health if Rose will live with him, she goes ahead. Falling in love with him, but curious about what happens to him at night, she sends him back to the Troll Queen. Rose goes east of the sun and west of the ...more

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Sep 25, 2011 Adriel rated it really liked it

Shelves: fantasy, ya, bbya

Entirely fun and engaging. While fairly typical for a fairy tale retelling, I cannot help myself, I love them. I do think all the main characters of every one I've read are the same, with a spunky, driven female lead and a quiet, mysterious man (or bear or whatever). I did get bogged down in the middle, the journey through the arctic was tedious, but the story overall was good. ...more

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