Echo North by Joanna Ruth Meyer

ECHO NORTH by Joanna Ruth Meyer is a fun, relatively quick read which initially feels like a retelling of Beauty and The Beast. Set in India, this fantasy story involves Echo, a young woman who promises to live for a year with an enchanted wolf in order that her widowed father’s life is spared. Echo and the wolf have some amazing adventures in a magical house that responds to commands and contains a library filled with books turned mirrors.  Readers merely step into each story and when Echo does so, she meets others, including Hal, a young man who seems trapped in the books. Motifs and allusions to other fairy tales involving Tam Lin or Cupid appear. And soon, the suspense and action builds as the house starts to fall apart due to another wizard’s power and Echo and the wolf are endangered. I felt like the ending was not quite the crescendo it could have been, but I enjoyed the read and will look for more from this author. ECHO NORTH was deemed “a first purchase for libraries” by School Library Journal and received starred reviews from both Kirkus (“Epic and engrossing”) and Publishers Weekly (“a compelling, satisfying romantic adventure”). When you finish enjoying our copy look for other fantasy stories like Girls Made of Snow and Glass or Gilded Wolves.