February 2012-our third anniversary

We had a great lunch at Red Iguana 2 in downtown SLC and an interesting discussion of the book, East by Edith Pattou, and how the everyday tasks of life are what make life worth living.  We gave the book and average of 4 stars.


Linda said:  "Well written fairy tale. The heroine is a good role model for young women in many ways as she goes off to rescue her prince. My 18 yr old daughter picked this book up while I was out-of-town and when I came back she owned a copy."

Karen said: "This is the retelling of the Beauty & the Beast tale with a Scandinavian setting. Each chapter changes points of views between Neddy, Rose, the White Bear & the Troll Queen. It is well written & flows smoothly. I just found when I wasn't actually reading it, I forgot I was even in the middle of it. This would be a good book for middle school aged girls."

Alison said: "Both of my daughters had previously read and loved East when I picked it up for one of my book clubs. I enjoyed this version of the Norwegian folk tale "East of the Sun and West of the Moon" - which is a "Beauty and the Beast"-type story - and I'd now like to read Jessica Day George's version Sun and Moon Ice and Snow.

I did find the last forty or so pages to be a little anti-climatic - which disappointed me after I had felt so invested in Rose's journey to save the white bear."

Sue said: " I give this 4 1/2 stars. It was a great re-telling of the East of the Sun West of the Moon story that used that basic framework but then spun a truly original story. The characters were interesting, the writing was good, the form was interesting where it was told from different viewpoints, and it had a satisfying ending. It was a good YA story with thought-provoking themes."