Scan barcode
A review by pages_oflau
North Child by Edith Pattou
5.0
Wow. I was completely enthralled by this book. I was lost in a world of harsh ice, glistening snow, magical white bears and an evil Troll Queen.
North Child is a stunning retelling of the Norwegian fairytale East of the Sun and West of the Moon, which I had never heard of before. Although to me, it felt so familiar, it wasn’t until later on in the book that I realised it feels a lot like it had elements of Beauty and The Beast and The Snow Queen. Both of which I’ve seen mentioned in a few reviews of this so I must not be alone in thinking that.
North Child is a story about a young girl called Rose and her quest north to rescue a white bear from a terrible fate.
We learn that Rose’s mother is very superstitious and she believes that if a child is born facing north on a compass, then that child will be adventurous, which is something her mother doesn’t want. She was also told a prophecy that if she gives birth to a child facing north, then that child will die under an avalanche of snow and ice. So when Rose’s east-born sister dies (before Rose is born), her mother wants to replace her with another child born to the east. However, things don’t go to plan, and the parents end up with Rose, born to the North.
Rose is not told of the true nature of her birth, she always believes she is east-born until one day when she finally learns the truth which sets in motion the most fantastically, magically enchanting adventure that I couldn’t help but love with every fibre of my being.
Told in multiple POV’s, North Child, is expertly written in a way that is beautiful and lyrical yet simple. Everything about the tale from the characters (which I’ll get to in a minute) to the atmosphere was stunning and this book is now a firm favourite!
As I said above, North Child is written in multiple POV’s. We have the POV of Father, Rose, Neddy, White Bear and Troll Queen. Whilst I agree this is a fair amount of POV’s, I found each POV to have a distinct voice, they didn’t feel similar at all and I found that they added to the atmosphere of the story being told. Each POV added something refreshing to the plot and, even though they were only a couple pages long, I didn’t once hate the POV changes.
Rose’s father has nothing but love and adoration for his daughter and he wants so badly to tell her the truth of her birth but her mother will not hear of it. I felt like her mother was really harsh in the beginning but we learn that she does show some signs of guilt for her actions. I really loved how each character, wether they be main characters with a POV or side characters, really helped to solidify the mythology and background to this story.
North Child is a stunning retelling of the Norwegian fairytale East of the Sun and West of the Moon, which I had never heard of before. Although to me, it felt so familiar, it wasn’t until later on in the book that I realised it feels a lot like it had elements of Beauty and The Beast and The Snow Queen. Both of which I’ve seen mentioned in a few reviews of this so I must not be alone in thinking that.
North Child is a story about a young girl called Rose and her quest north to rescue a white bear from a terrible fate.
We learn that Rose’s mother is very superstitious and she believes that if a child is born facing north on a compass, then that child will be adventurous, which is something her mother doesn’t want. She was also told a prophecy that if she gives birth to a child facing north, then that child will die under an avalanche of snow and ice. So when Rose’s east-born sister dies (before Rose is born), her mother wants to replace her with another child born to the east. However, things don’t go to plan, and the parents end up with Rose, born to the North.
Rose is not told of the true nature of her birth, she always believes she is east-born until one day when she finally learns the truth which sets in motion the most fantastically, magically enchanting adventure that I couldn’t help but love with every fibre of my being.
Told in multiple POV’s, North Child, is expertly written in a way that is beautiful and lyrical yet simple. Everything about the tale from the characters (which I’ll get to in a minute) to the atmosphere was stunning and this book is now a firm favourite!
As I said above, North Child is written in multiple POV’s. We have the POV of Father, Rose, Neddy, White Bear and Troll Queen. Whilst I agree this is a fair amount of POV’s, I found each POV to have a distinct voice, they didn’t feel similar at all and I found that they added to the atmosphere of the story being told. Each POV added something refreshing to the plot and, even though they were only a couple pages long, I didn’t once hate the POV changes.
Rose’s father has nothing but love and adoration for his daughter and he wants so badly to tell her the truth of her birth but her mother will not hear of it. I felt like her mother was really harsh in the beginning but we learn that she does show some signs of guilt for her actions. I really loved how each character, wether they be main characters with a POV or side characters, really helped to solidify the mythology and background to this story.