West by Edith Pattou - ADVISABLE

West (East, #2) by Edith Pattou, 514 pages.  Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2018.  $18.  

Content: Language: G; Mature Content: G; Violence: PG-13.  

BUYING ADVISORY: MS, HS – ADVISABLE  

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE  

After escaping the troll queen, Rose and Charles have a little boy named Win whom they both adore and they are happy in marriage.  But Charles goes on a trip for work and the ship he was on is destroyed with all passengers reported dead.  Rose leaves Win with family and goes to investigate Charles’ death.  What Rose finds is that the troll queen didn’t die like she had thought and now the queen is out for revenge against Rose and her little family.  

I love the way Pattou weaves Rose’s journey with adventure and strong characters.  The magic blends effortlessly into the story, making it believable.  Revisiting the world presented in East was a fun treat.  The only reason I wouldn’t put this book in an elementary school is that at one point Rose amputates her own finger to make a key and it was shocking.  You can read East without feeling like you have to read West, but I don't recommend reading West without having read East.  

Reviewer, C. Peterson