Reviews with content warning for Medical content - Echo Mountain

The author's writing was vivid and engaging. There were some heavy, hard topics, but also great truths and growth. I'll read this with my kids when they are older.

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bstrawbs's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

Highly descriptive and beautifully written. I loved reading the relationships and interactions between the characters and setting myself solidly in the shoes of a young girl who is trying to adapt to this new world that is echo mountain.

I found Ellie to be a highly lovable character with a few wisecracks that reminded me of when I worked with younger children. I also enjoyed her inner thoughts that seemed so simple and so complex.

It really was a reflective bit of literature where you could watch the characters grow and change and you could see the way they cared for one another in a foreign and harsh place.

I will be rereading this again. I loved the way it was written and I can see myself falling back into the easy pacing of it. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who enjoys detailed description and character driven stories.

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waytoomanybooks's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

I'm not the target audience for the book, but I picked it up because I had nostalgia for the days where I only read books about young heroines on adventures in a historical setting. And the book definitely delivered on both of those aspects! But it has its flaws.

For one thing, it's overly long. It would've been a tighter story if it were 100 pages shorter. The plot gets stale because waiting around is a core component of the story, but not in an interesting way.

I also found Ellie's family really unsympathetic to her even though the whole family was grieving over a shared tragedy. A tragedy where Ellie shouldered all the blame for literally no reason. Her family essentially ostracizes her to a degree where she's sent to sleep in the barn without supper. This treatment of her continues through the whole book...until the mother and sister have a change of heart in the last few chapters. And Ellie instantly forgives them. Her family doesn't even apologize for their wrongdoing. It was really disappointing.

I also think the story suffers from having too many plotlines. We have the Stock Market Crash, a family tragedy, and Ellie's only friends suffer multiple tragedies (which Ellie gets roped into). And for some reason Ellie, who is only 12, is the only one making any attempts to put out all of these fires. I didn't find it inspiring; I found it incredibly depressing.

I think a kid would like this book because kids like stories where people their age have agency and intelligence, which Ellie definitely has. (Although Ellie sounds more like she's 24 than 12. I kept having to remind myself that she's a child because she doesn't sound like a child.) just wish we could've had a story where her family feels any sort of remorse for their actions and that Ellie found happiness in more than just the last 10 pages.

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