A novel that follows sixteen-year-old Eli as she tries to remember what truly happened the night her mother disappeared off a glacier in Norway under the Northern Lights.
According to Arctic legend, if you whistle at the Northern Lights, they'll swoop down and carry you off forever. Sixteen-year-old Eline Davis knows it's true because it happened to her mother. Eli was there that night on the remote glacier in Svalbard, when her mother whistled, then vanished.
Years later, Eli is living with her dad on Cape Cod. When Eli discovers the Northern Lights will be visible for one night on the Cape, she hatches a plan to use the lights to contact her missing mother. And it works. Her mother arrives with a hazy story of where she's been all this time. Eli knows no one will believe them, so she keeps it all a secret. But when magical, dangerous things start happening--narwhals appearing in Cape Cod Bay, meteorites landing in the yard by the hundreds, three shadowy fairytale princesses whispering ominous messages--the secrets start to become more like lies.
It's all too much, too fast, and Eli pushes her mother away, not expecting her to disappear as abruptly as she appeared. Her mother's gone again, and Eli's devastated. Until she finds the note written in mother's elegant scrawl: Find me where I left you. And so, off to Svalbard Eli goes.
Review:
As I said on Goodreads, this was a bit of an odd duck, but I eventually got into it. I love the magical realism and Norwegian folklore. It just takes a while to get into the somewhat jarring writing style. And I wish the main character was a tad but more like-able.
The book had a little “Staff Picks” type bookmark in it at a local favorite bookstore of mine. When I noticed it took place (at least partially) in Cape Cod, it was kind of an instant purchase for me. It also deals heavily with mythology surrounding the Northern Lights, something I’ve always been fascinated in. So, when it was time to start a new book and I had a little time off, it kind of jumped to the top of my TBR pile.
As mentioned, it’s not the average YA fantasy or YA contemporary. The writing style is odd. A lot of chapters start with this beginning: “Once upon a time, in a stark white hotel at the top of the world…” There’s a lot of magical realism. You’re never 100% certain what’s real and what’s story. Is the main character really seeing what she’s seeing? Was she really just being naive? Or did these crazy things happen at the top of the world. Did her mother get lost in the Northern Lights? Or did she have a mental breakdown? Or possibly fall down a fjord? Did magic truly happen?
And when you come to realize what the magic is, the book becomes so much cooler. And again, you still have to fully decide for yourself. But, wow its cool. This book will not be for everyone. And I almost gave up on it early on. But, I’m so glad I kept going. Mostly, it just took me a minute to vibe with it. But, eventually I learned to appreciate the fairy tale-eque writing style. I saw how intentional it all was. I loved the overall theme of freedom, family, and rebellion.
What I never really did though was learn to love the main character. She always came off a bit naive and selfish to me. I wish she was kinder to her father. I wish treated her best friend better. She really just had a one track mind. And I never truly cared too much about her. Like what did she care about? I guess she like to knit….but what else made her who she was? If I did like her more, this would have been a 10/10. The setting, the writing, the idea for the story were all just pure magic. I like how dark it was, and how there seemed to be multiple mythological tales incorporated in here. All in all, it gets an 8/10.
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