Review: An Echo Through the Snow by Andrea Thalasinos

Title: An Echo Through the Snow
Author: Andrea Thalasinos
Format: Hardcover
Publisher: Forge
Publish Date: August 21, 2012
Source: I received a copy from the author; however, this did not affect my review.

Why You're Reading This Book:

• You're a historical fiction lover.
• You're an animal lover.

What's the Story?:

From Goodreads.com: "Rosalie MacKenzie is headed nowhere until she sees Smokey, a Siberian husky suffering from neglect. Rosalie finds the courage to rescue the dog, and—united by the bond of love that forms between them—they save each other.  Soon Rosalie and Smokey are immersed in the world of competitive dogsled racing. Days are filled with training runs, the stark beauty of rural Wisconsin, and the whoosh of runners on snow. Rosalie discovers that behind the modern sport lies a tragic history: the heartbreaking story of the Chukchi people of Siberia. When Stalin’s Red Army displaced the Chukchi in 1929, many were killed and others lost their homes and their beloved Guardians—the huskies that were the soul and livelihood of their people.

Alternating between past and present, telling of a struggling Chukchi family and a young woman discovering herself, An Echo Through the Snow takes readers on a gripping, profound, and uplifting dogsled ride to the Iditarod and beyond, on a journey of survival and healing."

My Two Cents:

I was originally interested in reading this book because it's about dogs, specifically husky dogs, which to me is one of the most gorgeous and fascinating breeds of dogs. I'm a huge animal lover and I think that other animal lovers may enjoy this book too.

The story is pretty good but there were definitely some places that had a couple holes for me. There are two parallel stories in the book. The first one takes place in Siberia during toward the beginning of the 20th century and surrounds the story of the Chukchi people. This group of people has made their home in Siberia, a very rough place, for a very long time. When the Soviets sweep through the area, their lives change for forever. I really wish that there had been more of a focus on the Chukchi people. I knew almost nothing about them before the book and I still feel like I don't know much even after reading the book. The other story takes place in the early 1990s in Wisconsin and surrounds a young woman who gets involved in the dog sledding circuit.

There were a couple things that fell flat for me. First off, the connection between the historical story and the more present day story seemed sort of random. I wish there had been a little more connection. Also, the 1990s story jumps a lot of time. The jumping really made me feel like I was missing out on some of the character development. It really made me feel like I was missing out on the character connections. I didn't feel like you got a good sense of how the characters interacted with each other.

Thalasinos has an ear (or hand perhaps) for writing really real dialogue, which helped to pull me into the story a little more than I would have been otherwise.

This book was okay for me but animal lovers will probably still appreciate this book.