The Great White North

Ice

Written by: Sarah Beth Durst

Released: October 6, 2009 by Margaret K. McElderry

Summary: When Cassie was a little girl, her grandmother told her a fairy tale about her mother, who made a deal with the Polar Bear King and was swept away to the ends of the earth. Now that Cassie is older, she knows the story was a nice way of saying her mother had died. Cassie lives with her father at an Arctic research station, is determined to become a scientist, and has no time for make-believe.

Then, on her eighteenth birthday, Cassie comes face-to-face with a polar bear who speaks to her. He tells her that her mother is alive, imprisoned at the ends of the earth. And he can bring her back — if Cassie will agree to be his bride.

That is the beginning of Cassie's own real-life fairy tale, one that sends her on an unbelievable journey across the brutal Arctic, through the Canadian boreal forest, and on the back of the North Wind to the land east of the sun and west of the moon. Before it is over, the world she knows will be swept away, and everything she holds dear will be taken from her — until she discovers the true meaning of love and family in the magical realm of Ice.

Ok, this wasn’t my favourite retelling of East of the Sun, West of the Moon but I did enjoy reading it. I thought that the modernization of this fairy tale was incredibly well done and that it incorporated a lot of great ideas to make the entire story plausible.

That’s as far into this review that I can make it. I don’t know why but everything I write sounds so stupid when I read it over so I’m not even going to try.

I liked this novel, really I did, but whether it was the modernization (which was done really well, don’t get me wrong) or the characters or whatever it just didn’t cut it.

The parts I did like, though, consist of;

The ideology behind the trolls.

This was a really interesting and different part of the novel and it really sets it apart from others od the same myth. I love how it made for a happy ending and in general how it played out.

The whole Reaper thing.

This was something else that made the concept interesting and kind of explained why there was a talking polar bear in the modern day world.

Cassie.

A female character who was career driven but also followed her heart. I loved how she was ready to do anything that she thought was right or was for a good cause. The girl literally throws herself off the top of a mountain – now that takes guts.

So, yeah. This novel has a lot of really good points but it just didn’t awe me like I thought I would. However, if you’re a fairy tale lover and like a good retelling, make sure that you check this one out. I’m giving it a 6/10.