Ice by Sarah Beth Durst

As a little girl, Cassie grew up with the story of the Polar Bear King. Her grandmother told he of how her mother had been promised to the Polar Bear King by the North Wind, how for love of a human she made a deal with him to exchange a life with her love for her daughter as his future wife, and how the North Wind swept her away to the ends of the earth when he found her. Now almost eighteen, Cassie no longer believes in fairy tales. She knows the story was just a nice way for her grandmother to express her mother’s death. That is, until Cassie comes face to face with her own fairy tale, when she finds out the truth. Outside the Arctic research station where she lives with her father, Cassie meets none other than the Polar Bear King himself and learns that her mother is indeed alive after all. In order to free the mother she never knew, Cassie makes a bargain of her own. The ensuing adventure is one that will test the limits of Cassie’s endurance, change the way she sees the world, and alter her irrevocably.

Ice is a beautiful tale combining science, fantasy, and romance into something I can only call brilliant. Durst has proved an imaginative writer in her first two novels, Into the Wild and Out of the Wild, and I am thrilled to say that Durst has outdone herself in Ice. From the first few pages, the reader is drawn into a wild and fascinating fairy tale and Cassie’s unusual life in the Arctic. The backdrop of this story, virtually a frozen wasteland, helps make this story so interesting. I’m willing to bet most readers have encountered few novels in similar settings, and this unfamiliarity makes the placement of incredible fantasy elements so easy to believe. The combination of this with Cassie’s stubborn and determined nature sets the tale up perfectly. The result is a truly magical journey. There is nothing in this novel that I can complain about. Durst’s amazing creativity and skill at structuring this story make Ice one of the most unique and original fairy tales out there.

Durst’s fantastic storytelling in Ice will be appreciated by fans of her first two novels as well as by those who enjoyed Princess Ben by Catherine Murdock and Beastly by Alex Flinn.

Rating: 4.5

Review copies from author Sarah Beth Durst and publisher Simon & Schuster