I have a confession to make. I had never heard of the "East of the Sun and West of the Moon" fairytale until I read the synopsis of this book. It took me by surprise because it has similar elements to "The Beauty and the Beast" (my favorite fairytale), the ones which I love. 
 The book can be divided in two. 
 In the first part, more character driven, we get to know Rose's family, and her childhood. We learn that a lie was told regarding her birth and that, although they had once been a thriving family, they are now poor to the point of soon being homeless. A white bear promises prosperity for the family if Rose agrees to go with him. We read about Rose's time with the bear and how her curiosity about the bear's nature and a stranger that sleeps with her every night, starts to surpass her fear. 
 The second part is more plot driven, a tough journey where we meet some interesting characters that help Rose during her quest to a land of legend. 
 The book is beautifully written, with that fairytale style we all know from our childhood, and keeps you hooked throughout the story. There characters are complex and lovable, I especially liked Rose. She is brave without being a kick-ass and loud mouth, she is kind hearted without being cheesy, but she is not perfect and has her own flaws. She grows up a lot during the book. 
 There are two things that didn't make me rate it with 5 stars. 
 1.	Multiple POVs: there are 5 of them, Rose, the Troll Queen, the White Bear, the Father and Neddy (Rose's brother). It is a bit too much, and it changes a lot really fast, so you sometimes don't distinguish the different voices. Neddy was the one which I felt I got to know less. 
 2.	Romance: Although it is cute and slow built, I felt that we didn't see too much of it. I felt that more interaction between them was needed to let us feel the extent of their love. 
 If you like fairytales, give it a try!