** spoiler alert ** 
 This book has really grown on me over time. I somewhat remember not being too impressed the first time I read it, but remarkably vivid memories of the characters and dazzling descriptions have really stuck in my head over the last five years in a way other "unimpressive" books I read around the same time have not. 
 I often find myself wanting to revisit it. The characters are likable, the modern take fresh and fun... It's really a most excellent book, even if it's not my favorite take on this particular fairytale. 
 Basically, Cassie is a modern but isolated girl living in the cold north with her researcher father. She ends up married to a magical polar bear who has made a bargain with troll spirits which ultimately leads to their separation. Also, I have to give kudos to a Young Adult novel gutsy enough to have a pregnant heroine (through most of the second half of the book, at least). That's somewhat rare outside of the hum-drum "cautionary" tales. 
 I recommend this book to most lovers of fantasy and the original East of the Sun, West of the Moon fairytale but especially to anyone who enjoyed Alex Flinn's Beastly, Mirrored, and Towering -- this one will be right up your alley.