Ice is a retelling of the Norwegian fairy tale East of the Sun, West of the Moon. When Cassie was little and her father was away from the Arctic research station they called home, her grandmother used to tell her a story about a deal her mother made with the Polar Bear King that caused her to be swept away to the ends of the earth. With her eighteenth birthday approaching, Cassie knows that the story was just a nice way of telling her that her mother had died. She doesn't believe in fairy tales. She believes in science and nothing is going to stand in her way of becoming a scientist. But when the polar bear she's tracking talks to her telling her that her mother is alive and being held by trolls and the only way to save her is to become his bride, everything she believes will be tested. 
 Fairy tales are really weird sometimes... I remember really loving this fairy tale as a child. I re-read my picture book version before diving into Ice and was like "Huh. Interesting premise." Bear wants wife, gets wife from poor peasant, turns into a man every night and "lays down" beside her. 
 What was a reading as a child?! Durst's take on the fairy tale is interesting. It reads quite a bit like Beauty and the Beast at points. The curse element of the original tale has been removed and replaced with munaqsri, beings who are responsible for the taking and giving of souls at birth and death. There is an attempt to keep this from being instalove, but more visible development of Cassie and Bear's relationship instead of just reflection on it would have been helpful. I really liked their interactions when we were shown them, but there just wasn't enough! I would have also liked to see a bit more of Cassie's internal struggle with science vs magic. 
 A decent retelling of East of the Sun, West of the Moon that most fairy tale fans will enjoy.