Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow
By Jessica Day George
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy
Personal Rating: 9/10

This book was very much a pleasant surprise. This was another book I needed to read for a class and I didn't except to really enjoy it, since I'm not the biggest fan of high fantasy or of Jessica Day George's other books. But I did end up thoroughly enjoying it.

This book is a very unique spin of Beauty and the Beast. At birth a young girl is cast aside by her mother and is not given a name. But aside from being a rejected child from a poor family, she grows up happy with her many brothers and sisters, and her unique gift of speaking to animals. A curse has been set on this girl's home land so that winter is always harsh and eternal--the work of evil trolls that torment all living creatures. The girl didn't necessarily believe in such myths and stories, until one day when a large white bear insists that she come live with him for a year in his palace. The girl agrees to go under the condition that her family would be without want. But under the finery of the bear's ice castle lies mysteries and curses too dangerous to uncover.

I usually don't like to read a lot of high fantasy--especially the kind that involves talking animals--because it usually just comes out sounding silly to me. But I felt like this book was written out really well and I found myself on the edge of my seat during the last couple of pages. I also feel like this book could appeal to a wide audience; I would recommend it to anyone over ten-years-old. It's entertaining but entirely clean and appropriate. A delightful read.