I plucked this book from a book box sometime last year and then offered it for swap at BookObsessed before I had read it. I really enjoyed this book -- to be honest, I was quite surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. It had a very "modern" approach to the age-old story of Sleeping Beauty.

Russian-born Ivan, now a US citizen and graduate student, is given the chance to research the origins of Russian folk tales as he takes a year abroad in his homeland. Just before his scheduled return to the US, Ivan stops at a remote village to visit a distant relative. As he wanders through the surrounding forest, he discovers a beautiful young woman frozen in time. Waking her (with the to-be-expected kiss), he then follows her into 9th Century Russia where they battle Baba Yaga, the witch who had cursed her to fall asleep until awakened by a hero's kiss.

Ivan and Katerina move back and forth between the 9th and 21st centuries as they develop a plot to defeat Baba Yaga and set her people free. In part a time-traveling story and in part a fairy tale, this was a delightful book to read.