Title Frostblood
Author Elly Blake
Description from Amazon
Initial Thoughts
I saw this book on Book Outlet and decided to look it up on Goodreads before buying it. The first review on Goodreads was terrible (1 star) – but I decided to get it anyway and give it a chance. I thought the synopsis sounded interesting and I like stories with elemental magic.
Cover Art
I don’t love this cover. I don’t hate it, but I definitely don’t love it. I think the dripping blood is too much but I like that it’s not a solid white background. It looks like snow, so points for that detail. The typography isn’t bad but it’s a little too simple. Overall, this book isn’t something I bought for the shelf appeal.
Writing Style
I wish this book was told from multiple POVs – we only get to see the world through Ruby’s eyes and I wanted to see more of Arcus’s perspective. Ruby tells the story well enough, but there are several scenes between Ruby and Arcus that would have been really interesting to see both of their POVs (no spoilers so I can’t go into details).
Predictability
This story is highly predictable in many ways. I was able to guess several of the plot twists hundreds of pages in advance. I didn’t think that detracted from my enjoyment of the story, but I feel that it’s necessary to point out in my review. This book did not keep me guessing at all.
Some Things I Really Liked
I really enjoyed the mythological element incorporated into the magic system. I thought it was different from other stories of this type that I had read before. Usually, the magic is just kind of there, and everyone accepts it. I liked that Elly Blake gave the reader a thorough back story for the magic system.
Beauty and the Beast retelling – I also thought this story parallels Beauty and the Beast in a unique way and that was an unexpected realization. The dust jacket doesn’t really call attention to that fact so I thought it was a nice surprise.
Final Thoughts
Overall, I liked this story. I read the next two books in the series immediately after this one. The 1 star review mentioned earlier was a one-off in my opinion. Was this book predictable? Yes. Was it filled with tropes I’ve seen in dozens of other YA stories? Yes. Did I still enjoy it quite a bit? Also, yes.
This story has a familiarity to it of YA books already written, but I still liked it. I’d still recommend it.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Recommendations for Further Reading
- Fireblood and Nightblood by Elly Blake – these are the next two installments in the series. In my opinions, this series only gets better. Definitely check these out if you liked Frostblood.
- Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge – this is another Beauty and the Beast retelling with a sprinkle of mythology. (And, of course, there’s romance). Try this story if you liked the fairy tale aspect of Frostblood.
- Snow Like Ashes by Sara Raasch – if you liked the elemental magic featured in Frostblood, check this book out. It’s also a trilogy and features a similar element based kingdoms setting.
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