Becky's View: Frost by Kathryn James + Series Giveaway!

Frost by Kathryn James
♦publisher: Hodder Children's Books
♦release date: March 1st 2013
♦paperback, 323 pages
♦intended audience: Young adult
♦series: Mist, book 2
  review of book 1
♦source: from publisher for honest review

Last time Nell went into the mist she rescued her sister. This time she’ll have to go farther than the Elven forest, farther than the frozen wastes beyond and onto a lake of primal ice so treacherous she’ll be lucky to return at all.

It’s the New Year, Woodbridge School is closed and the country is snowed in. While the blizzards rage and Nell’s mum works double shifts, their house is full of Gwen’s friends permanently crashing out on every bed and sofa. The Elven world is frozen, too. It’s deep in snow and ice storms are ravaging the forest. Worst of all the massive Harps that keep the Elven land twisted out of sight are falling silent. No music, no land.

Can Nell and Evan cross the deadly frozen lake that surrounds their land, and fight through freezing blizzards? And if they do reach the Harp will they be able to overcome the two enemies waiting for them - Loki and Laki Winter? They are feared Ice Elven, a race so secretive that most young Elven think they’re myths used to scare them into being good. The scheming Winter twins are all too real, though, and they’ll stop at nothing to make sure the Harps stay silent.

Review:  After thoroughly enjoying Mist last year, I was more than eager to delve back into another  adventure with Nell and Evan.  Much like it's predecessor, Frost is a beautifully told, fun, and enchanting story of a girl who has found her way into the mysterious land that keeps the Elven that are still free hidden.  The rest of the Elven population, sadly, is being held in iron camps by a human group who fear that the Elven will take over if given their freedom.  This time around, the stakes have been raised and the danger amped up tenfold, as Nell and Evan work to not only free the captive Elven, but save the entire Elven world from dying out. 

Frost introduces a few new characters to the mix.  The Ice Elven, who are creepy and cold-hearted enough to strike fear even into the hearts of Evan and the other forest Elven, were a complicated bunch and added a sometimes fun and sometimes frightening twist to the whole story.  They are mischievous and roudy and when we see them all together they reminded me of a band of vikings.  Laki was a favorite of mine, even though she kept me guessing though the entire story.  The Vanir, the Elven gods, were also new to the scene---some of them welcome, some of them not so much.  One in particular that just made my skin crawl.

Nell and Evan were just as much of a joy to read as last time around.  Their relationship is so cute and funny and flirtatious.  They saw their share of problems this time around, as he fights to keep her out of danger and she fights to be in the midst of it, she refuses to stand by helpless.  They find out that it's a journey they have to make together and this brings them both farther apart and much closer together.

As I said with Mist, this reads almost like a middle grade book with a light bit of romance thrown in, but it's a perfect fit for the story.  It's a great fantasy adventure full of wonderful creatures, dangerous challenges, and heroic triumphs!  There were times when I had some issues with the dialogue being a bit choppy and felt overly immature for the characters (including an awkward over-use of people telling each other to "shut up"), but overall, nothing that took away from my enjoyment of this book.

Sadly, I think this is it for this series! I definitely would have enjoyed more time with these characters.  But things wrapped up nicely and I especially loved the last chapter.

I definitely recommend both Mist and Frost!

Find Kathryn James online: Website  •  Twitter  •  Facebook

Purchase Frost:  AmazonUK  •  Book Depository 

*GIVEAWAY!!*

Since this series is not available at all in the US, I've decided to giveaway my copies to one lucky winner!!  Fill in below for your chance to win both Mist and Frost!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

•open to US mailing addresses only 

 •must be 13 or older to enter 

 •ends April 27th, 2013 at 11:59 PM, PST