(Frostblood Saga, #1)
Release Date: January 10, 2017
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers; 376 pages
Rating:
The frost king will burn.
Seventeen-year-old Ruby is a Fireblood who has concealed her powers of heat and flame from the cruel Frostblood ruling class her entire life. But when her mother is killed trying to protect her, and rebel Frostbloods demand her help to overthrow their bloodthirsty king, she agrees to come out of hiding, desperate to have her revenge.
Despite her unpredictable abilities, Ruby trains with the rebels and the infuriating—yet irresistible—Arcus, who seems to think of her as nothing more than a weapon. But before they can take action, Ruby is captured and forced to compete in the king’s tournaments that pit Fireblood prisoners against Frostblood champions. Now she has only one chance to destroy the maniacal ruler who has taken everything from her—and from the icy young man she has come to love.
I’m going to talk about the obvious. The cover. I had never heard of this book until my friend got an ARC of it and I was immediately drawn in. I wanted to know more because this cover was just SO AWESOME. Then the publisher went and changed it. The final cover is so underwhelming and boring compared to what they had. No doubt a certain bookstore chain told them it was too violent or what ever and because they’re the only main chain around, all publishers will change the cover for them. I get it, I do – you want to sell books but ugh, this stuff just frustrates me. I can’t even imagine how the author might feel or maybe it’s just me; I don’t know. I don’t think I’ve ever been this disappointed over a cover change before; it lessened my excitement of the actual book before I even started it.
Now that that is out the way, let’s talk about the actual book. The stuff that IS actually good. This book was so much fun! There are lines in this book (mostly delivered by Arcus) that had me in fits of giggles. They were charming and perfect for the scene. The banter between he and Ruby was everything. It felt so natural and so real; it was sizzling. I’m getting ahead of myself though.
Ruby is lost. That’s the best way to describe her. She’s hiding in a kingdom of frostbloods while being a fireblood; the most hated in this area. Her kind are hunted down and killed. She has to hide who she is to survive; not just herself but her mother, as well. Hiding is hard, especially when emotions are involved. Things go from bad to worse in a matter of pages and you can’t help but want to console her. Everything is going to hell in a hand basket and there’s not a thing she can do about it because she doesn’t know how to control her fire. She’s outmatched. Her sass is what is most appealing; she’s in her worst place and yet she has the courage to fight back, even if it’s only with words. We all know words can sometimes hurt worse than anything physically done to oneself. I liked her a lot; from the beginning until the end. There were times in between when I wanted to whack her upside the head but I understand why she was behaving the way she was.
Then there’s mysterious Arcus. A very powerful, young frostblood. One who hides his features behind a hood and hides his soul behind a wall of ice. He’s got quite a mouth on him, as well; which is what makes these two so interesting when they first meet and those first days together. They throw insults at each other over and over again and it was just everything. I took pictures of some of my favorite quotes, usually delivered by Arcus and I still sit here, chuckling, as I think about them.
This book is dark. This book is bloody. This book has plenty of violence in it (which is why I felt the cover is so fitting).
This book is truly the perfect mix of everything and perfectly balanced as well.
The only negative thing I have to say is that I found it to be extremely predictable. To the point where when I knew I was right, it lost some of the spark to it. Still enjoyable, yes but I didn’t feel like it was as gripping as it had been. Still a book I’d definitely recommend and still one I’m eager to read the follow up.
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