3 stars
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 was reluctant to go into Frostblood because of the overflowing negative reviews, before realizing that it was rated such a way because of its repetitive plot, repetitive character writing, and other aspects of nearly every YA fantasy we have seen before. And yeah, I agree. However, much to my chagrin, I ended up liking it anyway due to my everlasting love for the Avatar universe (water, earth, fire, aiiiir) and its general engaging, entertaining nature. Plus, arena battles. You can never go wrong with arena battles.
When it comes to the world-building and plot, many readers have been comparing Frostblood to Red Queen and Red Rising, comparisons that I totally understand even if I’ve never read those two. I would consider Frostblood to be similar to Shadow and Bone, but its world-building and writing isn’t nearly as developed as the Grishaverse. Of course, I will always choose the Grishaverse over anything but I don’t know anything about the Frostblood world, besides a few stories about their mythology and their powers. Yes, there is background information sprinkled here and there, but it never comes full-circle to form a big picture. A map would have really, really, helped (seriously, can we make maps mandatory in all fantasy novels?). It’s a good thing I enjoy frost and fire powers (you can thank my Avatar obsession for that), because that’s the only thing that kept me afloat throughout the book, plot and world-building wise.
Concerning the characters, I would say Ruby, Arcus, and the Frost King (I forgot his name, dammit) are direct parallels to Alina, Mal, and the Darkling from the Shadow And Bone trilogy. Ruby has a fiery, passionate, and mischievous personality but I simply couldn’t come to love her, because she reminded me too much of Alina Starkov, who I adore infinitely more. However, she was enough to keep the book engaging and played a significant role in engaging me. Unfortunately, her boy toy (s) aren’t as great. Arcus is another carbon copy of every brooding, mysterious male love interest and the Frost King is a poor-man’s version of the Darkling. He’s so forgettable, I can’t even remember his name!
Obviously, these three form a very uninteresting love triangle but this doesn’t entirely come to light until the second half of the book. Ruby’s primary love interest is Arcus, and while I enjoyed their chemistry and relationship, I felt as though it progressed too quickly and predictably. It didn’t particularly bring anything new to the romance department, but I am looking to see it grow throughout the rest of the books. If I even decide to read the rest.
Judging by commentary, one would assume I hated this book. So why the 3 star rating? Well, arena battles are my shit. Ruby fighting the various warriors and creatures with her powers and weapons was so cool and entertaining. I’m already hella biased toward elemental powers so I enjoyed the action scenes. The story’s overall entertaining and addictive nature kept me going, but other than that, there isn’t much that is special about this book. However, I still might continue with the series with the hope that it will define itself by branching out on its own more.
-Haven
Musings and Books 