Ashley Stoyanoff's Review: Frost (The Forest Chronicles #1)

★ Ashley Stoyanoff's Review ★

Frost (Frost Chronicles 1#) by Kate Avery Ellison. 

Title: Frost (The Frost Chronicles #1)

Author: Kate Avery Ellison

Number of Pages: 195

Publication Information: Kate Avery Ellison (March 2012)

Genre: YA, Fantasy

Shelf: Books I Bought

Rating: ★★★

Summary from Goodreads

In the icy, monster-plagued world of the Frost, one wrong move and a person could end up dead—and Lia Weaver knows this better than anyone. After monsters kill her parents, she must keep the family farm running despite the freezing cold and threat of monster attacks or risk losing her siblings to reassignment by the village Elders. With dangers on all sides and failure just one wrong step away, she can’t afford to let her emotions lead her astray. So when her sister finds a fugitive bleeding to death in the forest—a young stranger named Gabe—Lia surprises herself and does the unthinkable.

She saves his life.

Giving shelter to the fugitive could get her in trouble. The Elders have always described the advanced society of people beyond the Frost, the “Farthers,” as ruthless and cruel. But Lia is startled to find that Gabe is empathetic and intelligent…and handsome. She might even be falling in love with him.
But time is running out. The monsters from the forest circle the farm at night. The village leader is starting to ask questions. Farther soldiers are searching for Gabe. Lia must locate a secret organization called the Thorns to help Gabe escape to safety, but every move she makes puts her in more danger.
Is compassion—and love—worth the risk?

My Review

Frost was a quick and entertaining read with interesting creatures and magical elements.  It’s clear that Ellison has a creative mind, and she really shows this with her writing.

The plot was definitely my favorite part of this book.  Although simple, it was captivating.  Especially the ending which has me burning with curiosity. There is still a lot to be resolved, and I need the answers.  I will be continuing on to see how this story unfolds.

There were some places that I had difficulty with. While reading, I got the feeling that some important details were edited out. For example, the origin of the village. Knowing more probably would have helped me understand or accept why these people settled in a place that was surrounded by monstrous creatures. We know that they choose to settle and isolate themselves, but why? Hopefully, this will be explored more in the second book, because as it is now I’m still scratching my head on the why?

The characters and back stories were fairly well-developed, and even though I really didn’t care for the main character, Lia, I still found myself invested in her life. On the other hand, Gabe the love interest, I really liked. He had a bit more mystery to him, which of course made him more interesting.  However, even though they were well developed they were both kind of predicable and lacking complexity.

Although I had a few negatives about this book, I still enjoyed it. If you are looking for a quick read with a heart-stopping ending, Frost by Kate Avery Ellison is worth picking up.

Goodreads: Here

Author Website: Here

Purchase: Here