Book Faery: Bitter Frost by Kailin Gow

A Note:

6/2/13

I once told myself: IF I am accepted into grad school, this blog would no longer be updated. As it turns out, in April, I received news of my acceptance for the Fall 2013 semester, where I will attain a Master's degree of Science in Nutrition.

Running a blog, as many of you may already know, is a demanding side job once the excitement wears off. And once I fell out of the blogging community's loop (have you SEEN how many blogs there are now? Wow!), it was like the kiss of death. Despite my best efforts, I couldn't get into a blogging routine once this happened due to the disconnect I felt from the community.

So I took a break. I struggled with the loss and with missing my blog. And then I realized I didn't have to run Book Faery to still be a book reviewer; I could read my books and post reviews online. I'm still a book review blogger, just not in the traditional sense.

I'll still be online. You can chat with me on Twitter, where I'll be posting links to my reviews and talking books. I'll also be posting links to nutrition articles. And if you'd like to connect with me where I guarantee I will post reviews, just add me as a friend on Goodreads.

So that's all, folks! It's been a fun and amazing journey, and I thank you all for listening to my thoughts about books. I hope we all can keep in touch elsewhere :)

Tori

Monday, July 26, 2010

Bitter Frost by Kailin Gow

All her life, Breena had always dreamed about fairies as though she lived among them...beautiful fairies living among mortals and living in Feyland. In her dreams, he was always there the breathtakingly handsome but dangerous Winter Prince, Kian, who is her intended. When Breena turns sixteen, she begins seeing fairies and other creatures mortals don t see. Her best friend Logan, suddenly acts very protective. Then she sees Kian, who seems intent on finding her and carrying her off to Feyland. That's fine and all, but for the fact that humans rarely survive a trip to Feyland, a kiss from a fairy generally means death to the human unless that human has fairy blood in them or is very strong, and although Kian seemed to be her intended, he seems to hate her and wants her dead.

Obtained: Publisher
Genre: YA
Series:
1. Bitter Frost

My Rating:

My Opinion:
Where to begin? Throughout the entire start of the story, there were numerous similarities betwixt Bitter Frost and Julie Kagawa's The Iron King. Unlike the latter, the former's heroine did not leave me as frustrated. That's not to say I was not frustrated, for both books succeeded in doing that at one point, but more on that later in the review.

I absolutely adored the start. These two authors definitely have a knack for writing extraordinary descriptions that suck me straight into their worlds. Bitter Frost's start was strong. Delightful. Cute. I loved Logan. I was intrigued by the dreams and our little visitor, Kian. I began to lick my lips in anticipation for the inevitable love triangle (yes, despite my occassional hate for love triangles in YAs, I still was excited for this one). In some ways, I loved the beginning of this novel so much more.

Now some of you might be rolling your eyes with these comparisons. Let me just say this: it wasn't intentional for compare the two; it just happened. Both are faerie novels, both have a heroine in high school. Both have royalty in their blood. Both have an ice prince, and a more lighthearted best friend. It was bound to happen.

Once these two books, however, dispense their heroines into the world of the fae, that is where we begin to see major differences. In fact, even the reasons for entering the world of the fae are different. I felt that Bitter Frost adopts more of a fairy tale-esque feel to the novel at this point. Suddenly, the heroine--who was a typical high school reject--transforms into an elegant, refined princess. Love begins to blossom. There is a tragic death. An evil stepmother (or two) makes life hell. It began to feel surreal.

What I didn't like as much? Once Bitter Frost picks up speed, I feel the story adopts more of a rushed feeling to it. I suddenly went from a pleasant ride to being dragged along in a race. The more I struggled to slow down, the faster it went. I also did not enjoy the fact that our heroine transforms from a "normal" teenager into this faerie princess. The change in her speech and mannerisms was just too abrupt and weird for me.

Word of warning: the ending is a bit of a cliffhanger. If you have an aversion to cliffhangers... then this might leave you frustrated. Sometimes I enjoy them because they leave me dying for more. Sometimes I detest them because I want to know what happens next so badly, I think I will explode. This ending left me slightly confused... while also ending on such a note that I'm pleasantly salivating for more.

If you are a fan of faeries, I believe you will enjoy this novel. If you enjoy novels that have a fairy tale feel to them, you too, will enjoy this novel. As for me? I'm happily anticipating the second book.