Tuesday 14 July 2015

Frostfire by Amanda Hocking

Review -

As I have said many times before, Amanda Hocking is one of my favourite authors, with the trylle trilogy being the first books I read of hers.  So when I heard that this was coming out earlier on in the year, I was more than excited to return to a familiar world.  But for some unknown reason, despite Frostfire being first released in January, it has taken me until now to so much as pick it up and read an author who I know will keep me hooked.

One of the key reasons why I was drawn into this book had to be how fast paced it was.  Particularly through the beginning of the book, there was a large amount happening, with alot of action taking place in those first few chapters, which ended up causing me to turn page after page without putting it down.  It was quick to introduce the key plot points and didn't waste time in useless or pointless information.  

Another aspect that I really enjoyed was the mystery aspect that provided the main storyline for the book.  I liked how vague the reasons for the kidnapping were and enjoyed trying to figure out for myself why certain things happened.  This also lead me, strangely, to like the character of Konstantin as I always felt as though there was a reason for his actions and that he wasn't as bad as he first looked.  

Speaking of characters, I did like many of the characters in this book, especially Tilda and Ember.  I loved how Tilda stood up for herself and how Ember stood up for her friends - overall I just loved the trios friendship, even if it wasn't shown a huge deal.  However, saying that, one character I was not hugely keen on was Ridley.  I found him slightly arrogant and really got on my nerves particularly towards the end of the book, so much so that I was almost entirely against any romance (or hope of it) between him and Bryn;  I just couldn't like him!

Keeping with characters, I couldn't write a review without mentioning the small involvement of old characters in this book.  I loved how Hocking gave Ember a role in this novel, something which also allowed her brother (Finn) to make an appearance, even if it took me a little too long to realize the relation... Saying this, I did also like how the book wasn't overridden with old characters and how any who were mentioned or involved actually had a good reason to be there and weren't just there for the sake of it.   

Finally, I have to say that I have extremely mixed feelings on the ending of this one.  Personally, the last 20 pages or so felt really rushed, as alot of fairly major incidents happened in such a short space of time, with the book just seemingly to want to end instead of wanting to provide a good ending.  I also found it kind of anti-climatic, possibly due to the speed of it, and I kinda wish that the book was longer just to make the ending more satisfying.  

But all in all, I did really enjoy this book, with all its twist and turns and sub-plots adding even more to it.  It's safe that I will be picking up the second book really soon! 

Favourite :

Scene - Tove and Bryn confronting and capturing Konstantin and Bent
Quote - no notable ones - sorry! 
Character - Tilda

Relate a: 

Song - Tiptoe by Imagine Dragons 
Other Book - Switched (because if you liked Frostfire, then this one is a must-read)