Book Review: Frozen

To avoid confusion this is not a book that the Disney movie, Frozen, was based on. This Frozen is the first book in the new Heart of Dread series by authors Melissa de la Cruz (author of the Blue Bloods and Witches of East End series) and Michael Johnston.

Based in a post apocalyptic world, where Earth is now a frozen wasteland, the novel focuses on Nat, a marked girl who has powers she can’t control. The marked are people, or magical creatures really, that humans fear. Similar to the way in which some people still believe they can “catch” cancer or HIV/AIDS in this dystopia people fear the marked not only for their powers but also because they’re scared they can get the “illness” as well. Therefore the marked are persecuted, either being imprisoned or killed on site.

This is just one of the many things wrong with this futuristic society included but certainly not limited to corrupt government, slavers (involved in a lot of black market trading of people), a large disparity between the rich and poor, amongst many other things.

Hence, why Nat wants to escape to what many call the Blue, a far away place that is rumored to be a paradise where the sun still shines and animals still exist. This leads Nat on an adventure along with a boy named, Wes, and his crew to find the Blue.

I thought this book was great. Though this book has a similar to theme to many books coming out recently it’s also a stand out for many reasons. First, this novel is told in third person narration, thereby giving us insight to both Wes and Nat’s perspective which I found to be interesting. Second, this book adds an air of mystery and fairy tale quality to this otherwise very dystopian novel which I definitely haven’t seen in any of the other dystopian novels I’ve read recently (and I’ve read a lot).

Also, I’m usually weary of books that are written by two authors because sometimes you can tell who’s writing what and the change in the style of the novel can get really annoying, early on. However, this novel ran very smoothly, and I felt like I was only reading one author’s writing, not two.

I’m excited to see where Cruz and Johnston will go with this series. Frozen was filled with action, mystery, and a little bit of romance. Though I’m not completely obsessed with this book/series just yet I think this first book built a good foundation for this series to get even better.

Stars: 4 out of 5

Borrow or Buy: Borrow. I thought this book was good but not one that I’d read over and over again. Better to get it from the library and spend the money on that book you’ve had on your wish list for months instead.