Title: FrostbiteAuthor: Richelle Mead
Genre: Fiction, Paranormal, YA
Pub Date: April 2008, Penguin Group
Trade Paperback, 327 pages
Synopsis
Rose loves Dimitri, Dimitri might love Tasha, and Mason would die to be with Rose...
It's winter break at St. Vladimir's, but Rose is feeling anything but festive. A massive Strigoi attack has put the school on high alert, and now the Academy's crawling with Guardians—including Rose's hard-hitting mother, Janine Hathaway. And if hand to hand combat with her mom wasn't bad enough, Rose's tutor Dimitri has his eye on someone else, her friend Mason's got a huge crush on her, and Rose keeps getting stuck in Lissa's head while she's making out with her boyfriend, Christian! The Strigoi are closing in, and the Academy's not taking any risks....This year, St. Vlad's annual holiday ski trip is mandatory.
But the glittering winter landscape and the posh Idaho resort only create the illusion of safety. When three friends run away in an offensive move against the deadly Strigoi, Rose must join forces with Christian to rescue them. But heroism rarely comes without a price...
My Thoughts
OK, I must admit it--I found this book frustrating. BUT... The frustrating aspects did serve a point, and I'm trying to decide if that makes it even more frustrating. :-) To clarify: Richelle is amazingly immature at times and I found myself mentally screaming at her for doing and saying some of the stupid things she did. But as I've already said, that made sense, given the kind of person she's supposed to be--obviously Mead did a great job writing her. Actually, Mead does a great job writing all of the characters, and I was glad to see some new ones introduced in Frostbite: namely, Janine Hathaway and Adrian Ivashkov. It is very interesting (and sometimes frustrating) to see Rose's relationship with her mother develop. And Adrian proves to be an interesting addition to the cast, as well, given that he's another person whose specialty is the spirit, and not one of the usual earthly elements...
A good portion of the book is devoted to relationships--Rose's in particular (with Mason, her mother, Dmitri), but also the growing relationship between Lissa and Christian. These relationships actually made for an interesting read a lot of the time, but I also found myself thinking, will you get to the point already? What is supposed to be going on in this book? Finally, as I reached the last third of the story, things started falling into place and really picking up speed. As I sit here and type this, I know I enjoyed the book and have gained even more appreciation for the frustration Read caused in me with Frostbite. Obviously, if I can get that invested in a story that has a tendency to drive me crazy, it must be pretty good. And in the end, much of it really was wrapped up and tied up snugly... leaving just enough to leave you dying to know what was going to happen next, but satisfied that at least some things were resolved.
So needless, to say, I'll be starting Shadow Kiss tonight (might as well knock out all three books now) and will wait anxiously for Blood Promise, due out in August.
My rating:
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Posts
When you reach the end of Shadow Kiss...it's going to be a whole other story! August can't come soon enough. Enjoy!
ReplyDeleteAnother good review & if Shadow Kissed is even better again, obviously I've got to continue. I have Frostbite on audio so I'd better get to it LOL
ReplyDeleteAnother set of books I want to read. I think I shall just come and decamp outside your door. Only joking - but you are finding lots of books that I now want to read. Haven't forgotten the recipe - been a bit poorly, so had to cut back on computer time. Will try and email later today.
ReplyDeleteYou are on a ROLL with this Vampire Academy series!
ReplyDeleteYou're really making me want to take a closer look at these. YOu know I always find the second one in the series to be slower and then it'll pick up again.
ReplyDelete