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cozycat's review against another edition
4.0
What a fascinating story this book kept me back coming back for more
smartie_5748's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent and Kidnapping
Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, War, and Forced institutionalization
haaayls's review against another edition
4.0
I was pretty nervous about reading this because it’s middle grade, but holy crap I LOVED it. The first few chapters were slow, which made me nervous about the rest of the book, but I love Kaufman’s writing so I knew I had to keep reading and I am so glad I did. Basically, wolves, YES, dragons, YES, magic, YES, shapeshifting, YES!!!
In Ice Wolves, we follow twins Anders and Rayna, who are more different than you could ever imagine. They live on the street and rely on each other for everything. One day, Anders and Rayna are going about their usual pickpocketing, amongst the crowd who are watching children being tested for Wolf Blood, where if they’re successful, join Ulfar Academy and train to join the Wolf Guard. Its known that the ice wolves and scorch dragons have been enemies and their behaviour is now escalating to war. The twins get caught up, and find themselves being tested for Wolf Blood as well. Anders turns into an ice wolf, while his sister becomes a scorch dragon. Rayna has no choice but to flee, while Anders makes the difficult decision of joining Ulfar Academy to learn how to kill dragons and protect the humans.
At Ulfar, Anders is faced with difficult challenges. He finds some things harder than the other ice wolves. He’s concerned about his and Rayna’s connection, and he is desperate to locate his sister. Anders doesn’t believe the stories of dragons he is told at Ulfar, and is sure there is more to the story. Him and his new friend escape the school to find Rayna, where they discover more about the “enemy”. Anders grew an incredible amount throughout this journey. Its not only a cool story about Ice Wolves and Scorch Dragons, but also showed that family will always be family, no matter what. It also showed that even those who rely on other people for lots of help, can still grow and develop independence at any age. Anders and his sister haven’t been separated for years, which made it hard for him, but he fought through lots of challenges, and worked out how to take care of himself.
Kaufman’s writing is very unique! For a middle grade novel, it was a bit hard reading it as an adult, but I still found myself sucked in. The fantasy elements combined with her descriptive writing, created amazing visuals. Kaufman describes everything so clearly, even when the ice wolves or scorch dragons are transforming. The characters were really cute, and perfect for middle grade level as they’re about the same age as most readers of this book would be!
I recommend this to anyone! If you love dragons, wolves and fantasy, you’ll probably enjoy this at some level. Keep in mind its a young fantasy novel, but I think if you want something easy and fun to read, this is it! I’m VERY excited for Scorch Dragons 😁
In Ice Wolves, we follow twins Anders and Rayna, who are more different than you could ever imagine. They live on the street and rely on each other for everything. One day, Anders and Rayna are going about their usual pickpocketing, amongst the crowd who are watching children being tested for Wolf Blood, where if they’re successful, join Ulfar Academy and train to join the Wolf Guard. Its known that the ice wolves and scorch dragons have been enemies and their behaviour is now escalating to war. The twins get caught up, and find themselves being tested for Wolf Blood as well. Anders turns into an ice wolf, while his sister becomes a scorch dragon. Rayna has no choice but to flee, while Anders makes the difficult decision of joining Ulfar Academy to learn how to kill dragons and protect the humans.
At Ulfar, Anders is faced with difficult challenges. He finds some things harder than the other ice wolves. He’s concerned about his and Rayna’s connection, and he is desperate to locate his sister. Anders doesn’t believe the stories of dragons he is told at Ulfar, and is sure there is more to the story. Him and his new friend escape the school to find Rayna, where they discover more about the “enemy”. Anders grew an incredible amount throughout this journey. Its not only a cool story about Ice Wolves and Scorch Dragons, but also showed that family will always be family, no matter what. It also showed that even those who rely on other people for lots of help, can still grow and develop independence at any age. Anders and his sister haven’t been separated for years, which made it hard for him, but he fought through lots of challenges, and worked out how to take care of himself.
Kaufman’s writing is very unique! For a middle grade novel, it was a bit hard reading it as an adult, but I still found myself sucked in. The fantasy elements combined with her descriptive writing, created amazing visuals. Kaufman describes everything so clearly, even when the ice wolves or scorch dragons are transforming. The characters were really cute, and perfect for middle grade level as they’re about the same age as most readers of this book would be!
I recommend this to anyone! If you love dragons, wolves and fantasy, you’ll probably enjoy this at some level. Keep in mind its a young fantasy novel, but I think if you want something easy and fun to read, this is it! I’m VERY excited for Scorch Dragons 😁
bronwynheeley's review against another edition
PAUSED @ 35%
Right at this moment I’m spending it much time heavily sighing over the content.
I just can’t face having to go through the first day at the school (and it’s a part of a story I love)
Anders is annoying as hell, I just can’t put up with him right now.
Hope to get back to this, because now is def not the time
Right at this moment I’m spending it much time heavily sighing over the content.
I just can’t face having to go through the first day at the school (and it’s a part of a story I love)
Anders is annoying as hell, I just can’t put up with him right now.
Hope to get back to this, because now is def not the time
sundragonheartt's review against another edition
3.0
The writing is a bit too dumbed down for my taste, and the plot is cliche. I did enjoy the world, though admittedly that’s largely due to personal taste; Put wolves and dragons in something, I’m pretty much guaranteed to like it. I wish this book had been around in middle school when I was looking for books about werewolves that didn’t have loads of smut in them. I think I really would’ve liked it back then. As an older reader, it’s pretty forgettable.
neglet's review against another edition
A fun adventure with lots of conflict, both personal and social, but you better be prepared to get the sequel immediately, because it doesn’t really wrap up the story at all. Kids looking for series fiction should enjoy this.
jmbowe92's review against another edition
4.0
I picked this up because I thought it would be a fun winter read. It was that, and even more. I didn't expect a middle grade to be this insightful. Ice Wolves has the beginnings of a lot of good tropes and character arcs: coming of age, found family, making difficult choices, etc. Also I will always go for a story about shape shifting into a wolf. It ended on a cliffhanger. I will have to pick up the next one soon.
mwbuell's review against another edition
3.0
Middle grade chapter book - interesting setting. Wolves and dragons with ancient history/rivalry
afkehuldrike's review
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0