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3.65 AVERAGE
3.65 AVERAGE
SPOILERS THROUGHOUT. DO NOT READ UNLESS YOU'VE ALREADY READ THIS BOOK.
I am not a fan of Frostfire. There are a few things about it that bothered me, and though those things did not inspire a fiery hatred, they did make me want to stop reading the book.
First of all, Amanda Hocking made it her duty to bring back comeuppance. There were random, really strange words that nobody uses anymore, interspersed throughout her writing. In the beginning while I was discovering the world and adjusting to the story it was tolerable and even sort of quirky, but after a while it began to interrupt the flow of the book. I would be reading, peacefully for a few moments when all of a sudden I was assaulted by the word comeuppance! In the middle of a piece of dialogue! So then I continue, to see if anybody laughs at her for saying such a strange and antiquated word, but nobody does. The problem wasn't even the made up words from their world, just the silly ones from ours.
A similar issue to the last one was the frequent awkward sentences. There were a few instances when I was aggravated by the wording of a statement, usually because of the grammar, or just how downright blatantly somebody said something. For example, when Bryn was reassuring Her charge of his dancing skills, she told him he was doing good, not well. Also when Tilda announced she was pregnant, she just flat out said it in front of a room of trackers she may or may not have known, not to mention the king.
Now I will write about the more creativity dependent factors of the story. I do not mind Bryn. She's smart, she's strong, she can handle herself in a tough situation. Good heroine material, but why doesn't she have any special powers because of being a mix between the two races? I understand that not getting any of the special troll powers makes her an underdog, but because she is a combination of two of the more specialized tribes, should she not have a new, unique power from everyone else? A power that could make her stand out more form the rest of the Kanin?
Also her rage towards Konstantin. It's not valid. Sure he attacked her dad, sure he stabbed her arm, but nobody died. Konstantin didn't kill her or the Chancellor and literally nothing changed about her situation or the kingdom after he got away. This doesn't particularly make sense because of her background of idolizing him either. Usually in a situation like that, she would be disappointed and confused as to why he would betray his kingdom and question her loyalty as well. Regardless of any of this, she ends up changing her mind anyway. Several times.
Next, her relationship with Ridley is troubling and very annoying. Ridley is a nice guy, he comforts her and kisses her and he supports her revenge. Why does she not date him? She is completely in denial and her excuse of professionalism is pathetic. It's never stopped anyone before.
I don't like Bryn's friends either. Tilda and Ember are virtually indistinguishable. I could never remember which one was which and they are too similar to bother keeping track of. They only became definable once one of them got pregnant because I knew the other was a lesbian. They never provided any comfort for Bryn, they failed at dating advice and all they do is work out with each other.
Also, the secondary characters had mood swings and didn't stay consistent. The King and Queen are prime examples. So are Linus, Astrid and Kasper.
Another thing that doesn't make sense but also doesn't effect my opinion, what in the world does the title have to do with the book? I don't get it. Frostfire. I understand that it is cold in Canada, so that explains the frost, but what is the fire all about? If you know, feel free to spread the news.
To interrupt my tirade, not all of it was bad. There were some shining points that made me forget about the rest of the faults, namely, the awesome world that they live in. I love the monarchy. I love the different tribes and their awesome Swedish names. I put them into Google Translate so that I could pronounce them in my head properly and give them the respect that they deserve. The differences between Skojare, Trylle, Omte and Kanin make them incredibly interesting to delve into and belong to for a while.
Generally speaking, it wasn't a terrible book. It was just poor writing and character development that made me not want to finish, but I did anyway and I don't regret that.
I am not a fan of Frostfire. There are a few things about it that bothered me, and though those things did not inspire a fiery hatred, they did make me want to stop reading the book.
First of all, Amanda Hocking made it her duty to bring back comeuppance. There were random, really strange words that nobody uses anymore, interspersed throughout her writing. In the beginning while I was discovering the world and adjusting to the story it was tolerable and even sort of quirky, but after a while it began to interrupt the flow of the book. I would be reading, peacefully for a few moments when all of a sudden I was assaulted by the word comeuppance! In the middle of a piece of dialogue! So then I continue, to see if anybody laughs at her for saying such a strange and antiquated word, but nobody does. The problem wasn't even the made up words from their world, just the silly ones from ours.
A similar issue to the last one was the frequent awkward sentences. There were a few instances when I was aggravated by the wording of a statement, usually because of the grammar, or just how downright blatantly somebody said something. For example, when Bryn was reassuring Her charge of his dancing skills, she told him he was doing good, not well. Also when Tilda announced she was pregnant, she just flat out said it in front of a room of trackers she may or may not have known, not to mention the king.
Now I will write about the more creativity dependent factors of the story. I do not mind Bryn. She's smart, she's strong, she can handle herself in a tough situation. Good heroine material, but why doesn't she have any special powers because of being a mix between the two races? I understand that not getting any of the special troll powers makes her an underdog, but because she is a combination of two of the more specialized tribes, should she not have a new, unique power from everyone else? A power that could make her stand out more form the rest of the Kanin?
Also her rage towards Konstantin. It's not valid. Sure he attacked her dad, sure he stabbed her arm, but nobody died. Konstantin didn't kill her or the Chancellor and literally nothing changed about her situation or the kingdom after he got away. This doesn't particularly make sense because of her background of idolizing him either. Usually in a situation like that, she would be disappointed and confused as to why he would betray his kingdom and question her loyalty as well. Regardless of any of this, she ends up changing her mind anyway. Several times.
Next, her relationship with Ridley is troubling and very annoying. Ridley is a nice guy, he comforts her and kisses her and he supports her revenge. Why does she not date him? She is completely in denial and her excuse of professionalism is pathetic. It's never stopped anyone before.
I don't like Bryn's friends either. Tilda and Ember are virtually indistinguishable. I could never remember which one was which and they are too similar to bother keeping track of. They only became definable once one of them got pregnant because I knew the other was a lesbian. They never provided any comfort for Bryn, they failed at dating advice and all they do is work out with each other.
Also, the secondary characters had mood swings and didn't stay consistent. The King and Queen are prime examples. So are Linus, Astrid and Kasper.
Another thing that doesn't make sense but also doesn't effect my opinion, what in the world does the title have to do with the book? I don't get it. Frostfire. I understand that it is cold in Canada, so that explains the frost, but what is the fire all about? If you know, feel free to spread the news.
To interrupt my tirade, not all of it was bad. There were some shining points that made me forget about the rest of the faults, namely, the awesome world that they live in. I love the monarchy. I love the different tribes and their awesome Swedish names. I put them into Google Translate so that I could pronounce them in my head properly and give them the respect that they deserve. The differences between Skojare, Trylle, Omte and Kanin make them incredibly interesting to delve into and belong to for a while.
Generally speaking, it wasn't a terrible book. It was just poor writing and character development that made me not want to finish, but I did anyway and I don't regret that.
This was a book that I had expected to like, and I am so glad that I ended up liking it. It has been a long time since I shelved this on my tbr, so I really could not remember what it was about, just that I wanted to read it.
This book has a really slow romance with a ton of setbacks, and it really drove me crazy, but I did enjoy it. And hopefully, that means that things will pick up in the second book.
This book has a really slow romance with a ton of setbacks, and it really drove me crazy, but I did enjoy it. And hopefully, that means that things will pick up in the second book.
I’ve heard a lot about Amanda Hocking in the last few years but had never gotten around to her books. I chose Frostfire on a whim, but after doing a bit more research online, it looks like there are quite a lot of books in a few different series, some of which take place in the same world. So I’m not sure if Frostfire was intended to be the introductory book for this world, but it seemed to be fine as I read it.
Honestly, the first thing that confused me in this book was the fact that they were trolls. Trolls? So confused. I almost wish that she had just made up a new type of creature that the Kanin, Trylle, etc all belonged to. Because her description of these clans goes against pretty much all troll lore that I have ever read.
Putting semantics aside, however, the different clans were interesting and the premise of changelings was unique. The love triangle was tolerable even if it was predictable. The characters were generally not that developed. But the world-building, the mystery, and the writing style were all good.
Overall, Bryn was a pretty basic (and sometimes bland) main character, falling into the common trope of the “overeager-out-to-prove-something-because-I’m-different” girl. In addition, she had that same stupidity that I see a lot in young adult fantasy where (despite being 14-16 years old) everything that happens is her fault and it is up to her to fix it. If I’m being truthful, I really couldn’t believe that she was smart enough (or strong enough) to be good at her job. She was just too naïve and impulsive.
Lastly, the ending was really just nonexistent. Basically, it seemed that Hocking was just cutting up a long manuscript choosing which chapters were going in one book versus the next. I know it is a trilogy but what happened to narrative structure?! We need a bit of a climax-resolution. At least a little bit!
Honestly, the first thing that confused me in this book was the fact that they were trolls. Trolls? So confused. I almost wish that she had just made up a new type of creature that the Kanin, Trylle, etc all belonged to. Because her description of these clans goes against pretty much all troll lore that I have ever read.
Putting semantics aside, however, the different clans were interesting and the premise of changelings was unique. The love triangle was tolerable even if it was predictable. The characters were generally not that developed. But the world-building, the mystery, and the writing style were all good.
Overall, Bryn was a pretty basic (and sometimes bland) main character, falling into the common trope of the “overeager-out-to-prove-something-because-I’m-different” girl. In addition, she had that same stupidity that I see a lot in young adult fantasy where (despite being 14-16 years old) everything that happens is her fault and it is up to her to fix it. If I’m being truthful, I really couldn’t believe that she was smart enough (or strong enough) to be good at her job. She was just too naïve and impulsive.
Lastly, the ending was really just nonexistent. Basically, it seemed that Hocking was just cutting up a long manuscript choosing which chapters were going in one book versus the next. I know it is a trilogy but what happened to narrative structure?! We need a bit of a climax-resolution. At least a little bit!
Overall, this was just okay. I was expecting to like it a lot more than I did.
The prologue drew me into the story and was very exciting, but it lost momentum somewhere around a third of the way through. There was a lot of talking/explaining and not a lot of action.
I didn't particularly care for Bryn as a character. For a 19/20 year old, she seemed really immature. I didn't like the way she treated her supposed best friend Tilda. She also talked about her devotion to her job all the time. It got a little repetitive. She didn't treat her parents very well. She was very disrespectful.
The romance - if that's what you want to call it - was fairly weak. I didn't see a connection between the two of them at all and it seemed to come out of nowhere.
Also - I don't like books that raise a whole bunch of questions and answer none of them as a ploy to get you to keep reading.
I probably will not continue this series.
The prologue drew me into the story and was very exciting, but it lost momentum somewhere around a third of the way through. There was a lot of talking/explaining and not a lot of action.
I didn't particularly care for Bryn as a character. For a 19/20 year old, she seemed really immature. I didn't like the way she treated her supposed best friend Tilda. She also talked about her devotion to her job all the time. It got a little repetitive. She didn't treat her parents very well. She was very disrespectful.
The romance - if that's what you want to call it - was fairly weak. I didn't see a connection between the two of them at all and it seemed to come out of nowhere.
Also - I don't like books that raise a whole bunch of questions and answer none of them as a ploy to get you to keep reading.
I probably will not continue this series.
not as good as I remember it being in 2015, but still very good! excited to finally get to finish the series
Really enjoyed reading this book again, getting to know this new set of characters! Can't wait to reread more! Also can't believe I read this exactly 5 years apart-I didn't plan on it or notice it until now!
*First Read April 30th, 2015*
Fantastic book! Loved having the trolls again, and learning more about them! For some reason, I thought that this was going to star Finn's sister, not the best friend of Finn's sister! So good, can't wait for more!
*First Read April 30th, 2015*
Fantastic book! Loved having the trolls again, and learning more about them! For some reason, I thought that this was going to star Finn's sister, not the best friend of Finn's sister! So good, can't wait for more!
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Diverse cast of characters:
No
This was a light fantasy book that didn't blow me away, but was enjoyable nonetheless.
This is one of the first books I ever read that properly got me into reading. It is absolutely amazing and so are the next two books. The character development makes your heart ache. This series takes you to new places even within our familiar world. The gentle addition of unfamiliar language and unique names add to the magical feeling this book provides. The written action is amazing and vivid, but easy to follow at the same time. Definitely recommend.
I thought I missed the Trylle world. Although as it turns out, I more missed the characters than the actual world.