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A review by rafafinhass
The Frost Queen's Blade by Meg Smitherman
adventurous
dark
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
I think Meg Smitherman has great writing. She knows how to create interesting characters and create tension between the romantic couple. Rune and Elma are true enemies to lovers. They really want to kill each other at the beginning.
However, I think that, although the reading was good in certain aspects, it lacked a lot of world building and character development for A Frost Queen's Blade to be a 5-star read for me.
I'll talk about a lot of things that frustrated me in the book, but honestly, I don't think it's a terrible read. But the frustration of knowing that Meg writes so well and didn't put all her potential into these pages made me very sad with this reading.
I really like the ideas about the kingdoms presented in the book, but I feel like none of them were very well explored, and that has a lot to do with the characters.
I would have liked to have seen a lot more of Elma's life so I could truly connect with her. Throughout the book, we don't get to know much about her and her relationship with the characters. She says a lot, but we never see it.
I wish I had seen her adapt to a kingdom so different after she was taken from the kingdom of her childhood.
I wish I had seen her relationship with her uncle, with Cora, with everyone around her before believing what she says about them.
This lack of connection between the main character and the rest of the universe she is a part of really suspended my belief in everything she said. I wasn't surprised by the betrayals in the book because we never see details of Elma's interpersonal relationships. I couldn't really grasp the sentiment between her and the people around her.
If I don't really care about her maid, could I really trust her?
The book talks a lot about the Volta family name, the wickedness of Elma's father, even her mother, but it's not possible to 100% connect everything the characters say because we never see anything happening.
If I had seen the way Elma was raised, maybe I would have better understood her desperate situation when she became queen, but nothing is shown. There's nothing on the pages that make me understand her deep hatred and fear of becoming queen.
And Elma herself is an extremely frustrating character. She makes the worst possible decisions and refuses to look at the truth that is right in front of her. Rune seems to be the only reasonable person in the entire book. He tells her several times about what is happening, and she ignores it because she is the queen, and her word is law. She does nothing to actually prove that.
She makes decisions that serve her purpose of pacifism, but that does not corroborate the idea that she is wise. Honestly, she gives her enemies everything they need on a silver platter.
She knows they are ruthless, but her hope of wanting to change them with words hurts her character more than it helps. I don't think this girl knows when to shut up and use the information she has for her advantage.
There is also a contrast in the characters' ideals, especially Elma's, since we spend 100% of the book's time in her head. I don't feel like I really know what she wants.
One moment, Elma wants to kill everyone. The next, she wants to be peaceful. One moment, she wants to be a good queen. The next, she doesn't even want to be queen. One moment, she trusts Rune. The next, she doesn't trust him anymore (and this happens at the 90% mark in the book, when I thought her trust in him was well established).
I finished reading the book not knowing if the Voltas' bloodlust is literal or just a metaphor the author uses to describe the evil of Elma's family. I also don't really understand why she's so horny for Rune's blood.
It's very stressful to be in the head of someone who is constantly on the verge of becoming someone with an active role.
I spent the entire book waiting for Elma to have a moment of female rage and basically wake up. She never does.
She seems to have her foot in the door all the time, but she always withdraws and becomes a character who just waits for things to happen.
In addition, I feel that Rune was an extremely charismatic character but very poorly used.
The difference I felt in him between being just Elma's bodyguard and being the prince of the rival kingdom is absurd.
The role he takes on after they go to Slödava is very different from the cunning and much more lethal character he presents as an assassin.
I understand that he was undercover, but I was very disappointed with how he turned out to be a nice guy and more of a prince.
All the cleverness he was building before was thrown aside.
Other plot holes frustrated me.
The magic in the book is completely misused. I feel like it should have been spread throughout the story and progressed as Elma finds herself as queen (but honestly, she never finds herself until 96% of the book, so it makes sense that there isn't any magic in the rest).
We only see Rime Ice at the end. It seemed like Elma's magic came out of nowhere and wasn't even for her. It was for Rune.
This brings up another point: why was her uncle able to use this magic so quickly if the character didn't even know about its existence and took YEARS to use it?
Another thing: why didn't the enemy kingdom go after the prince while he was imprisoned? If the queen knew he was there, why wouldn't she want to save her own son?
I understand that her kingdom is good, that it's much better than Rothen, but what would stop her from going to war for her own captured heir?
Even if they didn't want to go there physically, we never heard a word from them throughout the book.
Anyway, I was a little disappointed with the story. It's not a horrible read, and I honestly think it's ok of you don't mind the lack of worldbuilding, but I expected more from the same person who wrote Thrum.
I know Smitherman writes much better than this.
However, I think that, although the reading was good in certain aspects, it lacked a lot of world building and character development for A Frost Queen's Blade to be a 5-star read for me.
I'll talk about a lot of things that frustrated me in the book, but honestly, I don't think it's a terrible read. But the frustration of knowing that Meg writes so well and didn't put all her potential into these pages made me very sad with this reading.
I really like the ideas about the kingdoms presented in the book, but I feel like none of them were very well explored, and that has a lot to do with the characters.
I would have liked to have seen a lot more of Elma's life so I could truly connect with her. Throughout the book, we don't get to know much about her and her relationship with the characters. She says a lot, but we never see it.
I wish I had seen her adapt to a kingdom so different after she was taken from the kingdom of her childhood.
I wish I had seen her relationship with her uncle, with Cora, with everyone around her before believing what she says about them.
This lack of connection between the main character and the rest of the universe she is a part of really suspended my belief in everything she said. I wasn't surprised by the betrayals in the book because we never see details of Elma's interpersonal relationships. I couldn't really grasp the sentiment between her and the people around her.
The book talks a lot about the Volta family name, the wickedness of Elma's father, even her mother, but it's not possible to 100% connect everything the characters say because we never see anything happening.
If I had seen the way Elma was raised, maybe I would have better understood her desperate situation when she became queen, but nothing is shown. There's nothing on the pages that make me understand her deep hatred and fear of becoming queen.
And Elma herself is an extremely frustrating character. She makes the worst possible decisions and refuses to look at the truth that is right in front of her. Rune seems to be the only reasonable person in the entire book. He tells her several times about what is happening, and she ignores it because she is the queen, and her word is law. She does nothing to actually prove that.
She makes decisions that serve her purpose of pacifism, but that does not corroborate the idea that she is wise. Honestly, she gives her enemies everything they need on a silver platter.
She knows they are ruthless, but her hope of wanting to change them with words hurts her character more than it helps. I don't think this girl knows when to shut up and use the information she has for her advantage.
There is also a contrast in the characters' ideals, especially Elma's, since we spend 100% of the book's time in her head. I don't feel like I really know what she wants.
One moment, Elma wants to kill everyone. The next, she wants to be peaceful. One moment, she wants to be a good queen. The next, she doesn't even want to be queen. One moment, she trusts Rune. The next, she doesn't trust him anymore (and this happens at the 90% mark in the book, when I thought her trust in him was well established).
I finished reading the book not knowing if the Voltas' bloodlust is literal or just a metaphor the author uses to describe the evil of Elma's family. I also don't really understand why she's so horny for Rune's blood.
It's very stressful to be in the head of someone who is constantly on the verge of becoming someone with an active role.
I spent the entire book waiting for Elma to have a moment of female rage and basically wake up. She never does.
She seems to have her foot in the door all the time, but she always withdraws and becomes a character who just waits for things to happen.
In addition, I feel that Rune was an extremely charismatic character but very poorly used.
The role he takes on after they go to Slödava is very different from the cunning and much more lethal character he presents as an assassin.
All the cleverness he was building before was thrown aside.
Other plot holes frustrated me.
The magic in the book is completely misused. I feel like it should have been spread throughout the story and progressed as Elma finds herself as queen (but honestly, she never finds herself until 96% of the book, so it makes sense that there isn't any magic in the rest).
Another thing: why didn't the enemy kingdom go after the prince while he was imprisoned? If the queen knew he was there, why wouldn't she want to save her own son?
I understand that her kingdom is good, that it's much better than Rothen, but what would stop her from going to war for her own captured heir?
Even if they didn't want to go there physically, we never heard a word from them throughout the book.
Anyway, I was a little disappointed with the story. It's not a horrible read, and I honestly think it's ok of you don't mind the lack of worldbuilding, but I expected more from the same person who wrote Thrum.
I know Smitherman writes much better than this.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Sexual content, Violence, Murder