A review by rytheguy19
Icefire by Chris d'Lacey

4.0

Much like the previous book in the series, this book is good but not fantastic. It doesn't do anything narratively wrong to make it hard to read, but it also doesn't do anything new or unexpected to make it exceptional. Now, in terms of how the book feels, it does feel like a more classically driven story, with it introducing an actual villain, Gwilanna, and an obvious conflict that stems from her presence. with this inclusion the story feels a bit more driven and focused than the last book, which had an almost slice of life kind of feeling to it. Besides the inclusion of a villain and a stronger conflict, this book also has more scenes of action, allowing it to better grip your attention, as well as a natural expansion of the lore and worldbuilding established in the last book, with the stuff involving the Inuit mythology and the polar bears.

Overall, while this book is about on the same level of quality as the previous book, it does feel a bit more narratively solid and attention grabbing. This one is still a solid choice for young readers, but as with the last story, you may need to be looking for something more simple in order to get anything out of it as an older reader, but there's nothing wrong about that.