Wednesday 21 September 2016

Blog Tour: Frost Like Night Review





  

Frost Like Night
Author:
Publication Date: September 22nd 2016
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
~A copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review~
Angra is alive, his Decay is spreading—and no one is safe.

Meira will do anything to save her world. With Angra trying to break through her mental defenses, she desperately needs to learn to control her own magic—so when the leader of a mysterious Order from Paisly offers to teach her, she jumps at the chance. But the true solution to stopping the Decay lies in a labyrinth deep beneath the Season Kingdoms. To defeat Angra, Meira will have to enter the labyrinth, destroy the very magic she’s learning to control—and make the biggest sacrifice of all.

Mather will do anything to save his queen. He needs to rally the Children of the Thaw, find Meira—and finally tell her how he really feels. But with a plan of attack that leaves no kingdom unscathed and a major betrayal within their ranks, winning the war—and protecting Meira—slips farther and farther out of reach.

Ceridwen will do anything to save her people. Angra had her brother killed, stole her kingdom, and made her a prisoner. But when she’s freed by an unexpected ally who reveals a shocking truth behind Summer’s slave trade, Ceridwen must take action to save her true love and her kingdom, even if it costs her what little she has left.

As Angra unleashes the Decay on the world, Meira, Mather, and Ceridwen must bring the kingdoms of Primoria together…or lose everything

*Spoiler free, though spoilers from the previous two.


That's it, the end of the Snow Like Ashes trilogy, and I'm sad because I'm not quite ready to let go of the characters and their world. 

Continuing on from where Ice Like Fire ended, we're thrown back in to the story and aftermath of Ice Like Fire, Mather and the Thaw and Jesse, Ceridwen being captured, and Meira learning to control and use her magic in a way to defend herself from the Decay - and not feed it.


Meira's growth in taking on her duties to her Kingdom and people, makes me stand by the necessarily of her "de-Meiraing" in Ice Like Fire in a way of building herself back up - to be the person Winter needs, but to also find a way of holding on to the Meira she's always been, too - and it's all the more evident in Frost Like Night the effect of Ice Like Fire's events have taken on her, and it's only made her stronger. Meira’s not the only one that’s grown since Snow Like Ashes, more noticeably is Mather’s. If you remember, he was angry in Ice Like Fire, rightfully so, from all the secret’s and the sudden shift in position, he had to level the old Mather with the new Mather, and he channelled that anger into the Thaw, and in Frost Like Night, he’s levelled those two sides to be a leader in his own right as they all come together to destroy magic and Angra.


We have a new perspective in Frost Like Night, alongside Meira's and Mather's, we have Ceridwen's, which I might be a little biased, because I loved her introduction in Ice Like Fire, but hers was my favourite perspective, because like Meira, she's a complete badass, and especially with what happened in Ice Like Fire, I'm so glad we got to get to know her better and see just how strong she is.

What Frost Like Night does well, is infusing love in with the plot, and I don't just mean romance, but all the different kinds of love, and how that was the characters driving force to do what had to be done, even if that meant letting go. But, speaking of the romance, it's not the focus, though it's always there in the background.

The only thing I had an issue with (though it's not really an issue, more personally what I wanted to see more of) is Theron, I get why he wasn't a more prominent character in Frost Like Night, considering his betrayal and the Decay taking over, but I wanted to see more of him. Despite that, I'm happy with how his story came to an end though.

Frost Like Night is how you end a trilogy with giving the readers what they want while staying true to the story and it's sacrifices.


Rating: 4.5/5