This review contains spoilers.
The frost king will burn.
Seventeen-year-old Ruby is a Fireblood who has concealed her powers of heat and flame from the cruel Frostblood ruling class her entire life. But when her mother is killed trying to protect her, and rebel Frostbloods demand her help to overthrow their bloodthirsty king, she agrees to come out of hiding, desperate to have her revenge.
Despite her unpredictable abilities, Ruby trains with the rebels and the infuriating—yet irresistible—Arcus, who seems to think of her as nothing more than a weapon. But before they can take action, Ruby is captured and forced to compete in the king’s tournaments that pit Fireblood prisoners against Frostblood champions. Now she has only one chance to destroy the maniacal ruler who has taken everything from her—and from the icy young man she has come to love.
Hello fellow Bookworm! Today’s post is my review of Frostblood, by Elly Blake.
If you’ve read this book, I’d love to hear your thoughts on it!
Enjoy!
Overall, my feelings towards Frostblood is that I definitely enjoyed my time reading Elly Blake’s story. Ruby is a character that has proved to have quite a bit of resilience in her.
I liked that there was a little snippet within the first 20 pages that clued me in to what would happen later on. There was actually another part that further aroused my suspicions.
“[..] my cozy world had broken like a glass jar dropped onto stone, spilling familiarity and security, never to be gathered back again. The smells were all wrong, the acrid smoke of torches and the reek of too many hard-ridden horses with their unwashed riders.”
Some of the writing; description wise, was very beautiful. I really enjoyed how this worlds’ history was told. It wasn’t told in a way that we -the reader- just had it thrown at us like some books do. No. Instead the history is told in a way where I could totally get myself wrapped up in it. The tellings of this worlds’ history is so vivid that I can still recall details of it, weeks after reading it. Which is saying something, since I have terrible memory.
There’s one point of view in Frostblood, and that’s from Ruby. She not only proves to be a feisty character, but one who has a lot of will and strength to survive. The fact Ruby got her revenge, and one of the answers she was looking for, is another thing that I liked about Ruby.
I’m not really one to enjoy the tension that two characters usually have. If only they talked things through!!! However, in Frostblood I liked the tension that Arcus and Ruby had for a good portion of the book. And what someone may call cliche, I found to be endearing and kinda fluffy. Yeah(!), there was a little bit of fluff in this novel—which looking back on it, was totally out of character for this kind of book (but I’m not complaining).
Other things that I like about this novel:
- I liked seeing Ruby grow enough as a character to where she was able to somewhat joke about Arcus to another person.
- I loved that the story had progressed enough that by the halfway point of the book, it seemed that Ruby had grown into herself and her abilities while still following/maintaining her sense of self.
- I like that there is someone, some god, looking out for Ruby.
I wonder how this will play out in the next book. - I liked that slowly, in almost random parts of the book Arcus reveals more of himself to Ruby. Wittingly or not.
I just want to say that Arcus and Ruby fight a lot for two people who aren’t in a relationship. Like, it’s every few pages where they would end up verbally quarraling with one another. It hurt to see my two babies hurt each other.
While reading Frostblood, I had the thought of: “They don’t know each other well enough. They don’t know each others histories. Gah, If they just talked about what was bothering them, or something other, a lot of this emotional turmoil that they put each other through wouldn’t have happened.” Example:
‘I turned, desperate to get away before I fell apart, and wrenched open the door. As I stalked out into the star-filled night, hot, shamed tears fell from my cheeks and landed, hissing, on the ground.‘
What I didn’t like about the book was that once or twice, the story was predictable. Not too predictable, but still predictable. One thing I had predicted was minor. The other had me wanting to scream into the night “I knew it! I kneeeeww it!!!!” while I shook my fisted hand in the air.
“The timid little flame in my chest flared to a river of heat, far beyond my control. I didn’t care. What was the use in hiding it now? I breathed in a gasp that stole the air from the sky, the trees, the world. The wind seemed to twist around me, the eye of the tornado.”
The blood-fighting that happened in this book..was repulsive, to say the least. There’s this one character that fought Ruby. I can’t remember this particular character/captains name, so I’ve dubbed him Captain Douche. I’m so glad he got what he deserved.
There was something that was asked in this book, and by the end of Frsotblood, we and everyone else were given an answer. Now that the reader knows the answer, I know it’s going to be further discussed in the next book, Fireblood.
They both have a freaking God looking out for them. How weird is that?! I mean, it’s probably fated that this kind of thing would happen to both of these characters.
The last sentence of this book had me wanting to yell into the void that Arcus is a dork.
I give Frostblood, 4 of 5 stars on GoodReads.
If you’ve read the book, I’d love to know what you thought of the story!
Or even what you thought of Arcus and Ruby being a thing.
Happy Reading!
Adele
Adele Is Reading 
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