 |
| (Photo from: www.goodreads.com) |
Inevitable. Reading Frostblood was inevitable.
Anyone who has seen my blog would know that I love and adore both the Throne of Glass series by Sarah J. Maas and the Red Queen series by Victoria Aveyard. As a huge fan, anything that would remind me of any of them, much less both of them, would automatically be on my radar. Frostblood was advertised as a hybrid of both these series and as soon as I heard about it, I went to my nearest bookstore and grabbed a copy.So how did it hold up? Does it deserved to be likened to arguably two of the best and most successful YA fantasy books out today?
First of all, the marketing team weren't kidding when they said this would be a mash-up of Throne of Glass and Red Queen. There are numerous elements found in Frostblood that reminded me of elements found in both series. That would be one of the reasons why I chose to name this review as "Half-blood" for it really was a combination. I wouldn't say it was necessarily a bad thing because one way or another books can be easily inspired by other works or authors unintentionally create a story that is similar to others but overtime this created an almost expectant feeling. There were moments in the book that you expected to happen not because you were spoiled on what was going to happen but because you've read it another set of books. I don't know what Blake has in store for her sequels but I hope she would veer away from the generic components that flood the YA fantasy genre these days.
Another thing I noticed is that there were some sequences that needed to be stretched out more. These scenes felt like they were cut off suddenly and so, the emotion that was intended for the readers to feel did not hit as intensely as it should have. Not only that but when these scenes involve action and high stakes, it made it seem too easy because they were over so quickly.
Speaking of being easy, there were some solutions to the characters' problems that felt effortless. It either needed more build up or there needed to be other factors in the given solution to make it more effective and feel rewarding to read. You want your readers to feel a sense of satisfaction and elation whenever the characters succeed. I won't deny that I still felt those emotions but it wasn't as potent as I would have wanted it to be and I knew it could have been done better.
The writing was mostly good but when it came to action sequences it became a tad bit messy. This was most prevalent during the climax of the entire book. The way it was written and described felt unclear and vague in some places. It had me rereading some of the passages just to make sense what was happening in that moment and how the surroundings looked like in the scene. Without another reading of particular parts, I would have been confused as to how everything ended.
It sounds like I hate this book but I don't. I actually enjoyed Frostblood. I just wanted to get my critiques out of the way before I started talking about the positives. The thing I loved about this book the most was its world and its mythology. The stories about their gods and the ancient legends and prophecies about the Frostbloods and Firebloods intrigued me to no end. I also really liked the characters. The had specific roles to play to keep the story moving forward as well as making it interesting. The protagonists were likable with a hint of mystery that will carry on to the sequel which I personally like. The main characters are sufficiently relatable to have me invested in their respective arcs. It is clear their arcs are not complete yet. I care enough to want to know what happens next and what their ends would be. The story itself, although (like I mentioned above) rather generic, was still high entertaining. There were moments of good story telling and I wish it could have been more consistent but it was still there.
Overall, Frostblood had its ups and downs. That's the other reason why this review is entitled "Half-Blood". Its triumphs and flaws switches throughout the book. Although it wasn't the most original and outstanding piece of literature in the YA fantasy genre, it had its glorious moments that make me hopeful for the upcoming sequels. This series still has potential. It can improve itself as we get deeper into the story. Frostblood may not be on top of the pyramid just yet but we have a long way to go. Who knows what could happen? Fireblood, the second book of the Frostblood Saga, is to be released on September this year (INCREDIBLY FAST I KNOW) and I will be getting it to continue on with this series. I just hope my faith in Elly Blake's books would be worthwhile.
6/10
No comments:
Post a Comment