Tag Archives: YA romance

Frostbite: Graduating High School with a Frosty Touch

Posted by Seriah Black Sheep on

Frostbite (Touch of Frost, #1)Frostbite by Lynn Rush (Touch of Frost #1)
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

My Summary:
Amanda’s mother had super-strength, and the ability to create and manipulate ice, snow, and sleet—abilities she passed on to her daughter, but not her son. The organization that experimented on Amanda’s mom, and eventually murdered her, is out to capture and study Amanda too…or possibly kill her if she won’t comply. Every time the scientists’ henchmen find Amanda and her brother Scott, the siblings flee and have to start over again in a new town. Except this time, Amanda has a best friend and a potential boyfriend, and her brother has a girlfriend, so neither one wants to leave. They resolve to stay as long as they can, and fight for their new small-town life. But some of the people around them aren’t who they pretend to be, and Amanda’s hard-to-control emotion-driven powers are escalating with her raging hormones and stress level. If Amanda and Scott choose to stay and fight for their newfound happiness, can they really win?

My Thoughts:
There is death-by-freezing in this novel, and Amanda’s parents did die a brutal death, but the teenage voice of the story keeps it from reading like angst or tragedy. However, that same teenage tone gave me the feeling of all relationships (other than sibling) being transitory—like they were important and desired, but were just as easily ditched as adopted. That annoyed me. But maybe that’s just a personality preference. Or maybe that’s what you’re supposed to feel, because that’s how Amanda’s would-be boyfriend feels.

The premise of this story sets up the reader to be suspicious of all characters, so I felt just as unsure who to root for as the characters are uncertain who to trust. I kept waiting for everyone to not be who they said they were. It’s beautifully written suspense, but it made it very difficult for me to buy into the sweetness of Amanda’s budding romance, and the “coincidence” of that romance beginning just as everything began to hit the fan.

The powers were very well orchestrated, with emphasis on the emotions that trigger the powers, and what the powers actually feel like. As the reader, you discover the extent of those powers along with the characters, and can almost imagine the ice growing along your own arm. Impressive.

A surprising theme in this story is love between siblings. Most of the book consists of siblings banding together and taking care of one another. It’s endearing, but it can get irritating when you keep waiting for the romance to go somewhere and you end up with “I can’t”s and sibling care instead.

I wasn’t really reading this story for the sci-fi part, but it does lend credibility to the existence of freezing powers, and adds a sense of urgency to all the happenings in the story. Information about the powers and the organization at large is gradually revealed throughout, but it’s not until the big blowout at the end that the sciencey stuff was presented in a way that really mattered to me. The rest of the time were just teases based on flashbacks and fear.

Consensus:
The story is an interesting read, and the powers are well-handled. It’s a nice, comfortable story with a fluffy romance. But if you’re looking for a high-speed sci-fi chase with a kickass boyfriend, this isn’t it.

I personally needed to feel more depth and permanency. And I needed reassurance that Zack wasn’t a plant, and Jasmine wasn’t a conniving bitch. But my tastes in reading are a bit darker, and I don’t really buy into WAFF that doesn’t have internal relational problems built in. More lighthearted readers will probably buy in, and love this story. To them, I say, “More power to ya!” 😉

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Going Down in Flames: Harry Potter for Dragons

Posted by Seriah Black Sheep on

Going Down in FlamesGoing Down in Flames by Chris Cannon

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

My Summary:
Just before her sixteenth birthday, Bryn finds out that she is a mixed breed dragon, and will be required to attend dragon school. It also turns out that the most powerful man in the Directorate (the dragon governing body) is the man Bryn’s mother ran away from to marry Bryn’s father. Against her will, Bryn goes away to dragon school, where she is thought to be a genetic impossibility at best, an abomination (to be destroyed) at worst. There she must learn the rules of dragon society, and who she can trust.

The dragons seem to exist alongside humans (though that’s not always their preference), but have a society all their own. The bulk of this story takes place in a setting reminiscent of Harry Potter, with a faraway school and a nearby small shopping town that is aware of the dragon community.

My Thoughts:
I really enjoyed the interactions between characters in this story, but to a large degree those interactions revolve around food, so prepare to be hungry! The main character eats a ridiculous amount, and though that is explained away as dragon metabolism (and possibly power and ability expenditure), she far out-eats every other dragon – so much so that eating becomes a part of her character. So you if you don’t like salivating over food, this might not be the story for you. But Bryn’s love of food does play into at least one major plot development, so it’s not without its reasons.

I was a little surprised that so much of this story revolved around everyday school life. It was handled well, even down to the subjects taught in class. But because of the school setting, there was almost no contact with the outside world; Bryn’s parents and friend Beth never showed up again after the beginning of the story. This is understandable, given the situation. However, I was waiting to see how Bryn would balance the tension between the outside world and the dragon world, and the idea of coexisting in between. I felt like this never happened.

Bryn immediately takes a moral stance against arranged marriages and the affairs they produce in dragon society. On the other hand, she is easily swayed by her crush’s assurance that he will find a way to break off his unwanted engagement. And Bryn has no problem accepting gifts from the would-be benefactor she turned down. That shakes a bit of my faith in Bryn as a reasonable character. But maybe this is just her optimism showing through?

Overall, the book was very well written, with a nice twist toward the end. I felt like the loose ends were neatly wrapped up in the ending, while still leaving room for the story to continue into another book. The characters are likable, and the bullies are enough to make the reader nervous. The ideas of benefactors, mistresses, and mates after graduation definitely appeal to an older teen audience (or people in their twenties), and did not make me feel like I was reading a Teen book. But those things are only explored as ideas, and no romance in the book is beyond a couple brief kisses. And those hints at more adult concepts are strongly offset by the strict high school setting.

I do wish there were a few more “curve balls” thrown at me. I love unforeseen twists and turns, and I felt like I mostly got that at the beginning and the end of the story. I could have used a few more loops or corkscrews in the middle.

Consensus:
I would definitely recommend this book as a refreshing new approach to dragons and a brilliant blending of fantasy with real-world problems. But do not be surprised if there are more school scenes with spark-snorting tempers, than actual dragon scenes. And have a snack on-hand.