Amanda Hocking

Frostfire by Amanda Hocking is the stunning first installment in a tale of love, betrayal and the need to belong, the Kanin Chronicles. Will she give up her dream to follow her heart? Bryn Aven is determined to gain status amongst the Kanin, the most powerful of the hidden tribes. But as a half-blood, winning respect is a huge challenge. Bryn's almost-human community distrusts people, and those from other tribes are almost as suspect. She has just one goal to get ahead: to join the elite guard protecting the Kanin royal family. And Bryn's vowed that nothing will stand in her way, not even a forbidden romance with her boss, Ridley Dresden. But her plans are put on hold when fallen hero Konstantin starts acting dangerously. Bryn loved him once, but now he's kidnapping Kanin children - stealing them from hidden placements within human families. She's sent to help stop him, but will she lose her heart in the process?

Frostfire

Hidden deep in the heart of a snow-covered wilderness lies the secret kingdom of the Kanin--a magical realm as beautiful as it is treacherous...Bryn Aven has never fit into Kanin society. Her blond hair and blue eyes set her apart as an outsider--a half-blood unable to hold a respectable rank. But she's determined to prove herself as a loyal protector of the kingdom she loves. Her dream is to become a member of the King's elite guard, and she's not going to let anything stand in her way...not even her growing feelings for her boss, Ridley Dresden. A relationship between them is strictly forbidden, but Bryn can't fight her attraction to him. And she's beginning to think he feels it too. Meanwhile, there's an attack on the kingdom--one that will test Bryn's strength like never before. Finally, she has the chance to confront Konstantin Black, the traitor who tried to kill her father years ago. It's up to Bryn to put a stop to him before he strikes again. But is she willing to risk everything to protect a kingdom that doesn't accept her for who she really is? And when her mission brings her closer to Ridley, will she be able to deny her heart?

Melissa Palmer

Book #71 Read in 2015
Frostfire by Amanda Hocking

This is the first in a young adult paranormal series. Bryn is a Tracker and she is very good at it, even though she is not full-blooded like the other trackers. She is on the trail on public enemy #1, the man who tried to kill her father a few years ago. However, killing him is not as easy as it should be, as she feels a chemistry with him that does not make sense. This book had elements of action, romance, mystery and humor to it. High school students and adults alike would enjoy this book. The second book is on its way to me. I borrowed this book from my public library. 

http://melissasbookpicks.blogspot.com

Tracker Bryn Aven's goal of becoming a member of the elite King's Guard is threatened when she is sent to stop Konstantin, a fallen hero who she once secretly loved, who appears to be kidnapping changelings.

Hannah Yang

Eh. I picked Frostfire up because I enjoyed some of Amanda Hocking's other books, and it was alright enough overall, but the beginning dragged and the ending could have been a lot better.

The plot was interesting, but was hampered by poor world-building. Even towards the end of the book, I could never picture where the characters were and what exactly they were doing. The many nuances of Kanin and troll culture, and the whole 'tracker' system, are made clear very gradually throughout the book, so at the beginning I felt a bit lost. Yet, towards the end I had (basically) figured out what the heck was going on and was frustrated by the plot twist / cliffhanger. I just felt it so unnecessary to throw (view spoiler)[Viktor (hide spoiler)] in. 

However, I will say that by the last page I was genuinely interested in what was going on. I want to find out Konstantin's motives, and what his connection is to Bryn. I wanted to understand what was so important about the high-ranking changelings. It is for this reason that I feel Frostfire wasn't a complete letdown. 

Throughout the book, I was repeatedly frustrated with Bryn. I understand she has been an outcast just for being born, and she's had a traumatic experience. She has every reason to be snarky and cold and detached and hateful. But many times, she lashes out on her friends and gets away with it. She is completely outspoken in front of the king and gets away with that as well. Bryn is impulsive and only has eyes for her goals; making her role in this book fluctuate between both heroine and antiheroine (for me, at least).

The romance aspect of the book isn't overwhelming, and Bryn is actively pushing it away to fulfill her character as a heartless, emotionless drone. (Kidding.) I didn't really feel too much chemistry between Ridley and Bryn, as I liked their friendly banter and almost brotherly/sisterly watching-out-for-each-other. I'm curious to see how this growing romance will develop.

Anyways, this review is a jumble of thoughts. I really liked the idea and even the plot, but the execution wasn't the best. I felt a majority of the book was spent trying to decipher what was going on, rather than sinking into the action and watching it all unravel. I would not actively recommend Frostfire to anyone, but I certainly would not discourage anyone from giving it a try. For the moment, I am unsure whether or not I will continue reading the series (knowing me, I probably will).

Rachel Kanyid

3.5/5. 
Not sure if I'll continue this series or not... it was interesting but not enough that I absolutely loved it..

Siena Grace

I read this series in middle school and remember liking it so I gave my copy to my sister to read after she started to enjoy reading. She’s in the 7th grade and she loved them. I recommend this to anyone that has started to take a liking to reading and is trying to ease into the community.

Frostfire is the stunning first installment in a tale of love, betrayal and the need to belong. Here Amanda Hocking returns to the world of her million-copy bestselling Trylle trilogy, with an all-new series . . . Will she give up her dream to follow her heart?Bryn Aven is determined to gain status amongst the Kanin, the most powerful of the hidden tribes. But as a half-blood, winning respect is a huge challenge. Bryn's almost-human community distrusts people, and those from other tribes are almost as suspect.She has just one goal to get ahead: to join the elite guard protecting the Kanin royal family. And Bryn's vowed that nothing will stand in her way, not even a forbidden romance with her boss, Ridley Dresden.But her plans are put on hold when fallen hero Konstantin starts acting dangerously. Bryn loved him once, but now he's kidnapping Kanin children - stealing them from hidden placements within human families. She's sent to help stop him, but will she lose her heart in the process?

Jo Young

I really liked this book. Bryn is an amazing character and I loved the chemistry between her and Ridley. I was a bit disappointed about the ending though, I had hoped for an epilogue of sorts, but still it was a great book, can't wait to read the next one in the series :)

Sarah Vaughan

First, let me just say that I am not a YA fan, so I don't have much in the way of other YA books to compare it to. That's not to say I don't sometimes enjoy YA fiction, but for the sake of full disclosure. I have such mixed feelings about this book. I loved the plot (small villages of supernatural creatures protected by the guise of the northern Canadian wilderness) and most of the characters (although the main character sometimes tries to be a badass to the point of annoyance), and the plot (dueling tribes with different abilities fighting for control of each other's lands). It's all very good so far. But then there's the dialogue. One of the problems I have with YA fiction is that it seems too...causal? Nonchalant even. I know that sounds absurd but I promise it's a thing. Anyone who has spent a good amount of time reading newspapers, magazines, and classic works of literature will tell you that the tone of YA novels is somehow inherently different. I can't quite put my finger on it. Maybe it's the fact that there are times when the characters are willing to do absurd things for the sake of the love interest. Maybe it's the fact that said love interest is typically part of a love triangle that usually involves one or more of the following: witches, werewolves, vampires who sparkle (wth is that by the way. Vampires don't sparkle people), humans (my personal favorite), and sometimes some otherworldly creature that is so ludicrous it's laughable (in this case trolls. Trolls that look like people to be more precise. By the way, I've seen Shrek and every Disney movie, and trolls don't look like people. Quit improvising the fairy tales folks.) Or maybe it's the fact that so many YA novels these days are borderline pornographic. Excuse me but let's stop talking about his abs and toned arms and get on with the story please. So long story short, I wanted to like this book. In fact, there were many parts I did like. But there were many parts I did. So I wouldn't say I won't be willing to read the second or third books in the trilogy when they are released later this year. But I wouldn't say I'm recommending it to people I know either. That's not to say I don't have friends who might not like this. It's just that I wasn't wowed by it to the point of needing to share my love for it. I guess I've come to the conclusion that most YA fiction is just not my thing.

Bec Drayton

This book wasn't that memorable. Bryn is a likeable character who tried really hard at what she does, although she doesn't show a wide range of emotions.

I love this author and this world but overall I was a little disappointed

Jennifer

A very fast & easy wintry read for me - but unfortunately there's nothing that particularly stood out to me. While the writing is really accessible & I liked the winter vibes (fitting for the month of December), I felt that the characterisation fell flat and the plot was rather predictable - thanks to the lackluster romance. Again, I think it's my personal preference that I don't usually enjoy when romance takes over the entire novel. Ultimately this is a light read, but I felt unsatisfied by the lack of substance.

Jessica Williamson

["Before when we were talking, were you asking why HER?" The aurora above us reflected on his face, and his dark eyes were filled with heat. "Or were you asking why NOT you?"]

And this ladies and gentlemen is where I yelled "OH MY WORD!" and then laughed so hard I nearly fell off of the treadmill. 

Better than the Trylle novels? Possibly. I love this! I think the mystery of what's actually happening is good. The "love" story is a big iffy, again, it's more of a love shape than a love triangle. Bryn definitely has a different viewpoint than Wendy and I like that. I think if it was too similar I wouldn't like the story as much. Bryn is great. She's flawed, she obviously has an adversion to children, and she apparently doesn't have the ability to show emotion to people she cares about. But I understand it.

Her friends Tilda and Ember are great, I like their characters, and I like Linus. I kinda love Ridley as confused and confusing as he is. He's pretty awesome.

The royals here are very MEH. I tend to not like royals in YA novels, they're always the bad guys. Someone needs to fix that.

Konstantin is a very interesting character, I'm excited to see where he takes the story line.

The writing is good, I enjoy Hocking's work. They're easy to read through and enjoyable.

If you've not read the Trylle novels (and you should because they're great) and you're wondering if you can read this series first, you absolutely can but it will spoil the final couples of Trylle. So if you plan to read both, read the Trylle novels first. If you plan to just read the Kanin, that's fine too, the first book explains enough that you don't need the backstory from Trylle to help you figure out what's going on.

Marissa Scudlo

** spoiler alert **
           For someone who has not read any of the Trylle books Frostfire has made what to read the whole series Bryn Aven is a great heroine that always trying to prove herself despite the fact being a halfbreed and a outside in her home. 
Amanda Hacking brings the world of the Kanin culture to life and show it is like our but different and I thank her for creating it. As I read I'm willing to say that there some moments in the book were slow and then moments were fast but overall I really love the book and can't wait to read the next one. The ending is what killed me when Bryn let her most hated foe go.

Audrey Bunten 

I loved this book and I can't wait to read the next book!

Teresa Schultz

Mixed feelings on this one. I liked the plot of the book: Bryn, a mixed-breed troll, struggles to rise to the rank of a royal guard while working as a tracker to find other trolls and discovers the man who tried to kill her dad four years ago is now on the hunt for the trolls she's tracking. She's also fighting feelings for her boss, Ridley. With her background of being discriminated against for being a mixed-breed and how much she's had to struggle to get where she is, the whole "I can't love him" actually makes sense. I get it. I liked that part.

What I didn't like? The whole troll world. First, as someone who hasn't read Hocking's books before, the synopsis for this one gives absolutely no indication these people are trolls and that it actually takes place in the normal world in Canada. I was expecting a book that creates a completely different world and was really thrown back when I discovered that's not the case.

But that pales in comparison to the changelings. Trolls, evidently, switch their babies with the babies of rich human families to raise the trolls until they turn 18 and then steal them back along with their trust funds. These are the trolls Bryn is tracking and bringing back. The human babies, meanwhile, are sent to an orphanage. And the whole point of this is to get money to fund their desire for jewels and cool tech stuff. This, in my view, is basically human trafficking and completely awful. The book at least has one character acknowledge partly how barbaric this is (but only how it affects the troll children; nothing is said about how cruel this is to the humans), but otherwise the main characters seem to accept it. I'm desperately hoping that the whole changeling thing is going to be tied into the plot that Bryn is working to uncover, which is why I'll stick with the series - for now. But if this is basically brushed to the side by the end, it's going to leave a really bad taste in my mouth. Hard to feel any empathy for people who think it's totally OK to support their way of life by stealing innocent babies and sending them to orphanages.

Wren Hardwick

I guess not all trolls look like this?


I actually think this could get really interesting. 

This book felt like the information book though. Like Hocking wanting to build up their whole other part to human kind (troll-world) and wanted to make you ready for the other two books in the series.

Bryn isn't accepted anywhere. 


She is part Kamin and part Skojare, two completely different troll tribes. Being a mix of bloods, she is frowned upon in general and also doesn't possess any of the power that the tribes have. But she lives among the brunette, brown-eyed Kamin and sticks out like a sore thumb with her blue eyes and blonde hair. She has a dream to be apart of the king's guard which is a big dream since she is already an outcast and doesn't have any of the supernatural powers that the tribes have. Presently though, she is considered a tracker. 

Bryn is so dedicated to her work that she kind of doesn't have a life outside of that. She wants to be her best and with her doing that, she doesn't really have relationships or a good relationship with her parents or just anything extracurricular. 

The Kamin tribe drops their high-profile kids off to very rich people to raise them as their own. Then when they are 18, they tell the kids what they truly are, get the trust funds and all the money, and then they rejoin the trolls. The tracker's job is to get the kids to come with them and make sure the money follows. 

Weird right?

Anyway, their is a criminal trying to get to the kids before the trackers do: Konstantin Black. He also tried to kill Bryn's dad a few years back, so she wants to personally set him on fire basically. 
 Bryn kind of comes to the conclusion that maybe Konstantin isn't the bad guy and maybe there is something more to the story (for reasons you will just have to read about).

That's about it. 

I learned a lot about the world in this book and that's really what makes me want to read the next book. The whole tribes thing and the tension between them makes me feel as if its going to blow up in a horribly great way, the little love story may get interesting with their positions in their tribes, Konstantin BLACK is going to surprise us all and make everything chaotic, just like another gentlemen when the last name Black in another series that is completely off topic (cough Sirius cough). I think it goes without saying that if your last name is Black, you are first thought to be evil and then you are a hero so here's testing my theory.

In conclusion, there should have been more to the story than world building and some weird love story going on. I am hoping in the next book, I get blown away!

Frostfire

Reviews