Coco Ma

In the kingdom of Axaria, a darkness rises. Some call it a monster, laying waste to the villagers and their homes. Some say it is an invulnerable demon summoned from the deepest abysses of the Immortal Realm. Many soldiers from the royal guard are sent out to hunt it down. Not one has ever returned. When Asterin Faelenhart, princess of Axaria and heir to the throne, discovers that she may hold the key to defeating the mysterious demon terrorizing her kingdom, she vows not to rest until the beast is slain. With the help of her friends and the powers she wields--though has yet to fully understand--Asterin sets out to complete a single task. The task that countless trained soldiers have failed. To kill it. But as they hunt for the demon, they unearth a plot to assassinate the princess herself instead. Asterin and her friends begin to wonder how much of their lives has been lies, especially when they realize that the center of the web of deceit might very well be themselves. With no one else to turn to, they are forced to decide just how much they are willing to sacrifice to protect the only world they have ever known. That is, of course, if the demon doesn't get to them first.

Shadow Frost

Yora

Echt een super leuk boek. Vette magiewereld, super veel plottwists, mooie vriendschappen en echt throne of glass achtig. Love it 4.5/5 sterren

Courtney 

I listened to the audiobook for this and for now I am sticking with three stars. Some of the characters actions at the end don't seem to fit for me but I wonder if I missed something in the middle to fuel those actions. I also think the magic system could use a little work as I don't think certain things should happen as they do since it goes against how the system was explained. However, this is one that I will read the sequel for and will be rereading closer to when to sequel comes out.

Laura Kehoe

This book had some really fun parts and I think the world building was well done. It's such an interesting world! But, overall, it wasn't quite what I was hoping for. 

First there was the characters. For the first part of the book, most of the characters annoyed me. I could see glimmers of things I liked, so I kept reading, but it was hard to stay invested when I didn't like the characters all that much. They all seemed a bit whiny. As the book progressed, I started liking them more and more though. For the most part, they all grew on me. I did appreciate the plethora of snark and sass they all dished out. 

I think the pacing was a bit off with this too. At first, things seemed to move painfully slow and then it felt like the plot was speeding up, only to have it slow down once more. Then at the end, I think things were a little too rushed. I enjoyed the story for the most part, but I wish the pacing would have been a little more consistent. 

This is such a rich and dynamic world. I really enjoyed learning about it and seeing the characters interact with the world. While I had some frustrations, I did ultimately have a good time reading this book. 

Thank you to the NetGalley and Blackstone Publishing for the chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review!

Chiara Vitale Zelaia

Thank you to the publisher for sending me a copy of this book.

Shadow Frost is the kind of book that I really wanted to love. It has a gorgeous cover, a captivating name and the summary left me curious enough to want to know more about the quest. Were there things that I liked about this book? Yes. But there were also a great deal of things that just didn’t quite work for me. For simplicity’s sake, I’m splitting this review into three points: What I loved, What I liked and What I didn’t like.

What I loved: I loved the magic system and world-building. This first book merely scratched the surface on some of its aspects, but I love the idea that there is more than one Kingdom in this world, and that each of them masters a different element. I loved the idea that magic is channeled through affinity stones, which is something that I found very original. Of course there are exceptions to this rule, and there are those who can wield magic without the stones, and though I’m a bit confused by this, I’m sure it will be explored more thoroughly in future books.
Another aspect I loved was the attention to friendship. Sometimes, in the epic adventures and romance of fantasy, friendship tends to slither through the cracks. But this book had some very strong family and friendship bonds that I loved reading about.

What I liked: I liked the writing, but I did have some difficulty with it. There were times when it flowed very smoothly and eloquently without overdoing, but there were other moments—especially in the dialogues—where the writing felt very immature. Now, I know the book was written when the author was 15, but I didn’t know about the author’s age when I picked up the book, and I imagine that neither will many people picking it up. It honestly felt lacking in things that an editor could have easily counseled to improve, so I don’t feel like the author’s age when she wrote the book should be an excuse. However, I think this is something that will improve in future books, and I enjoyed it for the most part.

What I didn’t like: Unfortunately, everything else. Firstly, I felt like the plot that was promised in the summary simply wasn’t in the book. The action expires in a succession of childish banter between characters and told-not-shown reveals. The book lacked a true climax, and I think what damaged it most of all was the fact that there were too many points of view that ended up being too revealing. I also wasn’t a fan of the characters themselves. This book had a large cast of characters, but while there were some that I fancied more than others, none were able to leave a lasting impression. The result is that I was not invested even in the romance—which is usually one of the things I love most in a book, but that here felt like a strange union of slow burn and insta-love.

Sadly, not even the ending left me curious enough to want to know how this story is going to progress, so I doubt that I’ll be continuing with this series. However, if you enjoy reading very young YA and want to try a new take on elemental magic, then this could be a book that you might want to try for yourselves.

Kristin

Can the next book have more Luna? Pleeeaaaase?

laura

* I got this book for review from the publisher for my honest thoughts*

I overall thought the world building was super fun. I really liked the general plot of the book and found it to be super interesting. I did not feel as connected to the characters as I wanted and it was hard to become invested. I thought the book had some pacing issues but it was enjoyable read. I loved the elements that were introduced at the end and found that to be super compelling. I liked the various POV that we got but wish they were made more clearer in the format. I will def be reading book 2!

Alexis 

This book was just alright. I know it was a debut so that could have something to do with it. I didn't feel connected to the story or the characters. The story kept me semi-interested but It didn't bother me if I wasn't reading it, I didn't care much to pick it back up if I put it down.

Paige Green

Disclaimer: I received an e-arc from the publisher. Thanks! All opinions are my own.

Book: Shadow Frost

Author: Coco Ma

Book Series: Shadow Frost Book 1

Rating: 1/5

Publication Date: October 1, 2019

Genre: YA Fantasy

Recommended Age: can’t recommend, did not finish

Publisher: Blackstone Publishing

Pages: 400

Amazon Link

Synopsis: IN THE KINGDOM OF AXARIA, a darkness rises.

Some call it a monster, laying waste to the villagers and their homes.
Some say it is an invulnerable demon summoned from the deepest abysses of the Immortal Realm.
Many soldiers from the royal guard are sent out to hunt it down.

Not one has ever returned.

When Asterin Faelenhart, Princess of Axaria and heir to the throne, discovers that she may hold the key to defeating the mysterious demon terrorizing her kingdom, she vows not to rest until the beast is slain. With the help of her friends and the powers she wields — though has yet to fully understand — Asterin sets out to complete a single task. The task that countless, trained soldiers have failed.

To kill it.

But as they hunt for the demon, they unearth a plot to assassinate the Princess herself instead. Asterin and her companions begin to wonder how much of their lives have been lies, especially when they realize that the center of the web of deceit might very well be themselves. With no one else to turn to, they are forced to decide just how much they are willing to sacrifice to protect the only world they have ever known.

That is, of course… if the demon doesn’t get to them first.

Review: I had to DNF this book unfortunately. The book was really slow to get through and some of the scenes were just painful to read through. The writing wasn’t well done, it felt clunky and hard to follow, and the multiple POVs confused me. I was also confused by the world building overall.

Verdict: It wasn’t for me.

Geneviève Rouleau

I was so, so happy when I received this book in the October Indigo YA book box. I'm always in for supporting debut novels. I really enjoyed the letter written by the author included in the box, it was so funny and witty! Coco Ma really has an impressive résumé, and I was sure I'd love her book. 

However, there's a lot of information dump in the first few chapters. Many characters are introduced, but they're hard to keep track of, since I didn't feel like they had distinguishing personalities. Because of that, I couldn't really bond with any of them. I also felt like the characters weren't all necessary, and combining some would've given the same end result, and maybe a little less confusing 🙈

Something that bothered me enormously : I felt like every time a new character was introduced, BOOM someone in the troupe HAD to have the hots for them. The last time this happened, it was between two boys. I just felt like that amorous relationship was forced, for the sake of diversity. Since this novel sorely lacks in the latter. So anyways, this was too insta-love for me, and I didn't feel the need to match basically everyone. I also couldn't feel the chemistry between the couples either. I guess I was just expecting much more diversity from this author, since she's from a younger, more open-minded generation.

Notes on the writing style : the many POVs were sometimes confusing, as they switched back and forth in the same chapters. There are also quite a few flashbacks, and they were very confusing too, as there was no difference between the fonts used (I personally prefer when flashbacks are written in italic, then you can really tell they're happening). The plot also felt very predictable, the one twist that surprised me was about 3/4 through the book. I also felt distinct Snow White vibes throughout the story. I did appreciate the epilogue though, it was a nice way to wrap-up everything that happened. 2⭐

*I really do believe a younger version of me would've enjoyed this book more. I know my reading preferences have evolved a lot with bookstagram.*

Vanessa Bintou

This is one of these books that has a potential to be a 4 even 5 stars debut of a series, but because of silly mistakes, that could have been avoided, it's no more than 3 ...

The story follows princess Asterin of Axaria, a kingdom in a world full of elemental kind of magic, in an adventure with her friends. After a shadow monster starts eliminating cities from her kingdom, Asterin is the only person strong enough to save her people. The book is not described as a retelling, and to be honest, there are no hints of this, until after the first half of the story. (view spoiler)[I got vibes of both Snow White and Tangled/Rapunzel. (hide spoiler)]

My first thought, after finishing the book, is that the weakest part and the main reason it got 3 stars is that nothing really happened in the first half. It felt slow, lacking character and world building. The world have 9 gods, each of them a lord/ lady of a branch of magic, and all the magic users need an elemental orb to channel their magic. I would like to learn more about their gods and the story behind them, because we only learn their names. I am pretty sure that if this first part had more growth and less slow paced scenes, regarding fighting, flirting and bad dialogues, the book would have been very good. The moment the main characters left the palace, and start spending more time together, trying to find the monster and slowly we learn more about their lives, the book got better. As for the writing, even though it was good in general, some dialogues, especially between the princess and Quinlan were almost funny. 

Another thing that could have been better are the characters. The thing is that I could feel the potential and I felt sad about the execution. First of all, the writer kept introducing us theoretically important characters, only by name with no backstory, up until after 80% of the book and secondly, the 6-9 main characters had almost no solid backstory and their relationships were something we had to take as given. For example, Luna is Asterin's best friend and they are like sisters, but we barely see them together or feel that bond. The same with her guardian, or even her romance with Quinlan. So, I felt disconnected from them and I only cared about Luna. In fact, the more her character grew the more I loved her. And in a particular scene in the end, among Luna, Asterin and Quinlan, I passed the point where I didn't care about Asterin into really disliking her. 

Finally, I think it was obvious very early in the story who the big bad was, mentioned as The Woman, but the story behind her actions and her backstory, even though very interesting, were sloppy done.

All in all, a book with a lot of potential and interesting points, but a lot of things that could have been better done. I am not sure if it's going to be a series, but if it is, I hope the next book will be about Luna. 

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for providing an arc, in exchange for my honest review.

Manon van Heumen

Lauren James

Full review on my blog, Storied Adventures

This was so fun! I really liked the sassy main character, Asterin. She was head strong but with a willingness to change if needed. I liked the love interest, he had a tragic backstory which was typical BUT I still like it. And the writing was soooo good for a first timer! 

I didn't like the almost ending. It got a bit boring which was hard because the beginning and middle were so strong! And the very very end was a surprise. 

I can't wait for book 2!

Ashton Reed

4.5/5 stars

Wow. What a fantasy. I am - amazed. 

Shadow Frost takes place in a land of magic. The nine gods each bestowed an affinity onto mortals when they created them, allowing humans the potential to harness air, wind, fire, water, illusion, light, weather, ice, and healing. Mortals can rarely harness them all, however; most are capable of using multiple but have a strong affinity for one element. Those who can harness all nine are hailed as the omnitified. 

But there is a tenth affinity too. One long banned in the Mortal Realm, one as powerful as all other nine combined: the shadow element. It exists only as Eoin, the King of Darkness, sees fit, bestowing it upon mortals, but only for a great price - perhaps, the eternal servitude of a loved one, for instance. 

The Princess of Axaria, Asterin Falenhart, has always held strength in her affinities and in her swordsmanship, and upon the arrival of two guards from the far-off kingdom of Eradore, she discovers she is omnitified. But a dark force rises in her kingdom, one described as a red-eyed demon wielding the shadow element by the only witness left alive. Asterin takes it upon herself to vanquish this monster and save her kingdom, with the help of her Guardian and life-long friend, Orion; her Captain of the Guard, Eadric; her best friend and lady-in-waiting, Luna; and the guests from Eradore, Quinlan and Rose. On their quest, however, they learn the beast may not be the biggest threat, and they must reevaluate who they can trust - and who may have sacrificed them to the King of Darkness himself. 

(Disclaimer: I’ve already read the sequel, God Storm, so some of my opinions may have carried over to this review. That doesn’t really change much, though; I love both of these books so much y’all.)

Holyyy crap, this book snuck up on me. I saw it on Netgalley a couple years ago, requested it, didn’t get it being the newbie that I was, and promptly forgot about it - even though I thought it sounded AMAZING. Flash forward and I get on a bookstagram tour for the sequel and I am crazyyyy excited to binge the two books. And now here I am, having done just that because I could not put either book down.

Geez, where do I even start? Shadow Frost has all the makings of the introduction to a fantasy series. A simple quest becomes something more, revealing a darkness rippling underneath the surface ready to become the protagonists’ greatest threat. And plot-wise… not much happens. I was comfortably moving at a good pace through the events of the book, sated by incredible action, likeable characters, and curiosity. Then suddenly, I found myself at the end of the book, reeling because I was head over heels for all the characters, I was screaming internally at the ending, I didn’t know what to do with myself (thank GOSH I had the sequel at hand). There’s adorableeee romance, amazing relationships, COMPLEX characters that get you thinking about life, and an amazing world!

Which I have to elaborate on. WOW did you know Coco Ma wrote this book when she was fifteen years old?? It’s crazy hard to believe because I have read tons of fantasies this year that don’t compare to this one. The world was immersive and incredibly elaborated, yet wasn’t an info-dump. The magic system is fresh and inventive, creating conversations on power but also just being plain awesome. And the existence of the Immortal Realm, where the gods reside, including Eoin, who created it, and where shadow magic runs rampant, creates an added layer of uniqueness to the entire story - but the second book goes deeper into that.

There was no moment in time when I wanted more from this book, as a series introduction or as a story on its own, and I am just amazed at how much I love this series - it has rekindled my love for fantasy, that’s for sure. PLEASE if you like fantasy at all, go grab this one and see for yourself. It might just impact you in the same way, and I guarantee you’ll be thinking about it long after you turn the last page.




If you enjoyed this review, you can friend me here on Goodreads and follow my Bookstagram/Twitter @ashton_reads. Thanks for reading!

In the kingdom of Axaria, a darkness rises. Some call it a monster, laying waste to the villagers and their homes.Some say it is an invulnerable demon summoned from the deepest abysses of the Immortal Realm.Many soldiers from the royal guard are sent out to hunt it down.Not one has ever returned. When Asterin Faelenhart, Princess of Axaria and heir to the throne, discovers that she may hold the key to defeating the mysterious demon terrorizing her kingdom, she vows not to rest until the beast is slain. With the help of her friends and the powers she wields—though has yet to fully understand—Asterin sets out to complete a single task. The task that countless trained soldiers have failed. To kill it. But as they hunt for the demon, they unearth a plot to assassinate the princess herself instead. Asterin and her companions begin to wonder how much of their lives have been lies, especially when they realize that the center of the web of deceit might very well be themselves. With no one else to turn to, they are forced to decide just how much they are willing to sacrifice to protect the only world they have ever known. That is ... if the demon doesn’t get to them first. From young author Coco Ma comes a dazzling new tale of adventure, power, and betrayal, weaving together a stunning world of magic with a killer cast in an explosive, unforgettable debut.

Shadow Frost

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