Frost and fire unite! Or, you know, fight to the death.

This is a review for the COYER Challenge!

Rating: 4/5 Stars

Genre: Young Adult Fantasy

Publication date: January 10th, 2017

I received a copy of this book from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.

Seventeen-year-old Ruby is a fireblood who must hide her powers of heat and flame from the cruel frostblood ruling class that wants to destroy all that are left of her kind. So when her mother is killed for protecting her and rebel frostbloods demand her help to kill their rampaging king, she agrees. But Ruby’s powers are unpredictable, and she’s not sure she’s willing to let the rebels and an infuriating (yet irresistible) young man called Arcus use her as their weapon.

All she wants is revenge, but before they can take action, Ruby is captured and forced to take part 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. (Goodreads)

This book had an interesting concept.

I love all things elemental (wow, I just realized that), etc., and the fire and frost powers were very neat. I loved the fact that her skin was hot to the touch, and that she was a healer despite her destructive powers. It all amazes me!

Okay, the romance was pretty cute.

I loved watching the romance build, and it was, most likely, my favorite part of the entire story. Arcus had a past, and he wasn’t “just that hot guy”. He did have SOME personality. 😉

Oh my word, the monks were the best!

I loved watching Ruby’s relationships with each of the monks grow, and they ended up being like parents and relatives to her. I felt that it was a healthy, refreshing change to see a character with “parental figures”.

Unfortunately, I guessed the plot twist WAAAAY beforehand.

It was extremely obvious to me what the big reveal was going to be, and what was and wasn’t true. I didn’t mind it too much, but it took away some of the bravado, because the surprise was a big part of the whole display, and there wasn’t any for me.

The whole book was fairly straightforward.

Although I enjoyed a lot of the aspects of the story, it felt a little slow and obvious throughout the entire book. I feel like some of the excess things could have been avoided or just trimmed down, and the book would have been a lot cleaner and faster to read.

Alas, it was a fun read, but there wasn’t much to it.

I would describe this book as a fairly predictable fantasy with neat elements to the plot, and a fun romance. Wow, that is a loaded sentence.

Have any of you read this book yet? Plan to? Are you excited about the release? Let me know in the comments below; I don’t bite! I’d love to hear from you. Comments make my day. 🙂

Lots of Love, Amy ❤