{Review} Frost by Kate Avery Ellison

Frost
by Kate Avery Ellison
Publisher: Kate Avery Ellison
Series:  The Frost Chronicles (#1)
Pages:  194
Source:  PDF ARC courtesy of Kate Avery Ellsion in exchange for a fair and honest review
Available as of April 3, 2012
Amazon | Barnes & Noble
Smashwords | Paperback

>In the icy, monster-plagued world of the Frost, one wrong move and a person might end up dead—and Lia Weaver knows this better than anyone. After monsters kill her parents, she must keep the family farm running despite the freezing weather and threat of monster attacks, or risk losing her siblings to reassignment by the village Elders. With dangers on all sides and treachery just one wrong step away, she can’t afford to let her emotions lead her astray. So when her sister finds a fugitive bleeding to death in the forest, a young man from beyond the Frost named Gabe, Lia surprises herself and does the unthinkable.

She saves his life.

Giving shelter to the fugitive could get her in serious trouble. The Elders have always described the advanced society of people beyond the Frost, the “Farthers,” as ruthless and cruel, and her village has nothing to do with them. But Lia is startled to find that Gabe is empathetic and intelligent…and handsome. She might even be falling in love with him.

But time is running out. The monsters from the forest circle her farm at night. The village leader is starting to ask questions. Farther soldiers are searching for Gabe. Lia must locate a secret organization called the Thorns to help Gabe escape to safety, but each move she makes puts her in greater danger. Is compassion—and love—worth the risk?

Rating:

My Review:

Wow!  Just wow.  When I received a request from Kate Avery Ellison to review her book I immediately jumped on it because of the summary.  I didn't know what to expect except for a love story mixed in with a dystopian society. Frost was well-crafted and kept me guessing even when the story was coming to a close.

Lia Weaver has to become the head of her family when her parents are killed by monsters in the woods.  Now she must care for her siblings and make sure they reach their weekly quota.  Upon returning home from town to trade their goods for food, she notices her sister is missing and goes out looking for her.  It is getting dark when Ivy finally pops out of the woods to tell Lia about the wounded boy. Ivy runs back towards the boy leaving Lia no choice but to follow.  When Lia sees the boy she stops dead in her tracks and introduces Ivy to a Farther, but this doesn't phase her; he is wounded and will die if Lia doesn't save him.

I really liked the major characters in this book.  Lia had to become the smart and responsible person we see her as when her parents died a year earlier.  She gave up a lot just so she could care for her siblings.  John, Lia's twin brother, is physically disabled and no longer a major contributor to the household.  He suffered a leg injury when he was younger which prevents him from moving around easily.  Ivy is carefree and the main reason Lia lies to the people of the Frost about their well-being.  Gabe, the Farther, doesn't fit the stereotype that the people of the Frost have been taught since they were children.  He is weary of Lia and her intentions until he comes to see she wouldn't hurt a fly.

Frost was a great read because I never had the right conclusion in my mind as to how the story would end.  It wasn't obvious and I wasn't expecting to be so caught off guard and unaware; it was refreshing.  I was continuously guessing what would happen, but none of what I assumed would happen took place.  

It took some time to get into, but I'm glad I stuck with it.  None of the major action happens until the last quarter of the book, but by then I was so engrossed in and intrigued by the story line that I refused to put it down.  Sadly, I had five minutes before my next class started so I had to finish the last chapter an hour later.  

This book is dystopian, however, it isn't dystopian in the sense that there is a controlling government like we see in The Hunger Games.  It is dystopian in the sense that the Farthers live in a controlling and dominating society and the people of the Frost live without technology and advanced research and health care.  They don't want to be controlled like Farthers.  The Frost works on a system of quotas where all people in the community must do their part or they won't get their share of food.

Overall, Frost was a great dystopian read that kept me guessing.  It was slow at times, but once the action picked up it didn't stop. 

FTC Disclosure:  I received a copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.  I was not monetarily compensated for my opinion. 

{Excerpt} Frost by Kate Avery Ellison

Hi everyone!  

Today is the official release of Frost by Kate Avery Ellison!  

Summary:

In the icy, monster-plagued world of the Frost, one wrong move and a person might end up dead—and Lia Weaver knows this better than anyone. After monsters kill her parents, she must keep the family farm running despite the freezing weather and threat of monster attacks, or risk losing her siblings to reassignment by the village Elders. With dangers on all sides and treachery just one wrong step away, she can’t afford to let her emotions lead her astray. So when her sister finds a fugitive bleeding to death in the forest, a young man from beyond the Frost named Gabe, Lia surprises herself and does the unthinkable.

She saves his life.

Giving shelter to the fugitive could get her in serious trouble. The Elders have always described the advanced society of people beyond the Frost, the “Farthers,” as ruthless and cruel, and her village has nothing to do with them. But Lia is startled to find that Gabe is empathetic and intelligent…and handsome. She might even be falling in love with him.

But time is running out. The monsters from the forest circle her farm at night. The village leader is starting to ask questions. Farther soldiers are searching for Gabe. Lia must locate a secret organization called the Thorns to help Gabe escape to safety, but each move she makes puts her in greater danger. Is compassion—and love—worth the risk?

Sound good?

I just finished reading Frost and thought it was a wonderful read.  I hope you enjoy the excerpt below!

Frost Excerpt

“Where’s Ivy?” I swept my gaze across the main room of the house. Dried laundry draped across my great-grandmother’s furniture, laundry my little sister had been supposed to fold and put away before I got home. A curl of anger kindled in the pit of my stomach—we were barely making quota, the winter storms were upon us, and she wasn’t even keeping up with the basic chores I gave her. She was almost fourteen—she was old enough to do her share of the work.

Jonn raised his eyebrows. “I haven’t seen her all afternoon. I thought she was with you.”

A little piece of my insides froze at his words. Our eyes met and held, and a million wordless things passed between us. I went back to the door and opened it.

Darkness was falling along with the snow. I hadn’t seen my sister in the village, and she hadn’t been in the barn. It was a small farm—just a round clearing in the woods, really. There was no sign of her in the yard. I shouted her name, but the wind snatched the word from my lips and flung it away. The Watcher Ward rattled above me, and the sound was like bones shaking.

My heart beat fast. My lungs were suddenly empty. I took a shaky breath and then exhaled slowly before turning to my brother.

“I’m going out to find her.”

Jonn looked at the fire. I knew he wouldn’t argue with me—he wasn’t the type to voice disagreements, especially not with me—but his whole face tightened and his lips turned white.

“The Watchers...”

“It’s too early for Watchers to be out,” I said. “There’s still light left. Besides, nobody’s seen one in months.”

That was a half-lie, as their tracks were spotted almost every week crisscrossing the paths or wandering around the edges of the village where the border of snow blossoms was planted to keep them out. But it was a half-truth, too. We hadn’t seen them recently.

But Jonn and I knew better than anybody that there was still a risk.

“I’m going,” I said.

He didn’t reply, but I could tell by his expression that he was furious that he couldn’t go. He wasn’t mad at me. It was just the way things were. There was no point in wasting time talking about it, so we didn’t.

I pulled on my cloak again and struggled into my heavy boots with the snowshoes for walking on top of the snow. Opening the front door, I threw one final look over my shoulder at Jonn before ducking back out into the wintery evening.

It had grown colder since I’d been inside, or maybe that was just the wind stealing the warmth from my body. I padded through the dusting of snow that covered everything, cupping my hands over my mouth to call her again. “Ivy!”

Most of the time fear was just like a rat in my belly, gnawing and gnawing a hole in the same place day after day whenever I’d let it. But now the rat had turned into a lion, and it was tearing me apart from the inside out. I reached the edge of the yard, where the trees formed a wall of brown and green, and I stopped. The wind shivered through my hair.

“Ivy!” I screamed again.

She was always wandering the farm with a dream in her eyes and a song in her mouth. She had a head full of thoughts about things that didn’t matter and never would, and she didn’t have an ounce of sense when it came to our survival. I wrapped both arms tight around my middle to hold in the fear, and I sucked in another breath to call again when I heard it, lost against the wind. My name.

“Lia...?”

Her voice was faint, almost imperceptible, but my ears were fine-tuned with terror and I heard it.

I surged forward into the woods, kicking up snow. “Ivy?”

She appeared out of the shadows suddenly. Her cheeks were bitten red with cold and her long dark hair was wet with melting ice. She stumbled, grabbed my hands. Her mittens were missing.

“Hurry,” she breathed, tugging at me. “Quickly.”

“Ivy Augusta Weaver,” I hissed, torn between joyful relief and flickering anger. “It’s almost night time. There is a storm coming. What were you thinking? Where have you been?”

“There is a boy,” she panted, ignoring my scolding. “In the woods.”

Want to read Frost?  You can find it: 

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Website

About the Author:

Kate Avery Ellison has been making up stories since she was five years old, and is now doing it as a full-time job. She has an obsession with dark fantasy, dystopian futures, and Pride and Prejudice-style love stories full of witty banter and sizzling, unspoken feelings.  When she isn't writing, she spends her time gardening, composing music, tweeting, reading funny blogs, and watching TV. She lives with her geeky husband and their two bad cats in Atlanta, GA.

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Be sure to check back on April 7 for my review!