Frost by Kate Avery Ellison (Book Review and Giveaway)

Title: Frost
Author: Kate Avery Ellison
Publisher: CreateSpace
Release Date: April 18, 2012
Format: Kindle
Source: The author for the AToMR tour.
Buy It: Amazon
Add It: Goodreads

In the icy, monster-plagued world of the Frost, one wrong move and a person could 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 cold and threat of monster attacks or risk losing her siblings to reassignment by the village Elders. With dangers on all sides and failure 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 stranger named Gabe—Lia surprises herself and does the unthinkable.

She saves his life.

Giving shelter to the fugitive could get her in trouble. The Elders have always described the advanced society of people beyond the Frost, the “Farthers,” as ruthless and cruel. 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 the 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 every move she makes puts her in more danger.

Is compassion—and love—worth the risk?

Welcome to my stop along the official blog tour for Frost by Kate Avery Ellison, hosted by AToMR Tours! I'm quite excited to tell you what I thought about this book! Basically, I loved it, and I was surprised that I loved it, just because I'd never heard of it book before I was given the opportunity to be a part of the tour. I am SO glad I got to read it! As always, my main points are bolded. :)

1. When I say this book is refreshing, I'm being extremely literal. This is such a great read for a hot summer day, because this book takes place in probably the coldest place ever: The Frost. It's cold and snowy and windy, with blizzards and fires in the fireplace and short days, with long nights. I loved it!

• "It was cold, the kind of cold that made bones feel brittle and hands ache. My breath streamed from my lips like smoke, and my feet made wet, crunching sounds in the snow as I slipped through the forest."
• "The snow swirled around me, like fat white moths in the darkness."
  

2. The writing is gorgeous, and it grabbed me within the first paragraph. Kate Avery Ellison has this amazing knack for presenting ideas like love, and the intense coldness of the Frost, in a beautiful way. 

• "Just thinking abut it took my breath away. I gazed at the world of snowy white around us, at the feathery pines and moonlit hollows. What forgotten secrets lay beneath this icy visage?"
• "The wind blew, stinging my cheeks and carrying with it the taste of ice. I slogged down the hill to the porch. My legs were weak with relief."
• "He kissed me at first like he was afraid I'd break, and then he kissed me like it was the last thing he'd ever do."
• "He looked at me like I was made of unbearable light and I was blinding him."
• "Love is a perilous dance too, you see. And if we stop dancing, we'll die. Don't ever stop dancing."

See? Beautiful! Don't some of those quotes make you went to melt into a puddle?

3. I love the storytelling. We are given just enough information to not feel completely unaware, but not enough to make things predictable. I loved the mystery and the unknowns. Like the monsters (Watchers)... Why are they here? What do they want? When will the show up? We are given information as we need it, not as we want it. I was flipping through the pages SO fast. The creativity behind this work is amazing!

4. The characters are all so likeable. Lia is strong and sensible. Her parents are dead, and she has to take care of her crippled twin brother and younger sister. She brings to the story that maturity a person gains when they are all of a sudden a teenage parent to children their own age. He siblings are so sweet and protective of her, but never try and hold her back from doing what she knows she has to do. The villain jumps out at you from nowhere, and the guy you thought you hated ends up being nothing you thought he was. 

5. Gabe is swoonworthy, which is why he needs his own bolded number. I mean, he's got this brooding hardened exterior, and is a man of few words... but the words he actually does say are perfect. He says the most amazing things to Lia. I melted. And he's from this forbidden people, so we've got the tension that goes with "I have a major thing for him, but I've been brought up to fear and loathe him." situation. Also, there's this slow build up with him. The romance is actually barely mentioned, since it's in the beginning stages. I bet the next book will include more. There's no instalove, though, so I am SO willing to wait longer. :)

6. The forest is a character all its own, and I loved it. It sounds so mystical and gorgeous, yet it freaked me out! Every time any person ventured into the trees, I got so scared for them. And as the sky grew darker and darker, and the monsters began to appear... OH MAN. Good stuff, I tell you!

7. The ending is amazing! It's suspenseful, charged with romance, and ah-ha! moments. Again, you are given the info you need to understand, but there are so many things screaming from inside of me, begging for the sequel. I can't wait! 

This book is a hidden gem. Again, I love being a book blogger, because I get to find all these amazing lesser-known books and then tell you to buy them! I'd recommend this to dystopia lovers, people who believe that monsters lurk in the dark, and swoonworthy male leads!

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Stop by the other tour stops for more book reviews, excerpts, deleted scenes, interviews, & more!