Brad About Books: Frozen by Melissa de la Cruz and Michael Johnston

Read from July 5 to 6, 2013

FROZEN
Expected Publication Date: September 17, 2013
Publisher: Putnam (Penguin)
Format: ARC
Page Count: 336 pages
Source: ALA
Series: Heart of Dread, #1

From New York Times bestselling author Melissa de la Cruz and Michael Johnston comes this remarkable first book in a spellbinding new series about the dawn of a new kind of magic.

Welcome to New Vegas, a city once covered in bling, now blanketed in ice. Like much of the destroyed planet, the place knows only one temperature—freezing. But some things never change. The diamond in the ice desert is still a 24-hour hedonistic playground and nothing keeps the crowds away from the casino floors, never mind the rumors about sinister sorcery in its shadows.

At the heart of this city is Natasha Kestal, a young blackjack dealer looking for a way out. Like many, she's heard of a mythical land simply called “the Blue.” They say it’s a paradise, where the sun still shines and the waters are turquoise. More importantly, it’s a place where Nat won’t be persecuted, even if her darkest secret comes to light.

But passage to the Blue is treacherous, if not impossible, and her only shot is to bet on a ragtag crew of mercenaries led by a cocky runner named Ryan Wesson to take her there. Danger and deceit await on every corner, even as Nat and Wes find themselves inexorably drawn to each other. But can true love survive the lies? Fiery hearts collide in this fantastic tale of the evil men do and the awesome power within us all.

Ice deserts, and pirates, and dragons, oh my! Frozen is an utterly fantastic and epic adventure that was absolutely impossible to put down. This spellbinding start to a promising series has became one of my new favorite novels! I can't even begin to tell you how awesome this book is.

If you're needing something you've never read before: something so remarkably unique, something that will have you in its clutches, something that will get you invested into the world so much, Frozen is the way to go. Everything is iced over, pirates roam the seas, dragons lurk within the world, and Nat and Ryan set off on a lethal and deadly quest that will revolutionize the world. The adventures that Nat and Ryan endure in Frozen were phenomenal. From playing in a casino in Vegas to voyaging the seas, Nat and Ryan go on such an epic, heartstopping journey throughout this novel, and it's impossible to set down. I devoured this novel so quickly; I couldn't get enough!

World-building is my favorite part of a book. If an author(s) can craft together a brilliant, marvelous world, I'm sold on the novel. Oh boy, the world in Frozen is fantastic! Post-apocalytpic books are some of my favorites, but I don't think I've ever read a novel about an ice disaster. Frozen is a whirlwind of a novel that never let me go. I was enchanted by the fact of an ice desert with ice dragons roaming the world, and it's one of the key factors that makes Frozen heavily unique. Fantasy lovers, rejoice: you are going to fall so hard for the Heart of Dread series. I need the second book pronto!

The action scenes are phenomenal. Both Nat and Ryan are trying to find a way out of their miserable lives, and the only place left on this torn world for that is the Blue, only labeled a myth because it's a paradise where the sun shines bright. The journey to the Blue is treacherous, and Melissa de la Cruz and Michael Johnston do a dazzling job at taking the reader on this wild ride to find the paradise. Everything about Frozen worked perfectly for me, and it has become one of my reads for the year. Frozen will melt any icy heart and give new light to the fantasy genre! A must-read, without a doubt!

Overall, Frozen is a fantastic beginning to the series and left me begging for more. Melissa de la Cruz and Michael Johnston are a phenomenal and exceptional duo in YA. I want more of this world!

M Y    R A T I N G