Shadow Frost, by Coco Ma - ARC review

Hey, all! 

I just finished reading Shadow Frost, by Coco Ma! This was sent to me by Blackstone Publishing via Netgalley as an eARC. This will be published in October 2019. The fact that this is an arc does not alter my opinions. 

Before I even start reviewing this, take 2 minutes and pre-order this. It is worth it, I promise. 

P.S., this review is spoiler-free! 

"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 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."

The first thing you should know about this book, is that it's written by Coco when she was 15, and is being published just a year after she graduated high school. I've spoken with her and she is SUCH a ball of human sunshine! I am honoured to be able to share this book! I'll also be getting a physical ARC, so I'll be all over sharing this! 

Shadow Frost was such a smooth read. The writing made sense for the story, and the characters felt real. There was confusion and name-calling and stubbornness and laziness and none of them felt like a holier-than-thou Mary Sue. Even Asterin just felt like a normal teenager who just so happened to be able to control various elements. It was really refreshing to read characters like this - it was somewhat akin to Percy Jackson. Characters were relatable, which made it all the more fun! 

One of my favourite characters was Harry. I won't spoil a thing aside from the fact that he's a cinnamon roll and I wanna go in the book and hug him. 

Coco also did a good job depicting all kinds of relationships! There was a great cousin dynamic, a series of strong friendships, a (sorta insta-lovey but I shipped it right away so I can't judge) romance, and no love triangles! I thought there would be for a bit, but it ended up being something I couldn't anticipate. 

I loved the magic in this book - it had relatively clear rules, straightforward abilities and creative detours. Nobody overused their magic - it was simply a part of who these characters were, and I was all in for that! 

Shadow Frost has a plot that keeps moving, almost dancing with the reader. When you believe it to go one way, it takes you another, that only feels more clever. It's also super well-organised: a detail I liked was that, at times, shifting POVs described one thing, from two points of view. It gave a 3D feel to the plot, if that makes sense! 

And that ending! Shadow Frost punched me in the feels at the end - so many bombs were dropped! I always thought I knew what was happening, and it would shift! Aaa so good!

There were a few things I would just tweak - Quinlan's overuse of the word 'brat' is one I can think of now. He's not the best insulter, but it also does add to his charm. 

That's it for now! I could keep talking about this for a long time - I can't wait to meet other people who have read the book! 

I'm giving it 4.5/5 stars! 

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