A review by mierke
First Frost by Liz DeJesus
4.0
This book is really well structured. It doesn’t start in the middle, but it starts with setting the scene. The first quarter of the book is devoted to establishing the connection between Bianca and her mother, to Bianca getting a bit used to the idea that magic is real, to letting the reader form an emotional connection to both Bianca and her mother. When everything goes to hell in chapter six, the stakes are raised and you really want Bianca to succeed in her quest.
At first, this book seems to follow the stereotypical characters that seem to be set for these books: a female heroine who just wants a normal life, her quirky best friend, and her one parent (for some reason these characters never have two parents). But soon Bianca, Ming and Rose turn shed their stereotypes and turn into actual human beings. I loved all three of these characters. Bianca is a strong fighter, and Ming her loyal sidekick – but they’re both more than that. Bianca also loves fiercely, and Ming has this quirky personality that nicely balances out Bianca’s more serious side. I love that both Bianca and Ming get scared. Not just a little, but actually frightened. It makes this whole quest seem so much more realistic and so much more dangerous.
Instead of Bianca having to face everything alone, her and her mother are in this together, and Rose is actually helping out Bianca. They have an us vs. them attitude that I much prefer over the “I have to do it all on my own” thing that most of these books seem to apply.
Terrence, Bianca’s love interest, was a bit too cardboard for me. I would have liked it if he would have gotten some more personality, and I’m hoping to see that in the next book. Prince Ferdinand was absolutely hilarious (he’s just riding around to find a princess to save, for example).
The only character that could have used a bit more characterization was Lenore. I could have done without the chapters from her point of view, because I thought these cemented her as the typical evil villain, making those chapters the definite weak point of the book.
What I loved most about the setting of this book is that there is some actual mythology woven around the use of magic; for example, we get to see Bianca train, and I loved that. Add to that the fact that the fairytales reside on an alternate universe and Bianca crosses over in this book, and you’ve got everything set for me to enjoy the world!
The ending, though, felt a bit rushed. For a moment I was entirely confused over what happened in fairy tale land, and I’m still not entirely sure what the very last scene means.
At first, this book seems to follow the stereotypical characters that seem to be set for these books: a female heroine who just wants a normal life, her quirky best friend, and her one parent (for some reason these characters never have two parents). But soon Bianca, Ming and Rose turn shed their stereotypes and turn into actual human beings. I loved all three of these characters. Bianca is a strong fighter, and Ming her loyal sidekick – but they’re both more than that. Bianca also loves fiercely, and Ming has this quirky personality that nicely balances out Bianca’s more serious side. I love that both Bianca and Ming get scared. Not just a little, but actually frightened. It makes this whole quest seem so much more realistic and so much more dangerous.
Instead of Bianca having to face everything alone, her and her mother are in this together, and Rose is actually helping out Bianca. They have an us vs. them attitude that I much prefer over the “I have to do it all on my own” thing that most of these books seem to apply.
Terrence, Bianca’s love interest, was a bit too cardboard for me. I would have liked it if he would have gotten some more personality, and I’m hoping to see that in the next book. Prince Ferdinand was absolutely hilarious (he’s just riding around to find a princess to save, for example).
The only character that could have used a bit more characterization was Lenore. I could have done without the chapters from her point of view, because I thought these cemented her as the typical evil villain, making those chapters the definite weak point of the book.
What I loved most about the setting of this book is that there is some actual mythology woven around the use of magic; for example, we get to see Bianca train, and I loved that. Add to that the fact that the fairytales reside on an alternate universe and Bianca crosses over in this book, and you’ve got everything set for me to enjoy the world!
The ending, though, felt a bit rushed. For a moment I was entirely confused over what happened in fairy tale land, and I’m still not entirely sure what the very last scene means.