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A review by lovelymisanthrope
The Ice Queen by Alice Hoffman
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I stumbled across a copy of this book at a library book sale and thought it sounded interesting.
"The Ice Queen" follows an unnamed narrator throughout her life, starting as a young child and into her adult years. When she was young, her childhood was touched by tragedy, and ever since, she has kept everyone at an arm's length. When she is an adult, she is struck by lightning in her home. After this once in a lifetime phenomenon, she finally decides she needs to try to let people in, and she decides to start with Lazarus Jones, a fellow lightening survivor.
I have heard a lot about other titles from this author, but I had never heard of this book before I found it at a library book sale. I thought it would be interesting to begin my Alice Hoffman journey by reading something I knew less about.
This novel ended up being very fine for me. I thought it was interesting to follow a character as they try to recover from being struck by lightning, but the story itself ended up not being terribly memorable for me. I did not find the main character to be all that interesting on her own, which made it difficult for me to feel connected to her and her story.
One aspect I did enjoy about this story was the narrator's relationship with her brother, Ned. Ned seems like a great brother who does genuinely care for his sister. He meets her where she is at and does not push her to be anyone other than who she is. I also think we get to see the narrator open up more throughout the novel towards Ned.
Overall, this story was fine, but not a standout. I would recommend it to someone who wants to read specifically Alice Hoffman's work.
"The Ice Queen" follows an unnamed narrator throughout her life, starting as a young child and into her adult years. When she was young, her childhood was touched by tragedy, and ever since, she has kept everyone at an arm's length. When she is an adult, she is struck by lightning in her home. After this once in a lifetime phenomenon, she finally decides she needs to try to let people in, and she decides to start with Lazarus Jones, a fellow lightening survivor.
I have heard a lot about other titles from this author, but I had never heard of this book before I found it at a library book sale. I thought it would be interesting to begin my Alice Hoffman journey by reading something I knew less about.
This novel ended up being very fine for me. I thought it was interesting to follow a character as they try to recover from being struck by lightning, but the story itself ended up not being terribly memorable for me. I did not find the main character to be all that interesting on her own, which made it difficult for me to feel connected to her and her story.
One aspect I did enjoy about this story was the narrator's relationship with her brother, Ned. Ned seems like a great brother who does genuinely care for his sister. He meets her where she is at and does not push her to be anyone other than who she is. I also think we get to see the narrator open up more throughout the novel towards Ned.
Overall, this story was fine, but not a standout. I would recommend it to someone who wants to read specifically Alice Hoffman's work.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Death, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Pregnancy