A review by booklovin
Of Ice and Snow by Amber Argyle

5.0

Another great prequel novella in the Fairy Queens series! I did not fall as much in love with this as with the Of Fire and Ash novella, but it's still very, very good. I really do love this series. A lot.

Review

Of Ice and Snow is the prequel novella to Winter Queen, the first book in the Fairy Queens series, and it tells the story of Ilyenna's parents, Otec and Matka. I haven't actually read Winter Queen yet, but that did not stop me from loving Of Ice and Snow. In other words - you can read the prequel without having read any of the other books in the series. But if you've already read them all, the novella will be a nice little extra and will give more depth to the background story of the series.

Of Ice and Snow starts off a bit slow, and it did take me a bit to get a feel for the story and the main characters, but a few chapters in, I was hooked. The pace picked up and from that point there was nonstop action until the very end, in typical Amber Argyle style. She's amazingly good at writing captivating and unputdownable books.

Though action packed, Of Ice and Snow also has a lot of depth and it will give you a roller coaster ride of emotions. The story of Otec and Matka is truly beautiful, but also heartbreaking. I was crying my eyes out during some parts and just as with Of Fire and Ash and Summer Queen it both broke my heart in a million pieces and made me all warm and fuzzy inside. That's what Argyle does best. She makes you ridiculously happy, and then she crushes your soul. But don't you just love when a book gives you all the feels? I do, for sure.

The story differs from the others as it's told from the male protagonist, Otec's, PoV. It was refreshing since I personally don't read that many books written from a man's PoV. Not because I don't want to, simply becasue most YA books I get my hands on are written from a female PoV. It's always nice with a mixture though and I think Argyle handled the new perspective well. I think Otec had an authentic voice and I liked reading from his PoV. I also think you get an in depth view of the female protagonist, Matka's, life as well even though you never get to read from her perspective. It's all very skillfully done.

What I loved the most with this novella, and probably mostly because I haven't gotten around to reading Winter Queen yet, was that you got a whole new perspective of the conflict in the series. In Of Fire and Ash and Summer Queen, you get the story from the people of Idara’s perspective, and consequently you take their side. What they've been through is awful and you want nothing else than for them to get out of the conflict alive and well. I wouldn't say I hated the Clansmen, but I sure did not think they were very nice people; invading land and murdering people like they were rulers of the world or something. In Of Ice and Snow on the other hand you get the Clansmen’s side of the story and suddenly the roles are reversed. The Idarans are the ones murdering and taking land that isn't theirs. And the Clansmen seem like the nicest people in the world. How I love when you get to see both sides of a conflict and read from the perspective of all the players. Why? Because it really shows how incredibly stupid war is. And always will be. Now my heart breaks for both the Idarans and the Clansmen and I hope the third and final book will make things better for both of them. And that it will be the ending of them fighting each other.

I did not fall as much in love with Of Ice and Snow as I did with the other prequel novella in the series, Of Fire and Ash, but I still think it’s a great novella. It has so many layers and for only being a novella it has a lot of depth and just as much story as a full length book. It’s fast paced, action packed and thoroughly enjoyable. It will have you on the edge of your seat and take you on an emotional roller coaster. I highly recommend it, regardless of if you’ve read Amber Argyle’s other books or not. I’m positive this one will leave you wanting more either way.