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Enough with the angst! When are Arin and Kestrel actually going to see each other!!!!

Over half-way. This story moves right along, doesn't it? Much faster than a lot of other books. I've read 50 pages before I know it.

#Author Amanda Hocking
#Book Icekissed
#Progress About 1/3 through. Good pacing. Moving right along
#Thoughts I have a few predictions & thoughts on motivations. Affairs abound and someone's daughter came back :) Let's see if I'm right.

OOh Arin angst already.

Book Info

Title: Frostfire
Author: Amanda Hocking
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Hardcover Price: $22.99
Source: Public Library

 

Report Card:

Characters: B
Plot: B
Setting: C
Writing: C

 

Characters: 
Bryn Aven aka the White Rabbit
I like her. I do. I just feel like she's a little, oh I don't know, cliche? She's the badass chick who wants to be tough and ambitious and do her job and play with the boys and beat them at their own game but... then she's also got this softer side that wants the romance that she knows she can't have. I don't know. I just feel like I've been there before.
Ridley Dresden
I think he's almost the bad boy but doesn't quite make it there. Or perhaps, he was. He's a reformed player, only the girls knew it was a one nighter. Now he's a big boy with big boy responsibilities. Eh.
Konstantin Black aka the Villain (maybe??)
Probably the most interesting character here only because he's pretty much central to the story but we really don't know all that much about him. I'm kinda hoping for a romance with Bryn, but I don't think it'll happen.

Plot:
The mystery isn't enough to keep me up at night, but I want to know what happens. This is fairly routine with Hocking's books. They're just good enough to keep me intrigued. 

Setting:
I think she could have built this up more. Tell us more! [More in the writing below]

Writing:
Hocking has stated that she usually writes between 8,000-10,000 words per day. You can tell. The writing just felt, I don't know, hurried to me. It's easy to see how she could write 26 books in a few years. She just churns out words, but they lack real depths. I can't bring myself to FEEL for these characters or the story. There were no moments of gasping or disbelief. 

I will finish the series. These books are a fun bit of escape. 

This is just not moving fast enough for me! Give us some real story here, Ghost Writer!

Why is this dragging for me?

Who, oh, why is it taking me so long to get though this book? I usually devour anything that Riordan writes. But there's just something about this one that's dragging for me.

For some reason, people seem to think that I enjoy romances. Perhaps it's the flowers. Perhaps I wear too much pink. Whatever it is, it is lying to you. 
No, I do not like romances. Not with Sam. Not with green eggs & ham. Not at all.
Thank you.

One of the dullest Andrews books I've read.

Magnus is the best Riordan character since Percy himself!

7%- Loving Magnus. He's funny & spunky & a SURVIVOR. :)

Report Card
Characters- A
Plot- A
Setting - A+
Writing- A

 

Characters
It's a rare find in any book, that I enjoy all of the characters, even the ones that I don't like (if that makes any sense :)) Each person in this book is unique.
Our protag Bianca is a girl on a mission. She's pretty single-minded about it, which I can admire. She didn't let herself get distracted or discouraged. Also, she's incredibly selfless. She wants desperately to help her family, especially her grandmother, whom she is very close with, as well as her mother. I can relate to that. Despite this being a fantasy book, those relationships are very realistically done. She's also quite clever, which comes in very handy through this story. She makes friends fairly easily, considering how little time she has to do with, and she chooses with a great deal of discretion.
Her two best friends Camille and Leda play a pretty big part in this story, not only as her friends but supporters. They play off of each other well, and have something of a symbiotic relationship. Studious, plagued Leda keeps fresh, fun Camille grounded and centered. I enjoyed both of them.
And of course, there's Miss Mabel herself. I so wanted her to be this kindly, old crone who imparts wisdom, but that, she surely isn't. She's is quite cruel and heartless. Despite this, she does do her job, and teaches Bianca a great deal. Of course, this is for her benefit so...

Plot
There's a lot of plot here and a few different stories happening. The primary one is Bianca working to relieve her family and herself of a curse that was bestowed on her grandmother years ago and is passed down through her bloodline to females.
As I mentioned above, Bianca is quite single-minded. She went to school with a mission and never let up for a second. Even after

, she never gave up.
The plot carries quickly through the story with little filler or dull space. Something is always happening, though it isn't always in an action-packed sense. There are many times when Bianca is simply learning valuable information that progresses the plot.
When the story began I thought, My, this sounds a lot like The Goblet of Fire what with a small group of witches competing against each other in tests of wit and magical ability, and Bianca being younger than the others, and seemingly at a disadvantage. However, those thoughts and comparisons quickly dispelled and I was happy to see that it is indeed a very distinct story. So, if you get discouraged by that, please keep reading.

Setting
First of all, I love boarding schools, so this book was going to get points for that alone. More than that, though, we never get the feeling that we leave the school. You know, how sometimes you're super into a setting, but then there's this brief moment, maybe a page or a line, when a character says or does something and you think, That wouldn't have happened there. Do you have those? Sometimes I get those. But that didn't happen here. When you were in the classroom, you were in the classroom. When Bianca describes a dusty, cramped room, I felt like I was there with her. Setting was very well done.

Writing
Writing was quite good as well, for all the reasons aforementioned. it all came together well and I never felt like I was out of the loop or missing anything, but the story wasn't bogged down with descriptions either. It was a nice balance.[spoiler][/spoiler]