Book Review - Frozen

Frozen
Author: Melissa De La Cruz, Michael Johnston
Series: Heart of Dread #1
Genres: Dystopian, Fantasy | Young Adult
Release Date: 2nd October 2014
Publishers: Orchard Books
No. Pages: 365
Source: Review Copy - Orchard Books
Rating: 
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Welcome to New Vegas, a city once covered in bling, now blanketed in ice. Like much of the destroyed planet, the place knows only one temperature - freezing. But some things never change. The diamond in the ice desert is still a 24-hour hedonistic playground and nothing keeps the crowds away from the casino floors, never mind the rumors about sinister sorcery in its shadows.

At the heart of this city is Natasha Kestal, a young blackjack dealer looking for a way out. Like many, she's heard of a mythical land simply called "the Blue." They say it's a paradise, where the sun still shines and the waters are turquoise. More importantly, it’s a place where Nat won’t be persecuted, even if her darkest secret comes to light.

But passage to the Blue is treacherous, if not impossible, and her only shot is to bet on a ragtag crew of mercenaries led by a cocky runner named Ryan Wesson to take her there. Danger and deceit await on every corner, even as Nat and Wes find themselves inexorably drawn to each other. But can true love survive the lies?

For me this review is a hard one to write. It's not because this book really wasn't what I was expecting, it's because in all honestly I'm not exactly sure how to review a book that had too much going on and nothing at the same time. I know that doesn't make sense but bare with me.

When I requested this book all those months ago, I was so excited for it. No I haven't read anything by Melissa De La Cruz and maybe this will be the first, and last book I read by her but for a book with such a stunning cover and such brilliant ideas, it's a shame when it's let down by lack of explanation. We have a book about children with strange markings and special abilities to go with it, we have a harsh and cold frosty future. The big glaring problem we faced with is we don't know why. Normally when a book in a series like this one, has lacked some explanation or development of some kid, I hope and pray it will get better as the book and story goes on. But Sadly for Frozen, the necessity of the information lacked was just too much to over look.

As far as the characters go, I didn't find myself getting attached to any other than Shakes. That doesn't mean I didn't like them, they were ok enough characters I just didn't really feel there was much character development, everything moves too quickly. Specially the romance, I was sure that a book written by husband and wife would have a brilliant love story but that's not what I got.

I know this isn't exactly a coherent review or gives you any insight into the book at all, but I've been sitting at my computer for the best part of 3 hours trying to come up with a good way to explain the book. The sad fact of life is I came away from this book feeling very, very confused and because of that I don't feel like I can write a proper review on it as half the time I didn't know what the hell I was reading.

What you should know is that this book wasn't terrible, a lot of things were wrong and though I may not have liked it as much as others, it was a fun read at times and I'm sure others will be able to look past the things I couldn't.