Review: Frostblood by Elly Blake

Title: Frostblood
Author: Elly Blake
Series: Frostblood Saga #1
Genre: YA/Fantasy/Romance
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: January 10th, 2017
Edition: Kindle Edition, 384 pages
Source: NetGalley
Purchase: Amazon US | Kobo | Barnes and Noble | Book Depository | iBooks | BAM

Synopsis:

     Seventeen-year-old Ruby is a Fireblood who must hide her powers of heat and flame from the cruel Frostblood ruling class that wants to destroy all that are left of her kind. So when her mother is killed for protecting her and rebel Frostbloods demand her help to kill their rampaging king, she agrees. But Ruby's powers are unpredictable, and she's not sure she's willing to let the rebels and an infuriating (yet irresistible) young man called Arcus use her as their weapon.

     All she wants is revenge, but before they can take action, Ruby is captured and forced to take part in the king's tournaments that pit fireblood prisoners against Frostblood champions. Now she has only one chance to destroy the maniacal ruler who has taken everything from her and from the icy young man she has come to love.

     Fast-paced and compelling, Frostblood is the first in a page-turning new young adult three-book series about a world where flame and ice are mortal enemies—but together create a power that could change everything.

So, this book is... strange. 

I'll elaborate. The story kind of has three parts. The first third is kind of a set up of who Ruby is and her set-up. Then there are all the events that happen at this abbey, then there are all the shenanigans that happen in the Frostblood palace and the arena fights.

The first third is some really good setup. I really enjoyed that part of the book. It happened all at once and felt both a little slow and a little rushed. Her short time in prison was kind of rushed, and we don't actually get to really see that much of what we are told happened to her. Though it is expressed that it's the same thing daily, so maybe the author didn't really feel the need to write more than one scene of them torturing her with ice water.

When we get to the abbey, that's when things start to feel a little cliche to me. She get's training, there's one monk who doesn't trust her at all, and decides to put them all in danger in efforts to keep them all safe, very cliche. A budding romance between our MC and a mysterious Frostblood... also very cliche and something that I felt kind of came out of nowhere. They can barely stand each other, we never hear her express that she finds him attractive in any way, then suddenly she is confessing feelings for him. It was just very cliche and almost caused me to stop reading.

But, then we get to the arena fights and the book picks up a lot, and things start to get really interesting. The story becomes fast paced and the writing improves here as well. The plot becomes more than just another "star-crossed lovers" story. Something that is over told to the point where it no longer holds any weight.

The ending was, fine. It didn't really feel like it ended smoothly. It was almost a jarring ending for me, I wasn't sure if it needed another chapter or one less chapter. If the sequel is on NetGalley, I'll request it, but beyond that, I don't know if I am excited enough about this book to care to seek out the sequel after it comes out.