Shadow Frost
By: Coco Ma
3/5 ⭐⭐⭐

Synopsis:

Blackstone Publishing, Oct 1, 2019
I recieved this early copy on behalf of the author and publisher, from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review...

In the kingdom of Axaria, a darkness rises.

Some call it a monster, laying waste to the villagers and their homes.Some say it is an invulnerable demon summoned from the deepest abysses of the Immortal Realm.Many soldiers from the royal guard are sent out to hunt it down.Not one has ever returned.

When Asterin Faelenhart, Princess of Axaria and heir to the throne, discovers that she may hold the key to defeating the mysterious demon terrorizing her kingdom, she vows not to rest until the beast is slain. With the help of her friends and the powers she wields—though has yet to fully understand—Asterin sets out to complete a single task. The task that countless trained soldiers have failed.

To kill it.

But as they hunt for the demon, they unearth a plot to assassinate the princess herself instead. Asterin and her companions begin to wonder how much of their lives have been lies, especially when they realize that the center of the web of deceit might very well be themselves. With no one else to turn to, they are forced to decide just how much they are willing to sacrifice to protect the only world they have ever known.

That is ... if the demon doesn’t get to them first.

My Thoughts:
First let me just that I really wanted to love this book!! It had its moments where i thought it would pick up and get better. However that was not the case...
The character builds are spotty at best, there are more useless details than relatable ones. The world building was horrible, I feel I know nothing about the setting of the story.
There were some really solid aspects, there were 6 POVs, which can make things messy if not done well. Here it was slightly disorienting, and a few critical flaws but all-in-all the writing was well done. The love matches seemed trite, stilted, forced and clunky at times BUT even so, they also managed to be sweet at other times so there's that. The plot had too many convenient or easily foreseen twisty turns.
This isn’t, strictly speaking, a bad book. It’s relatively entertaining, but it’s extreme and predictable. It has that Disney-esque quality of good triumphing over evil. The characters are highly powered with limited training and few consequences. Especially where the MC is concerned, Asterin is completely annoying!!
Even though this wasnt my meat and potatoes dont take my word, try it out for yourself you may enjoy it. I would reccomend for a younger reader just getting into young adult reading, but it just wasnt for me. Thank you to NetGalley, Coco Ma, and Publisher for my early copy for review.

This book really surprised me. First of all, I really hope there's a sequel because it can't just end there. I found the characters very interesting, especially the girls. I loved how much mystery there was as well. Definitely a great read.

I received a copy of Shadow Frost from Blackstone Publishing in exchange for an honest review.

I'm a sucker for world building and this one was a thrill to read.

I loved the way magic was portrayed in this book but most importantly I adore the characters.

I really really hope there's going to be a sequel to this one, because that cliffhanger!

“Eternity. It was endless and gray as the bleak sky above, broken only by the craggy teeth of the mountain peaks.”

I was quite looking forward to Shadow Frost. The blurb is intriguing, the cover is beautiful, and it has lots of good reviews. Also, the prologue and first chapter had me hooked. They immediately established tension and a really interesting world. (The map at the beginning is amazing too. I spent a while studying it and admiring the names and layout.)

However, I was instantly struck by the writing style. This kind of sentence structure appeared a lot:

“Her breaths became gasps as she struggled to maintain her focus, muscles quivering from exertion.”

“The queen turned, a single brow arched.”

I don’t know… maybe it’s just me, but there were so many sentences spliced by commas that it started to bug me. They can definitely be effective, but they become rather unprofessional when overused.

On another note, the features of the main character are described through the use of a mirror. This is a bit cliche…

I did like the main character she was feisty and brave, albeit a bit reckless. But the romance…

“You…you can’t just take off your shirt like that,” she stammered.

“Why? Does it bother you?” he teased, nothing short of delighted.

“Yes! No! I don’t care. I’ve seen shirtless men before anyway.”

He quirked an eyebrow, “Oh?”

That just makes me cringe. It’s like a cheesy high school romance.

Anyways, I think I better stop here. Perhaps you will enjoy this book. It does have good qualities. However, it was not my cup of tea.

I absolutely adored this, it’s an amazing read from start to finish , full of well written and developed characters. I love Asterin so much she is an exceptional main character, I can’t wait for the next book, because there has to be another right after that ending. This is definitely being added to the One of my favourite reads of this year list

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

I don't even know where to start haha

First let's talk about the story, the plot, the twists...
I loooooooved the idea of this story, I loved the elemental magic (I have a soft spot for it). The plot is simple: a princess (with her crew) going after a monster, a beast who is killing people. They need to put it down fast. Simple but it worked so much because it left the necessary space for plot twists and storytelling...

The twists:
I feel like there was way too many twists in the book put there and there and there again. I didn't understand to point of them all but the writing style made up for it because I really didn't mind them while reading the book.

The characters:
I loved them all! This is so weird because it has actually never happened to me to not have a preference. I loved all the characters in that book, I loved them all! We had a background story for each character. I think the mutiple point of views helped with that as it felt natural. I didn't feel as we were getting to many information about them. They were also very different to each other.

Asterin, the main character, the princess was a badass!
Luna, the princess' friend doesn't remember her past, and struggle with her magic
Rose is the Queen of another kingdom
Orion trained Asterin to be a warrior and he is pretty badass himself
Eadric is Luna's lover (such a cute little couple)
Quinlan is a brilliant warrior as well
Harry, a hunter who joined them later

So I was so committed to the story from page one. I have to be honest I was pretty impressed. But I had some issues with the way the story evolved. I feel like the characters' relationships were going to fast. Like they didn't know each other and then two days later they were best friends. It juste didn't make sense to me. And also the fact that we were reading one twists after another at some point made me questionned myself as if the author decided to change the story even if in the middle of it. it's like the author had an idea of where the story would go and then in the middle of the story decided to change it a little bit.

But even with that I enjoyed the story from page one until the very last word. The characters were likeable and I enjoyed reading about them. The story had magic, a bit of romance, friendship, lies, truth, secrets, ... I really did love that world it was as easy to understand everything as easy to get lost in the story!

I love the elemental magic! It was fresh, new, different and not cliché at all!

Well useless to say that I cannot wait for the sequel!!!

Incorporating seamless world-building, progressive character arcs, and themes/symbolism from across decades of literary decadence, Coco Ma manages to create a novel that is insightful, unique, compelling, and enjoyable.

Shadow Frost is a debut novel by young author Coco Ma. It’s the first book in a new fantasy YA series. It’s a story about Asterin, Princess of Axaria. There is a demon terrorising her kingdom, and it seems that she’s the only one who can defeat it. Together with her friends and elite guards, she’s embarking on a hunt. But none of them can predict the outcome of this journey.
This book is full of action, adventure and has an impressive magic system. There are nine elements that a person can wield, like water, air, ice, fire, and so on. Most people can use about three of them, but there are legends of some, who have powers to command them all. There is also the tenth element, shadow, but it is forbidden in all of the kingdoms, as it’s too powerful and hazardous.
While reading this book, I could tell that it was written by a young person. There are loads of situations that, for me, seems very childish and made me roll my eyes. Party banter was mainly based on teasing between the members, and they could go on like forever. Some scenes were so typical it was cliché. Like the one, where two guys are coming into princess bedroom, and she is of course in very short, sexy nightgown and then they duel anyway, because why not. The other thing I really didn’t like, was a habit of one of the male characters to call a princess a brat. And of course, she didn’t mind or whatsoever. What was that about? It was neither cute, nor did it fit the scenery of a fantasy kingdom. And it was going on for the whole book.
The start was also very slow. In the first few chapters, not much is happening. There are just scenes from the life of Princess Asterin and mostly occur in her rooms. If I wasn’t reviewing this book, I don’ t knows if I would continue reading until finally, some plot starts.
But the story does have potential. The magic system was quite enjoyable, besides elements, there were also affinity stones needed to do magic. There were Immortals, the gods who, in theory, did not interfere with mortals, but sometimes they do appear to help or guide them. And there is an evil Shadow God, most powerful of them all, who is not playing according to the rules and keeps influencing the human world. There is a powerful, immortal demon and loads of dark magic spreading through the realms.
Then again, the world was not described in many details. We know the kingdom of Axaria, where the action happens, and we know there are some other realms. But not much besides that. There was one scene at the end of the book with a great ball (of course there had to be a ball!) where all the royals from all the kingdoms came, and the author tried to describe them all in one paragraph. I just got to the third one, and then skipped the rest, because otherwise, I would fall fast asleep.
I think that this book is more for younger readers. Maybe they would not be discouraged with the author writing style. I’m sure the author will get better in her writing, as it is her debut book. Because some ideas are amazing, it’s just the execution that is something to work on.

This was an enjoyable read! The characters were all well developed and the world-building was well defined. The author was able to bring the reader into the story's world in a way that wasn't overwhelming, despite the magical nature of the story. I'm interested to see what book 2 brings!

I thought there were some definite highlights of this book but overall it was very forgettable and cliche. It was very reminiscent of Victoria Aveyard or Bardugo or any other fantasy that contains wielding the elements; the princess being able to wield all of them just like her love interest. While there was some great world building and descriptive passages that lend themselves to a large perspective where the reader can bring the story to life, the dialogue was very teen angsty and showed at the authors juvenile writing style (for the age of 15). I felt the best chapters were actually the ones that didn't involve the 2 main love interests but were told from other people point of view. Overall, I didn't feel there was any raving quality about this book or story that I hadn't already read in other published works.

I'm sad to say I couldn't get into this book. Maybe it was because of the fact that the digital arc was set up weird like it's supposed to have pictures, that just didn't quite load, that broke up the story in weird places. Or maybe it was my temperment at the moment. I couldn't feel myself getting pulled into the story or a connection to the characters. This book just wasn't for me.

DNF.
First of all, thank you for giving me the opportunity to review this book. Frankly, I'm astounded by the high rating. After a couple of pages I had the impression that this was written by a high school student and then I found out it actually was. For such a young author she is doing a good job, but I think she still has to learn a lot. To me it just felt too forced and it was way too descriptive, so much telling instead of showing. Too many adjectives to describe different characters' eyes or hair or body don't help to add depth, on the contrary, it all seems very shallow. Also the magic at work is always explained instead of integrated into the plot. And the language is too anachronistic for a story that is clearly inspired by a medieval background. Maybe it does get better towards the end but I gave up at around 15% as I found the language, the story telling technique and the language irritating. One could argue that I can't judge the book properly after reading only a couple of pages, but when something annoys me right from the start, I'm not likely to change my opinion. As this was written by an adolescent, it might make sense to let other teenagers review it; maybe the story does resonate with them or they might forgive the author her lack of technique. I'd give Coco Ma two stars for this - just for the attempt to write a novel at such a young age.

There are some authors I love beyond their books. I appreciate their humour, the struggles they have endured, what they stand for, how nice they seem as a person, or how they use their platform to spread awareness. I don't think I have ever been as impressed by an author as I am by Coco Ma, however. Not only is she a musical genius but she wrote this book when she was FIFTEEN YEARS OLD!! This book is such a strong debut novel and the young age of the author only goes to make it seem even more impressive. I feel inadequate!

Shadow Frost follows Princess Asterin Faelenhart. She is not your typical lady at court, preferring sparring at dusk and honing her magical powers in secret than parading her figure or sitting meekly as the Queen would see her do. But Asterin has been unknowingly training for a task ahead of her and the safety of the entire realm is at risk if she fails. A demon is lurking, a plot has been hatched, and trust has been breached.

This was such a consistently intriguing and thrilling read. The magic that formed much of the initial focus was unique in its construction and it played its part inside a story-line that was just as exciting to read about. Asterin's fiesty nature made her an immediately relatable protagonist who I rooted for from the very first page. The trials she faced allowed her to grow without losing her spirit and I was just as enamoured with her at the story's close. I can't wait to see what this author has next in store, for Asterin and for the reader!

Shadow Frost has a very intriguing premise. It promises magic powers, a brave princess fighting for her people and plots hidden in plots. It stayed intriguing enough for me to finish it, but sadly there were a couple bigger issues with it. The main issue was the pacing of the plot, it felt a little all over the place and I struggled keeping up with it at times, then other times I found myself bored to death. By this I mean the "main" plot seemed to be running headfirst at me in the first 20% of the book, then it was as if I didn't see it again until closer to 60%. All the travel went incredibly fast just to be stuck in the same place for several weeks with no progression of any kind. It made it a bit harder for me to enjoy the story. The other big issue was the lack of character development, it all felt quite rushed and unfinished in a way. Some of the relationships between characters seemed to develop off-page, so the reader is left without a ticket to join the ride, which is what I usually want to be part of.

When I reached the ending of the book, there were so many big revelations that I struggled understanding what was even going on. This seemed to be the main struggle with my reading, I had a very hard time simply understanding and caring enough about what was going on. I think the book would have benefited from having less "big" characters or chapters dedicated to different povs (there are several povs, but they are hard to keep track of), in order for the readers to get closer to the characters. I also feel some of the characters were a bit simplex, and they all had that "over-powered-hero"-role in one way or another. It was like reading a book with 6 Harry Potter Chosen Ones.

To end it on a good note, I'd like to say that when I did manage to bond with the characters I found them very entertaining. I loved the magic system, but hey, elemental-based magic? Sign me up! I also liked some of the big reveals, I just felt that there was way too many of them happening in the same two chapters. If this book had been split in two books, or even some of the characters had been given novellas or their own books, it would have been better. For now, there was just too much happening at once. I had a lot of fun buddyreading this with two of my close friends on Bookstagram though, and the book was definitely both entertaining and worth the read! I'd recommend this for people who love ya and aren't all that technical on the style of writing and such (I often find myself unable to properly get into a book if the writing disagrees with me, but not everyone's like that!). It's a super fun fantasy novel and even though it deals with some stereotypical roles in fiction, I found it to be a fresh breath of air! Definitely check it out if you like books about magic!!

As this is also a debut novel, I find I am super excited to follow Coco Ma and watch her grow as an author!

Shadow Frost was an engaging and fast-paced Fantasy read.

The story moved along quickly and kept me hanging on until the very end. While there were a few plot points that felt a little predictable for the genre, I still really enjoyed the story overall with other aspects of the story that felt new. The magic system was interesting and I liked the detail that went into that aspect of the book. The characters were likeable and very well developed. Asterin and her Elite squad all had their own flaws and motivations that I wanted to learn more about which continually pulled me further into the story.

Overall, this was a great story. I would definitely read more from this author and look forward to her next book.

When Asterin Faelenhart, Princess of Axaria and heir to the throne, discovers that she may hold the key to defeating the mysterious demon terrorizing her kingdom, she vows not to rest until the beast is slain. With the help of her friends and the powers she wields—though has yet to fully understand—Asterin sets out to complete a single task. The task that countless, trained soldiers have failed.

To kill it.

But as they hunt for the demon, they unearth a plot to assassinate the Princess herself instead. Asterin and her companions begin to wonder how much of their lives have been lies, especially when they realize that the center of the web of deceit might very well be themselves. With no one else to turn to, they are forced to decide just how much they are willing to sacrifice to protect the only world they have ever known.

That is… if the demon doesn’t get to them first.- Goodreads

I tried to give this book a try not once, not twice but three times. Eventually I was able to finish it but not without a sigh of relief.
If you didn’t notice, I did not like this book but it was not for lack of trying. Let’s talk about characters first. Asterin was a brat from beginning to end and she wasn’t as humble as she should have been given everything that had happened; especially at the end. Seriously . . .at the end of the novel she showed her true colors and she was just trash. How could anyone actually like her (in real life AND within the novel) I don’t know.
The surrounding characters were lack luster as well. ESPECIALLY, the romantic interest. There was no depth to any of them and although the author tried to give them a grand backstory and a huge plot twist, they were generic cookie cutter characters that was suppose to make Asterin’s story complicated but fruitful.
*rolls eyes*
I know that I seem to be a bit harsh with this review. But I cannot hide my disappointment and mostly because the ending was the best part of the book. Not because it ended but because Asterin’s true colors came out and how selfish and just not as great as everyone boosted about all book. Yes, the grit of the book comes full circle at the end, however, it came off that the author was throwing everything in at once. Too much information was being discovered last moment in the middle of a fight scene and again Asterin was pretty lame.
Overall, this book was a no for me. I kept giving it a chance because of how highly it was being rated. But when I first started the book I stopped at 20% in. The second time I stopped at 46% and the third time I finished it.
I am not a fan of this book OH! And that last page. . . nice try.
1 Pickle

This was a well developed fantasy, with beautiful writing that makes the reader able to enter a new fantasy land and learn about magic. While fantasy is not my normal genre, I have to admit they are a nice break from my thrillers, and while there is often mysteries or puzzles to solve (which this book contains), they are so different and are fun to read! This book did a good job of getting me engaged and needing to see what was going to happen in this new world I’ve never gotten to explore! So well done on creating a fantastic fantasy, with beautiful imagery, fierce characters, and amazing magic!
Will be recommending to the members of Chapter Chatter Pub!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the chance to read this book!

God, this is going to be a hard review to write. No matter what I say, I'm going to sound like I hated this book, and I actually didn't. I tried to vocalize my issues with it to my partner, and he sympathetically said 'Well I hope the next one's better, ay?' without realizing I DID like this book, I was just beyond frustrated.

First of all, I never really enjoy books where they overhype the 'special' someone. You know how it is, a book filled with martial arts geniuses, master theives, master chessplayers after their first game, master everythings with the only weakness being deathly afraid of onions or something. Well this book outdid itself in that department. Not one or two characters, but all 8 of what I consider the main 'pairings' to be. Even where they spend most of the book blending in, all of sudden they were hit with the special. A master class, this next generation, fooling the more experienced adults with such trickery -sigh- I needed this in a smaller dose. It was just so overdone as to be completely unbelievable.

So. After that, you'd think I would hate this book. BUT I DIDN'T. I enjoyed the writing, the pacing, the world. I even enjoyed the cliched ending. In small doses I can handle the special. I still want to know how other characters get their HEA. I also appreciated the subtle Snow White themes/story here, and wonder if it will continue.

I know many people will enjoy this book, and most probably won't question it the way I did. I suppose I look for the imperfection in people as a plus (that is far more interesting to me) This is an action packed YA with great fantasy, some cute romance/pairings and some great writing. I just needed the less is more approach. Three stars.

I received a digital ARC of Shadow Frost from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was such a good book! I was intrigued as soon as I started reading and couldn't put it down.

The most notable thing about it is that elemental magic is used in a creative AND non-cliche way! There was great character development and plenty of plot twists to keep things interesting.

Highly imaginative, with dynamic characters and a rich and complex system of Magic, Shadow Frost is full of those ah-hah moments and punches of power that are sure to make legions of Asterin, Quinlan, (and definitely Harry) fans. I loved the idea of this book, ie the characters and plot, and while the writing is not bad, it has a juvenile feel to it that somehow lessened its impact on me. Its hard to describe because its not necessarily the content (or the sentence structure etc which is perfectly fine) - I've read plenty of YA novels with both more mature and less mature content and have liked both - but more a feeling I get that the author themselves is young and so the story is maybe lacking some perspective that would come with age. Its a really good story - I just feel it could be a really GREAT and epic fantasy series with a few more years under the authors belt.

Some of the characters back stories felt awkwardly placed, and obviously this hasn't had a final copy edit yet (No zippers, Stove/Oven combos, or metal fire escapes should exist in this setting).

I guess what it comes down to is I LOVE the IDEA of this story, the characters, the complexity of magic, the gods and demons, and the relationships between them all, with plenty of mysterious reveals (one of my favorites aspects of the genre) but feel like the writing just didn't quite take the story where it could have gone. Will a YA audience probably be completely satisfied? Yes I think so, its a really good and unique fantasy adventure. Will an older more saavy reader wax poetic about it? Maybe not. That being said, it would seem this is part of a series and I can't wait to read more from this author as they continue to practice their craft, my guess is these books will only get BETTER and BETTER and BETTER.