I forgot to leave a review for this, but I really enjoyed it! It's been out for ages, so I won't say much more than I need to for my star rating. <3

I've tried to read this book a few times and it doesn't seem to stick with me. I definitely believe this is a case of the reader and not the book.

Thank you so much to net galley for sending me a copy of this book. The world is super creative and immersive and I can’t wait to read more from the author

This is a great fantasy read with a wonderfully strong female lead! Askia is willing to do anything and go anywhere to save her kingdom. The intrigue and political games that stand in her way make this a very interesting read!

I really enjoyed this book! I thought that the characters were well thought out, and not just two dimensional. I enjoyed the plot and the political intrigue. I have seen that this is classified as Young adult but I believe it should be classified adult, or at the very least new adult.

I thoroughly enjoyed The Frozen Crown. A driven and powerful princess-general, death magic, intrigue and a splash of romance all combined into a satisfying and compelling read, and I can't to read the sequel!

Going into this book I really didn't have high hopes for some reason. But let me tell you, this book was amazing. It was action-packed with twists and turns and one heck of a cliffhanger ending. Askia is a young witch who has become the heir to the Frozen Crown of Seravesh. In a world where being a witch is not acceptable, she has to keep her powers a secret. The Rovan Empire is invading and attacking Askia's territory and she knows she can't fight them alone. She sets off to enlist the help of the Vishir and Emperor Armaan. What she finds there is an adventure that every reader will enjoy. This book kept me wanting to read more and more. And after that ending, I need to get my hands on the next book. 4 stars. Thank you, NetGalley for the eARC.

The beginning was great, but the book was just not for me. This one found a spot on my DNF shelf. The writing, plot, and main character were all great so I can't blame the book. It just wasn't a good match, it was too slow for me

This book was amazing! I love reading about this fantasy world and unique characters. Some I hate, some I love and even cry for. This book had me hooked right away and I loved every moment of reading it. This is an amazing fantasy. It had twists and turns that you don’t see coming. It was actually a refreshing read. The ending has me desperately needing to read book two. Highly recommend this for all fantasy readers.

On Goodreads, you're going to see that this is under "YA," but it's really not. It's more of an adult fantasy, which I like a lot more. I don't often like YA fantasy because so much of it is longing glances and agonizing over the teenage love interest by the protagonist and it's just distracting. This is a duology, which I also appreciate, because so many authors seem to want to stretch everything to a trilogy when it's unnecessary, but I liked this and I'm looking forward to the next one!

Thank you to the publishers, author and NetGalley for the free copy of this book!

I absolutely loved this! At first I really wasnt sure if I was going to be able to get into it but then the political intrigue started and I started to fall in love with the characters. I need to get my hands on the next book and would absolutely recommend this to anyone!

Book took too long to build up to conclusion. Kept putting down and not coming back. finally pushed through to finish. Has good plot but just took too long to get there. Not enough action.

"Yours is the longest of roads, the hardest. But my dear, you were born to it. You were raised a traveler and your journey is not yet done.”

Princess Askia is the heroine I needed. Strong willed and thoughtful and calculated, her actions and words have purpose. This was what drew me in, a strong young woman with a set goal.

The world of Seravesh and Vishir was built well, without taking over the plot or character development. The amount of detail gave me the ability to imagine the scenery clearly as Askia narrated, and I was just as suspicious of the supporting characters around as she was. As the book is mainly focused on the political process of gaining military support, I felt the intensity of mistrust of those around her in the Court and kept me on my toes.

The heat given off the multiple love interests, though! Askia is clearly a beautiful and mysterious woman in Vishir. Her actions often times do not align with the way women are supposed to behave in those lands. This gives the men a run for their money, and so will her sword. Though the scene's between them are subtle, they keep any romantic ready to read more.

Why didn't I give this 5 stars? - After sitting with my feelings, I thought of some of repetitive information given in the story. Though there was not a lot, there was enough for me to say, 'I already know this, skip ahead', and a couple scenes that did not seem to hold any more purpose than a place holder, in my opinion.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it to any fantasy reader. As the first in a duology, this has left me wanting more and I am ready for the next book

This was a very interesting book to read. I appreciated that from the very beginning Askia was a strong character who knew what she wanted/needed and was prepared to fight for it. I am still a bit unsure of how I feel about the eventual romantic relationships, but overall I enjoyed the story. I definitely want to find out what happens next! The magic of the world is also intriguing, and I want to see how that aspect of the story develops in the next book.

Book TW: torture of a child (referenced), childhood trauma

The Frozen crown took me a couple chapters to get into, but once I was there, I was pretty much hooked until the end. I would say the book’s largest strength is getting you to care about what Askia cares about. She wants to plead the Emperor Armaan for an army to save her country, so you desperately want her to succeed. She cares for her guards, so you care for her guards, even if you know precious little about them. The world, despite not having the most in-depth world building still feels quite vast and diverse.
I particularly LOVED watching Askia have to turn quickly adjust her strategies to fit her situation and become more savvy and a worthy ruler throughout the book. It is interesting to see a headstrong, warrior character who is willing to learn and grow and not just always fight their way out of their problems. I didn’t go into this book expecting political intrigue, but dang did I get it. I also appreciate having a good necromancer character and the magic system is interesting. I do wish a couple of the side characters (esp. Illya) got a bit more development, but the ones that did get some development I really thought worked well (i.e. Armaan, Ozura, Nariko, etc.)
That being said, there were three things that just... didn’t work for me. One I could get over, one just... wasn’t logical, and one I’m still sort of stewing about. The first was just some mildly uncomfortable romance... narratively necessary? Yes. Still makes me feel weird? Still yes.
The second one was what I would consider to be a lapse in logic in pretty much all of the characters... especially the ones that we KNOW are paranoid about Rozan???! Illya? Askia? No one? I can’t say more without major spoilers but... just ack!
And finally, there are two plot twists at the end of the book. The first twist I thought was really good and had me SO looking forward to the next book with the setup it offered. The second twist almost immediately destroyed all of that and I’m still annoyed at it.... granted, I can’t judge the second book before it’s out, but I think because it came so soon after the first twist it did not have the desired impact. If it had been that same twist at the end of book two where you’d spent more time to earn it? Sure. But as far as I’m concerned, only the first twist was actually earned. The second one just felt like it was there for shock factor and plot device (also, connected to the aforementioned logic lapse from the characters).
So basically what I’m saying is I THOROUGHLY enjoyed myself from about chapter 2/3 all the way until like... the last 3ish pages. So I still think it was good and worth a read, but it definitely wasn’t perfect (at least for me). I’d be curious to see what others think of it and if they have the same opinions about the ending? Let me know if you’ve read it or have plans to do so!

Thanks for allowing me to review the e-ARC in exchange for my honest, unbiased, unpaid review.
I enjoyed reading this fantasy, filled with the story of a princess fighting to keep her land and crown, the Frozen Crown, from being overrun by a fierce dictator. She is a fierce fighter with a huge heart that bleeds for her people and will stop at practically nothing to keep them safe, no matter what the other kings and rulers think of her. The worldbuilding and characters are excellent in this story. My only complaint is that the book seems to open rather abruptly with no real opening scene, almost as if it's missing. Once you get past the first few pages the story reels you in and keeps you hooked!
#avon #harpervoyager #thefrozencrown #fantasybooks #booklover #bookstagram #earc #netgalley

Thank you for the ark copy NetGalley. Wow! There are so few high fantasy novels written for adults that are worth a read, that I am glad I stumbled across this one in my searching.

The characters are rich and muli-level. The main storyline is strong. There are a lot of characters, but not so many that you can't keep track.
It is a bit gory.
The lead is a "woman of steel." She is young but knows her focus.
Can't wait for the next book in Nov 2021

How does one explain to their friends that they preordered this book BEFORE entirely finishing their eARC of it? Asking for a friend, of course!!!! This book is everything! I cannot stress enough that you NEED to read this because I can’t suffer on my own.

In all seriousness though, I find that most books either have amazing characters or a scream-worthy plot. The Frozen Crown had BOTH?!?!?! ...that’s illegal. The author did an incredible job of making the magic and the world complex yet accessible. I want to know so much more about the magic, but readers were given a lot to work with and explore right off the bat.

Ok, ok, I’ll stop gushing about this book. But, seriously, it was amazing and it might be one of my favorite books of the year.

I would recommend this book for any YA Fantasy readers looking to venture into Adult Fantasy. More specifically, I would categorize The Frozen Crown as New Adult because it combines elements of both genres. It features a 21-year-old protagonist who tells her story in 1st person POV, but the content is more graphic in violence and sexual content than typical YA.

As someone who typically doesn’t care much for political intrigue or copious amounts of court drama, I was a bit nervous going into this book. While there were some moments that felt slow to me, these didn’t last long and ultimately I was pleasantly surprised at just how invested I felt in Askia’s web of political games. The story is well-paced, and Askia’s character development was excellently handled as she learned to play the game, make allies, and manipulate those around her. As strong as she was, my heart broke for Askia as she constantly put saving her people over her own happiness.

This book includes a wonderful and dynamic cast of side characters who had me feeling a wide range of emotions, from love to frustration to suspicion to outright loathing. I enjoyed getting to know them as Askia did and felt every betrayal or slight alongside her. I adored her dutiful guard Illya, her sweet lady’s maid Nariko, and the cunning Queen Ozura, among others. Even better, the plot twists start early in the book (I mean within the first 10%!), and they don’t stop coming until you’ve finished the final chapter.

The magic system in this book is really fun, with enough limitations to make it believable yet plenty of mystery to keep it intriguing. Askia is still growing in her abilities and doesn’t quite understand the extent of her magic, so like everything else in the story we learn about her dark and powerful skills along with her. The other characters’ abilities aren’t explored quite as deeply, but I’m hoping the magic system will be expanded in book #2.

Otherwise, the worldbuilding was just okay. Country and city names were thrown around in a semblance of worldbuilding, but aside from the need to remember the names of the two main kingdoms, the rest didn’t seem important. The same can be said of the world’s cultures; the characters’ clothing and customs varied at surface level, with southern characters being described as ambiguously “dark skinned”, which I didn’t know how to interpret. Also, the title “The Frozen Crown” didn’t really come into play other than the fact that it’s the crown Askia is hoping to win back. It didn’t really fit for me.

All in all, I enjoyed the adult feel to this book and particularly liked the political intrigue more than I anticipated. After that cliffhanger ending, I’m looking forward to seeing how the next book unfolds!

Thank you to Avon and Harper Voyager via Netgalley for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

A predictable book but sometimes that's okay. I did find myself rooting for the heroine and hope that she survives the sequel (she will, it's predictable). This is not the best of the battle ready heroine out to save her country but it is not the worst either.