I was looking for a proper page-turning, fun read after a few heavier books so decided to jump into Freeze by Kate Simants and it was exactly what I needed.

Tori is a successful TV presenter with a traumatic secret she's kept since childhood. Dee is an ex-undercover journalist with her own dark secret. They are about to embark on a new reality TV show - Frozen Out - the first to be made by Tori's new company which is co-produced by her Fiancee, Will.

The show has been marred by difficulties from the start and if it isn't a success it spells financial ruin for Tori.

The contestants are all seemingly unconnected and strangers to each other, but very quickly tensions appear and it seems everyone is hiding something. Once in the arctic, where the entire show is to be shot, things very quickly turn violent and it seems there is a killer amongst the group.

I had a blast reading this. It takes a little while to find its feet and get the story going but, once it does, it's well-paced and full of action. The cast of characters are fairly unlikeable, which I generally enjoy, and there's not a huge amount of substance to any of them - lots of broad strokes.

While there wasn't anything new here (a few plot points were obvious early on and a couple of things never seem to be tied up) it does what you want and keeps you entertained.

Reality TV blended with a locked room mystery.

It's set in Greenland, freezing cold and the perfect setting for the ultimate test of leadership skills, teamwork and most importantly, survival. Six contestants all trying to win the prize of £100,000. What could possibly go wrong in such a remote and dangerous setting?

Dee and Tori are best friends and they both have secrets. Tori owns the production company and Dee is behind the camera. Chapters are written from both their points of view.

The story was slow to get going. The first 25% didn't grab me as I prefer a faster pace. That's just my personal preference.

There has been quite a lot of hype around this so I did carry on reading until the end. There was not one likeable character among them so I wasn't really invested or rooting for their survival! I'd probably have been happy if none of them survived to be honest. Maybe that's another story! 😂

Many thanks to Netgalley, the publishers and author for an ARC.

As a massive reality TV show fan, this book sounded right up my street and I knew I would enjoy it. I loved the setting being on the coast of Greenland and would love to go in a cruise around it (murderers not an requirement 😂)

This is my first book by the author and I found her writing to being so tense, though this is a slow builder, I still found myself needing to know what craziness would be going on next. The secrets of the characters were so interesting and I felt for most of them, even Tori wasn’t too bad for an “influencer “ 😂

This book started really well but I feel like it dragged out a little bit in the middle. The ending felt very rushed but overall it’s a great concept.

The two main characters somewhat blended into each other especially at the beginning and I had to keep checking who's 'chapter' it was. Chosen for their leadership skills, drive and competitiveness none of the contestants (or supporting characters) were likeliable either with big egos, selfishness and lack of people skills. But this wasn't about the characters, it was about the tension, secrets, isolation, twists and turns. And on that the author really delivered. I really enjoyed this unique, atmospheric, locked-room thriller with it's fascinating and familiar reality TV survival concept.

Brilliant, I really enjoyed this sub-zero thriller set on a ship in the freezing chill of the deserted Greenland coast. The story is told by Tori, the presenter of the TV reality show 'Frozen Out' launching her own production company and her bestie Dee who she is employing for her camera skills to film the show. However, this story is full of layers of secrets and lies as well as a chill Arctic wind. Great plot, it zipped along and the tension was so claustrophobic, being confined to the ship with the threat of being ice-bound and nobody can reach them. I liked the attention to detail and the use of weather as a strong element in the story as well as the twisty plot. Highly recommend, with thanks to the author and publishers for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Chillingly thrilling……. Seductive and twisted. Highly recommended! Readers, find some quiet alone time to settle in with this one because you won't stop reading until you've turned the final page. Highly recommended to fans of mysteries, suspense and thrillers.

"Freeze" by Kate Simants had all things going for it if you read the hype and plot line. Unfortunately, it didn't hit the mark for me. It was an interesting concept: a reality show set on a boat but that was it. Despite the small cast, I found the plot and motives very complicated.

A locked room mystery with a twist! What an interesting and fun take on the usual genre! Kept me up till the early hours not wanting to stop!
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Thank you to the publisher for sending the arc!

A locked room mystery with a twist:set on a boat in the Arctic Circle. The cold pervades everything, its ever present. The characters are on the whole unlikeable and I wanted many of them to fall overboard or freeze to death!

A reality TV show is being filmed aboard a ship in the Arctic. Tori is leading the project and has put all of her hopes and dreams into making the show a success. Tori's oldest friend Dee is the camerawoman, determined to get back into work after her last role as an undercover journalist went terribly wrong. Events take an unexpected turn when one of the contestants is found dead, and Dee suspects it wasn't an accident.

A completely gripping locked room mystery with a twist.

I have seen a lot of fantastic reviews of this book and I can tell you that every single one is spot on. As soon as I read the first few pages I knew it would be a brilliant book. Kate Simants has a remarkable writing style that pulls you straight into the story and keeps you hooked until the very end.

The story is told from the perspectives of both Tori and Dee, and even though you get an insight into their thoughts it still created an air of secrecy about what truths they were hiding.

I couldn't possibly write a review without mentioning the deadly icy setting. I absolutely loved the feeling of dread that anything could happen in those conditions, especially on a small ship where you don't know who to trust.

A truly unmissable book with a brilliantly original concept.

Thank you NetGalley and Viper for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

DNF at 24%

Sadly this book wasn’t for me, it started off too slow and added way too many characters at once.

A reality TV show set in the Arctic, with a cast determined to show their leadership potential. Unfortunately, many of those involved have things they’re hiding and this ‘locked room’ mystery with a twist is a story that grips you from the opening.
Our perspective shifts between camerawoman Dee and producer Tori. Though they’ve been friends for ages it’s clear that neither feels able to trust the other with their secret.
As the show gets underway we have ‘accidents’ and deaths that could be explained away, but which we assume are linked to the secrets being kept. The cast of characters are rather undeveloped, but there’s enough there to help make sense of their actions.
It really did seem that this could end up a bloodbath. Thankfully the truth comes out before things get to the worst possible result, but it’s definitely a tense read.
Thanks to NetGalley for giving me the chance to read and review this before publication.

2.5* --> 3*

On the list of “things what I don’t like”, you would definitely find (freezing) cold and reality shows. So what on earth possessed me to pick up this latest offering by Kate Simants is anyone’s guess. However, I enjoyed her previous book, so I thought it would be okay.

Hm.

Sometimes you start a book and you’ve barely reached page 10, but you already know you have a corker in your hands. Equally so, there are books where you quite quickly feel it’s just not going to be the one for you, and unfortunately I realised that pretty early on with ‘Freeze‘. Incidentally, this is the second time in the space of two weeks that a locked room mystery lets me down. Maybe I should take a hint.

‘Freeze‘ had potential, though. The setting for one, although not at all my thing, is brilliantly chosen. A ship in the middle of nowhere up near Greenland, where eight contestants will battle it out for a new reality tv show, with nothing but ice all around. Thus, when one of the contestants is found dead, it doesn’t take a genius to figure out the killer is one of the other people on board. But who? And why? Pretty soon the question will not be who wins the big prize here, rather who will make it off the ship alive.

Quite frankly, everyone could have frozen to death for all I cared. My goodness, what an incredibly unlikable bunch of characters! What is it about psychological thrillers and their inability to include at least one person who isn’t a complete and utter douchebag? Nobody even seems to actually want to be here on this ship. True to form, each and everyone of these characters has secrets and are desperately trying to hold on to various skeletons in closets.

The story is told via two friends, Tori and Dee. When the reader meets them, cracks have already started to show in their friendship. Those cracks will deepen before you even get the chance to yell out “iceberg!”. Both are hiding things from one another, which somehow doesn’t seem right for BFFs. But at least Dee still comes across as a regular kind of person, worried about others for instance. Tori will not stop anyone or anything from getting this show made, in that reckless unsavoury kind of way. As a main character, I despised her actions fiercely.

I’m sure many readers will find ‘Freeze‘ tense and full of suspense. I just need a lot more tension to keep me hooked, and I kept waiting for that next level but it never came. There were too many coincidences, too many things that made me roll my eyes and say “oh, come on!”. Yes, I know this is fiction but I still expect some degree of believability, and nobody is going out in Arctic conditions without a coat! Anyway. It all became just a tad too ridiculous for me in the end, but I admit I had stopped caring at that point as well.

Still, Kate Simants is an excellent writer. There’s a varied cast of characters, although we get to know some a lot better than others. The harsh conditions were brought to life perfectly, yet I never really felt that sense of isolation that was required. I can absolutely see why other reads would find ‘Freeze‘ entertaining and enjoyable. For some reason, it just failed to hit the mark with me. But that doesn’t at all mean I won’t be reading this author’s books again.

This had the potential to be a fantastic isolated location thriller - a group of people with a whole lot of secrets take part in a reality show in the Arctic. However, the execution lets the premise down. I thought the setting was excellent, and the impending bad weather just adds an extra level to the drama. Its just that everything else was off. The cast & crew of the reality show were so unlikeable and were hiding so many secrets, the plot became so convoluted. I love stories with unlikeable characters, but I need a reason to either cheer for them or for their opponent. In this story I didn’t really have that, and by the time I did, I didn’t care.

Mixing reality TV with a locked room mystery, Freeze follows the cast and crew onto a boat of the coast of Greenland where they are expecting to complete tasks to advance through the show to win £100k. But before leaving England, issues arise with the contestants withdrop outs and new, unknowns taking their place. And things don't improve once they get to the boat.

There were many characters with lots of different personalities, but none of them were very likeable! The plot felt a little loose and, in particular, I am not sure if the mixing of the tv show and the mystery worked.

Chilling Tension..
Frozen Out - an about to be television reality show, a hoped to be overnight success, where a small group of contestants on a ship off Greenland will vie for a prize of £100,000. It’s bound to be a smash - isn’t it? Tori and Dee certainly think so - they’ve worked hard enough. From the off, as things begin to go awry, it’s clear that there’s more at play here than the reality show concept. With a shuddering sense of icy cold and an atmospheric setting, secrets may out and lives may well be lost. A pacy plot populated with a deftly drawn cast, a startling sense of menace and an undercurrent of chilling tension makes this a swiftly moving suspense from first to last page.

Hi and welcome to my review of Freeze!

I’d had such a great time with Lock Me In and A Ruined Girl that I couldn’t wait to dive into Kate Simants’ new offering! Even more so when I first heard what it was about and where it was set. Even though I’m not a fan of reality TV, I love books about reality TV shows and even though I hate the cold, I love books that are set in freezing, inhospitable environments. Yes, I know I’m weird but still, Freeze and I were a match made in bookish heaven!

Freeze is about a reality show, Frozen Out, that is meant to be the TV sensation of the year. Eight contestants will be flown to Greenland, where they will board an icebreaker and complete challenges, competing against each other in the freezing cold to take home the grand prize of £100,000.

Freeze is told from the alternating perspectives of Tori and Dee, who have been best friends for years and know everything about each other… Or do they? Dee will film and edit the show and Tori is the creator and producer, who she has a lot riding on this project: it will either make or break her new production house.

The group hasn’t even properly left English soil yet, or problems start popping up, and once they reach their destination, it only gets worse. Even though these were all supposed to be strangers, it would seem that some of the group have history, and more than a few have secrets they want to hide at any cost.

I do love me a story with secretive characters and lots of secrets to sink my teeth into, I had so much fun! Although I did figure out a few things, there were always little twists and reveals catching me off guard as well, and I found the whole thing very entertaining. What starts in a rather ominous manner, completely escalates towards the finish line and I never managed to see the whole picture until it was laid out for me. I figured out a culprit but not their motive, I spotted a motive but not the person behind it, Freeze is very cleverly plotted indeed.

The writing is vivid and the icy scene is set immaculately. There I was, on the sofa under a blanket and a cat with a hot coffee in hand, and I just couldn’t get warm! (Bloody hell, there is not enough money in the world to get me to do what these people did!)

Freeze is an addictive, rather fast-paced yet atmospheric locked-room thriller that is chilling in more ways than one. I would definitely recommend it to fans of the genre.

Freeze is out on 2 March in digital formats, audio and hardcover, with the paperback to follow early next year.

Massive thanks to Viper Books and NetGalley for the eARC. All opinions are my own.

Firstly, thank you for letting me read the advanced copy of the book. I enjoyed reading this book and found it intriguing along the way which meant it was a bit of a page turner. I enjoyed the authors style of writing and would definitely read her books again.

As soon as I saw the read-up for this I knew I had to read it ASAP!

This has such a great storyline and being set it the Arctic it was very atmospheric.

There was a great array of characters with defining personalities, but who was trying to win the prize and who was trying to get revenge?? Let's put it this way, with an ending like that, it's definitely worth finding out.
Highly recommend.