Such a wonderful, magical tale! I am sorry I got so behind in my reading that I missed it. I love fairy tales and this one is a keeper! Beautifully intertwining present and timeless stories into one. I loved the settings, the characters, and the story's plot and dialogue flowed so smoothly. Beautiful story!

Love this little gem of a book! Fairytales are hard to pull off (since they've been done so many times), but The Ice Maiden's tale does such a great job of sucking you in and making you fall head over heels in love with each and every character. I couldn't put it down - I had to know what was going to happen next! Plus, I'm a total sucker for a story-within-a-story. It definitely has Princess Bride esque qualities, but it is it's own story. Definitely a book I will be recommending to anyone who loves a good ol' fashioned fairytale.

What an endearing tale! Upon beginning this I was initially disappointed with its contemporary setting, as I had predicted I was to enter a world reminiscent of that from a fairy tale. This was, however, soon to come.

Mrs Kinder is babysitting her neighbour's children, Casper and Johanna. And what better way to distract two grief-stricken children than with a story from a world not our own? Mrs Kinder draws children and reader alike into a tale of love and loss, magic and wisdom, make-believe and a message that defies the boundaries of the fiction it comes from and transcends into real-life.

The reading of the tale was often interrupted by the book's contemporary setting. Initially I was eager to return to the sword-play and magic spells of the fantasy tale, but eventually both 'realities' became as interesting to explore as each other. Through the meshing of the two there was a whimsical quality evoked, as though the tale is told, through Mrs Kinder, directly to the reader. This also added a suspension of belief as the reader is transformed into a child, being read to before bed-time and with their dreams full of lost lands.

This story within a story meant there were two narratives to explore, and the way the two were ultimately aligned left me closing this book with a heart both heavy with loss for its occupants and buoyed with hope for their future without the reader.

Is Mrs. Kinder a WITCH? Casper thinks she is. Johanna is not so sure. When stuck at her house while their mother attends their father in the hospital, Kinder tells the two the Ice Maiden’s Tale from a “golden,” possibly “magical” book. The story of the Ice Maiden weaves the story of two men, seemingly traveling opposite journey’s, yet arriving at one and the same.
This is very good example of a story-within-a-story. Preziosi writes for both a youthful audience and adult when weaving this captivating tale. You’ll settle yourself in a chair not unlike Mrs. Kinder does and not want to leave until the very end.

Great story, I could not put it down! Love the characters!

Two siblings, Johanna and Casper, need to be babysat by their neighbor, Mrs. Kinder. She's the weird old lady that all the neighborhood children think is a witch. She doesn't have a TV and so tells the children a story to keep them occupied. Her story follows a Sculptor who thinks he sees an angel in a piece of ice and carves her, and a Sorcerer who wants to bring that Ice Maiden to life. As the children deal with the difficult family issues they are facing, Mrs. Kinder helps them cope by telling them this intertwining fairy tale about hope, love, and redemption.

I really loved how this was written as a book inside a book! The interactions between Mrs Kinder and the children kind of grounded the story in our time, and seeing snippets of their lives, and how these related to the Ice Maiden's Tale added to the story. I think I would have liked to have had a bit more closure about the family issues, but at the same time, that wasn't really the focus of the book so it doesn't really need to be there.

The fairy tale itself, as read by Mrs Kinder to the children, was wonderful - I have no idea what it is about that sort of story telling, whether its in the language, or the sentence construction, or what, but every single word sounds and feels just exactly like an old fashioned, traditional fairy tale.

Being a traditional fairy tale, there is some darkness in the story, but I felt like it was at a level appropriate for middle grade readers.

Overall this was a fun read that, despite the ice, left me feeling warm and nostalgic.
I gave it 4 stars out of 5.

The Ice Maiden's Tale by Lisa Preziosi is out now from Xist Publishing. I received an e-book copy in exchange for an honest review, but only chose to read it because it sounded like something I would enjoy (life's too short to read books we don't think we'll enjoy). All opinions on my blog are my own, and I wouldn't tell you it was good if I didn't really think so. =)

Casper and Johanna have to go stay with their neighbour, Mrs. Kinder, while their mother visits their father in the hospital. They are a little scared of her because she reminds them of the witch from Hansel and Gretel. Mrs. Kinder reads them a story from a mysterious book. She tells the stories of two men: Gabriel and Sebastian. Gabriel is a sculptor who sculpts a woman out of ice. Then he leaves her but he wishes she was alive. He embarks on a quest to bring her to life. Sebastian is a magician who uses his powers to kill people in his way. When he finds Gabriel's ice maiden sculpture he also wants to bring it to life. Sebastian then goes on a quest to bring life to the ice maiden too.

This story reminds me of a fairytale. Casper and Johanna are similar to Hansel and Gretel since they go to the old woman's house. They even have German names like in the tale. It also reminds me of the story of Pygmalion, who made a sculpture of a woman. When the Greek goddess Aphrodite saw how much he loved the sculpture, she brings her to life. This is like Gabriel's story, since he sculpted the ice maiden and then wanted to bring her to life.

The dueling stories between Gabriel and Sebastian were a little confusing at times because they were so similar. They both involve magic and going on quests to bring the ice maiden to life so they could get mixed up.

I like the way this story brought a fairytale/folk tale into the modern world. Casper and Johanna were told the story, but the reader also gets to experience the stories of Gabriel and Sebastian.

I also like that the two main characters are a boy and a girl, so the book isn't specifically aimed at one gender. However, they did follow gender stereotypes with Casper wanting to hear about dragons and Johanna wanting to hear a love story.

This is a good story with a unique premise.

This review will be posted on my blog on June 1, 2017.

Lisa Preziosi has written the most charming fairy tale within a children’s book. Well, that may not be completely accurate because it is a book that any age can enjoy. Johanna and Casper are left in the care of Mrs. Kinder, a neighbor who has agreed to babysit so the children’s mother may be with their father who is in the hospital.

Casper is sure Mrs. Kinder is a witch, Johanna thinks she is a just a strange old lady living in an old, broken down house. To distract the children Mrs. Kinder picks a book from her collection and commences to tell a story which has all the best elements of a fairy tale. But there are lessons of life to be taught and learned and the reader had “better hurry back and see if there’s not a bit of wonder left to find”.

I encourage anyone who enjoys storytelling to read this book. What a shame it took Ms. Preziosi so long to find a publisher for this very beautifully told story. Thank you NetGalley and Xist Publishing for an Arc.