I really enjoyed the storyline in world building in the novel. I also really liked the characters. I thought this was a solid read, and I will definitely be reading more by this author.

When I picked up the book I discovered that the book wasn’t for me. I’ve tried reading it but I didn’t vibe with it at the time. It wasn’t the reading style, I just couldn’t get into it for some reason. I would like to apologise for how late I’m sending in this review. I thought I had DNF’ed here but discovered that I hadn’t. I’m really sorry for the inconvenience and for my tardiness. I hope you’ve received good reviews for the book and that the book itself is a succes. Again, I apologise for how late I’m handing in this review.

Not my favorite but I will hold back all thoughts until I have read further books. Cocoa does spin an interesting world but I am curious to see if the world will get better with additional books. I do love the cover!

The cover is absolutely gorgeous. I was hoping to like this so much more than I did. The story is great, my reading tastes have changed.

Shadow Frost by Coco Ma was a fast paced YA fantasy novel, the world building and magic was fantastic I couldn’t get enough of but I found myself skimming. There is an abundance of characters and multiples POV’s that sadly took away from the story instead of drawing me in.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading female characters being able to stand on their own and being able to connect to Asterin was icing on the cake.

I will read the next book in the series, because I want to know more about Quinlan and what he is up too.

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley for an honest review.

I didn't care for this. The plot and characters came across as amateurish. The dialogue was boring and strangely modern for the setting. It was not bad for a debut but I wouldn't continue the series.

This book took me by surprise! I just couldn't put it down. It was so fun! Highly enjoyed it and highly recommend!

Thia is a complete masterpiece.
I could gush all day about this book.. but you should check it out yourself to see for yourself.
The author drenched such a picture in the readers mind where you feel like you are in the story you feel the things the characters go through.
It was well written, and highly recommend to other avid readers looking for a amazing read!

I absolutely fell in love with this book. It started off a little on the slow side, but it really picked up once Asterin and her friends went on the hunt. I loved this group of friends, from sassy Quinlan, to serious Orion, to sweet Luna. They did not all know each other well, but they meshed so well together. I wish I could be a part of their group. The magical elements were fun to read about and I hope it goes more into with the gods and immortal realm in the future.

Good enough- 3 stars- but not great. I never much connected to Asterin and I didn’t particularly enjoy this kind of magic/powers. Ok read.

Shadow Frost is a great read about princes, princesses and the villains. A must-read for fairy tale lovers.

I did not finish - I have tried reading this book on multiple occasions and just could not get into it.

Before kicking off my review, I have to say that I am impressed by the fact that Coco Ma wrote this when she was 15! I can't fathom writing something like this now let alone when I was a teenager, so major props to her for creating this intriguing world of magic! I apologise that this review is so overdue but thanks to Blackstone Publishing for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review. 2.5 stars

I'm quite conflicted about this book because while I think there were interesting elements as well as characters that I did like, I felt that the story was bogged down by trying to include too much at once. It seemed like the author was trying to cram in as much as possible to cover a lot of bases and unfortunately, it just didn't work for me. The story itself was also nothing new to the genre and didn't bring anything so unique for it to stand out from the crowd.

Coco Ma presents a vast world with many neighbouring nations, intriguing lore of the gods/goddesses, and an elemental magic system involving the use of stones to channel the magic that resides within a person. People also belonged under certain houses that correlated with patron gods/goddesses but I can't say exactly how it works because it was unclear to me. The world-building is patchy at best with lots of info-dumping across the story. There were inconsistencies in descriptions, items and language, that made me question whether this was set in a modern or historical period and I'm still not quite sure which it is. This made it difficult for me to picture the settings and sadly, it also affected how I pictured the characters in that, aside from one or two that had their appearance literally shoved in your face, the rest were kind of non-descript. The writing itself wasn't bad rather it was the inconsistent pacing that made it hard for me to focus and made this, quite honestly, a bit of a slog to read... The beginning is slow until about 30% and then they're (very) suddenly off on a quest to find the demon and the pace builds up, only for it to slow down again for a large portion of the story until the action starts up at the end. There's really not a lot that happens here and I had to push myself to not DNF this.

The characters were all quite typical of YA fantasies that follow the ruling royals, their bodyguards and friends. They're not 100% cookie-cutter but they are quite one-dimensional and I didn't form strong attachments to (m)any of them. That said, there is a pretty large cast and surprisingly, we also get almost all of their POVs and it was... A lot! I didn't expect there to be so many viewpoints and those POVs often changed within chapters, which got pretty confusing at times, especially when there was little to distinguish them from each other. They were fairly angsty teenagers who focused on baffling things during inappropriate times and often made illogical and rash decisions with weak justifications. I didn't particularly like Asterin, our chosen one princess who was good at everything and who everyone loved. She was spoiled, self-absorbed, selfish and quite frankly, a bad friend. The characters who intrigued me the most were Rose and Harry, and though we got their POVs, I would've definitely loved to see more from them compared to the others. Again, I feel like if there were fewer POVs, there would've been room to give the characters more depth and space for us to care more about them. There are also several romantic pairings and because I didn't really care for the characters, I wasn't invested in any of the ships and found some of them to be cringeworthy (no matter how accurate, I don't think using 'brat' as a term of endearment for the person you "love" is attractive, especially when you're the person it's being said to).

With all that said, I did become more intrigued by the end. The plot does become intensely dramatic and over the top but I wanted answers and I have more questions than I did at the start. There is also a certain character arc that surprised me and I'm curious to see how the new dynamic affects the friendships and the story. Will I pick up the next book though? I know this is something that younger me would've devoured without questions and would've (most probably) absolutely adored! But while I am curious now, I'm not sure it's enough for me to want to read on.

I did not finish the book as I found the opening chapters to offer no more than the sort of character dynamics and royal family drama that one is used to once reading these sort of stories. Would likely recommend to someone new to the genre.

Thank you so much for allowing me to read and review your titles.
I do appreciate it and continue to review books that I get the chance to read.
Thanks again!

Once again Ma showed her prowess as a writer and her creativity, imagination, and compelling storytelling rang true and loud. This was compelling, and enjoyable work and I can't wait for what is to come!

We loved this book so much and can’t wait for more in the series. Coco is a new voice to watch and will surprise you until the very end.

If you are into a headstrong Princess (heir to the throne) with super cool elemental power, then this book is for you!

Shadow Frost is pack with action, magic (we are talking about elemental magic that is so cool), and family drama.

It is a fast-paced story as every turn of the page gets you excited. There are a few plot twists that will keep you on the edge of your seat.

I love that author's writing style - keep it simple and direct to the point! It is easier to understand the world-building, character development, and the overall storyline.

I am excited to read the second book!

First of all this cover! Secondly, this story was a great start to a new series. Full of magic, intrigue, betrayal. Can't wait to see where this series goes!

“All of us have someone we’re ready to sacrifice anything for… Someone we’re willing to protect, no matter the cost. And most of the time, others don’t realize the lengths we’re willing to go. Sometimes, we don’t even realize it ourselves, until the moment it matters most.”

This. Was. A. Masterpiece! Flawless pace, wonderful worldbuilding, a unique magic system. I honestly just want the whole wide world to read this book, it’s just so good!

We have badass princesses who kick ass in both things magic and with weapons. We have loyal friends who would go far and beyond for each other. We have humor in spades, and wit, and dialogues that just dare you to not laugh your head off while reading them. We have action, and intrigue, and betrayal of the worst kind. A dilemma that leads to separation – and which I so hope will be resolved in the next book (I get Luna’s attitude, but even a blind person could see Asterin was in a tough spot, and you can’t convince me she wouldn’t do the same for her man).

Speaking of Luna’s man, we have all kinds of couples and types of romance in this story. We have those who just click together naturally like they’re the parents of the group of our heroes. We have the couple who’s like shy and yet startstruck (well, at least one of them was, Orion is just… shameless, bless his heart). We have the character who’s not exactly a fan of relationships for herself after having her heart broken. And we have that couple we all root for – the one where both sides just keep pulling each other’s hair in a bratty way of showing affection!

This book was just a true shipper’s paradise. There is no way you won’t like at least one of the characters, or ship them with someone in the team. I personally liked all of them. Though I gotta say, Rose was my top favorite, and Orion came in close second – that man had game, y’all! I was so afraid he was gonna create a love triangle with his mere presence there, but I was so pleasantly surprised! My little fujoshi heart just sang multiple hallelujahs for this boy’s existence, thank you so much for blessing the literary world with his creation, Coco Ma!

I’m not going to get into more details of the story, because this is one of those times where you have to read it for yourselves, and talking about it would snuff the joy out of it. Trust me, it’s that good! I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: sure, some books really get you going when you’re halfway through them, but with some others, like this one, you just know from the get-go! No wonder it got on my TOP READS list.

P.S.: I really want the author to give it a serious thought and create a gaming system or something for the magic of her universe for RPGs. Hell, I’m volunteering to create a subclass just for DnD, no joke!
P.P.S.: How the heck does someone create something as top tier as this at such a young age?!

***I was given an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The opinion stated in this review is solely mine, and no compensation was given or taken to alter it.***