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.

***ARC provided by Netgalley and Blackstone Publishing in exchange for an honest review***

DNF'ed this at 25%

Everyone is praising this book and I was seriously hoping to jump on that wagon. Especially after the very strong prologue but the following chapters are just dragging and dragging and I can't seem to be able to like and connect with any of the characters at all. On Chapter 11 and basically nothing happened. I like my books to have events... any type; big or small.

I put it down, thinking I'm not in the mood for this story and will try later but then, that following time, the same thing happens. My interest isn't piqued and I find I am bored with the descriptive of day to day, basically. What seems to require a shock value falls flat for me and that's not a good sign at all.

The synopsis is very interesting and I feel that if the story went a bit faster to start on the adventure, it would have been better. The magic system in this world is very interesting... the premise is fun, in all honesty. I just... need to connect... and I don't.

Once upon a time in the land of Axaria lived a fair princess--a princess whose warrior skills, sharp tongue, and courage were renowned throughout the land. Her name was Asterin. Then, one day a terrible beast, laying waste to all in its path, brought chaos and death to the kingdom. Asterin, along with some of her most trusted Elites, set off to hunt down the beast and restore peace to the realm. However, not all is as it seems and spotting the enemy proves harder than Asterin could imagine. And soon, she and her friends must face the question: who do they trust and what are they willing to sacrifice?
In Shadow Frost, Coco Ma creates a world full of magic and turmoil. This engrossing new fantasy series has reminiscent fairy tale themes, and yet the story is new and complex, the tone darker and more mature. Political themes, switching points-of-view, and action sequences drive the story forward. Ma's writing paints a vivid picture, immersing the reader in the action and also creating some really lovely poetic phrases.
The intertwining stories and the moving points-of -view provide the reader with information not shared to all of the characters, allowing us to be one step ahead. She also artfully applies the use of an unreliable narrator. However, the pacing, at times, is a little rushed, especially between action sequences. It seems like Ma was trying to keep the action moving while building character relationships, but, in doing so, the character development suffered a little. The down time between battles when character development, relationships, and empathy with the characters should be built could have been better executed. While each character has a distinct personality, their interactions and relationships struggled to ring true. I wanted to see more meaningful interactions between current friends, the trust build among the new and old friends, to really experience the budding of new relationships and the steadiness of an established one.  I enjoyed the romance between Orion, Asterin's Guradian/best friend, and his love interest as well as the other pairings, but I wanted more.
Despite my complaints about character development (more specifically the underdeveloped relationships), Shadow Frost is a solid fantasy novel and a series to watch. It has a great storyline, interesting twists, a unique magic system, kick-ass characters, and a lot of action. Fans of Sarah Maas will love this book.
Overall, I give it a 4/5 stars. I look forward to the next installment and to see Ma grow as a writer. Thank you Netgalley for providing me with a free copy to read and review.

Needs a Stronger Beginning

While reading this, I felt a little strange. Maybe it's that I'm not yet used to review copies. Maybe it's that the author is also new to the business. We're new in this world together, exploring it out.
The world Coco Ma has built is impressive. Such a well established system of magic, with concrete rules - that's crucial to a fantasy novel of this type. So much of the book is there - relationships between characters well fleshed out, personalities as dimensional as possible.
Yet I felt something was missing. That's why I called it "strange". So much of the elements of the book were as good or better than some fully published authors I've read. However, the beginning of the book felt rushed, and I never felt as immersed in the world as I should. Many of the books positives - the characters, the relationships, the rules of this magical world - were explained in exceptions. We learned about magic, and the corresponding stones, as the protagonist does something special. We learn about the two friends of the protagonist as they break their job duties and sneak away. We see the protagonist act like a princess (attend any sort of court function) for the first time when something strange is happening and two new characters are introduced.
Perhaps this is simply a stage in the draft, but I would prefer having some lead up, more examples of day-to-day life for this character. I feel like the protagonist is supposed to be growing, developing and changing. But I have no "beginning" stage to base that on. I hope that can be fleshed out before release. This book has so much promise, and really is impressive as a debut novel. All the elements of what is there are excellent. The beginning just needs a little more attention I think.

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.

Thank you to Netgalley and Blackstone Publishing! I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Shadow Frost is Coco Ma's ambitious debut novel. Completed at age 15 (now 18), she's proving early on that she can hang with the big names of the young adult fantasy world and shows that she will only get better with age.

Shadow Frost - told from multiple POVs -really finds its footing around 20% when the actual plot kicks in and the writing becomes more confident. The next 80% percent truly brings everything: magic, battles, monsters, demons, love, friendship, betrayals experienced through a great group of fierce, funny, flawed, and brave characters as the story culminates in an eyebrow raising twist that sets up more to come.

Be sure not to miss it!

What is this book about?
Set in the fictional kingdom of Axaria, Shadow Frost follows crown princess Asterin who teams up with her close friends to defeat a legendary demon that has been plaguing the lands. However, as the group sets out to kill it, they find out secrets about themselves that have long been buried.

What did I think of Shadow Frost?
This book left me very torn. On the one hand, I enjoyed the characters. Luna, in particular, was great; she goes from seemingly innocent lady in waiting to someone with a hidden past and complex emotions. Asterin, too, was intriguing (taking in consideration some of her flaws). I liked the other characters, but these two stood out for me. The men, then, didn't quite do it for me, in the sense that most of them followed the typical YA-male formula. At times, the interactions felt a little contrived and maybe even a little bit childish (which isn't bad per sé considering this is written by such a young author and heavily focuses on characters in their teens), however, some of the character moments reminded me a lot of the MG genre, which might've been a better fit for this book?

Next, comes my main issue with this book: the writing. While I understood what direction the author meant to take with this book, it didn't actually manage to go there for me. While the writing is fairly simple, it isn't bad per sé. There is certainly a LOT of potential. However, my main issue with it is that most of the writing doesn't feel organic. The plot of the book reads like a standalone (which is why I was surprised by the open ending which suggests this will be a series?). The amount of plot-points and twists crammed into this book was simply too much, which is odd considering most of the world-building is done in a few pages. It felt like the author was trying to fit a trilogy within one single book, which just didn't completely work for me personally. The time-jumps that signalled personal flashbacks for the characters, as well as the many different plot-points just felt a little bit messy and chaotic.

While I didn't think the plot was insanely innovative (you're able to guess the villain fairly early on, not much of a surprise there), I did really enjoy the overall story and direction of the book. It wasn't a bad book at all, I just think the writing could use some work (in the sense of story structure!).

All in all, this book did manage to intrigue me for future books in (what seems to be) the Shadow Frost series, albeit it does have its flaws.

This is one of these books that has a potential to be a 4 even 5 stars debut of a series, but because of silly mistakes, that could have been avoided, it's no more than 3 ...

The story follows princess Asterin of Axaria, a kingdom in a world full of the elemental kind of magic, in an adventure with her friends. After a shadow monster starts eliminating cities from her kingdom, Asterin is the only person strong enough to save her people. The book is not described as a retelling, and to be honest, there are no hints of this, until after the first half of the story.

My first thought, after finishing the book, is that the weakest part and the main reason it got 3 stars is that nothing really happened in the first half. It felt slow, lacking character and world building. The world have 9 figures like their gods, each of them a lord/ lady of a branch of magic and all the magic users need an elemental orb to channel their magic. I would like to learn more about their gods and the story behind them, because we only learn their names. I am pretty sure that if this first part had more growth and less slow paced scenes, regarding fighting, flirting and bad dialogues, the book would have been very good. The moment the main characters left the palace and start spending more time together, trying to find the monster and slowly we learn more about their lives the book got better. As for the writing, even though it was good in general, some dialogues, especially between the princess and Quinlan were almost funny.

Another thing that could have been better are the characters. The thing is that I could feel the potential and I felt sad about the execution. First of all, the writer kept introducing us theoretically important characters, only by name with no backstory, up until after 80% of the book and secondly, the 6-9 main characters had almost no solid backstory and their relationships were something we had to take as given. For example, Luna is Asterin's best friend and they are like sisters, but we barely see them together or feel that bond. The same with her guardian, or even her romance with Quinlan. So, I felt disconnected from them and I only cared about Luna. In fact, the more her character grew the more I loved her. And in a particular scene in the end, among Luna, Asterin and Quinlan, I passed the point where I didn't care about Asterin into really disliking her.

Finally, I think it was obvious very early in the story who the big bad was, mentioned as The Woman, but the story behind her actions and her backstory, even though very interesting, were sloppy done.

All in all, a book with a lot of potential and interesting points, but a lot of things that could have been better done. I am not sure if it's going to be a series, but if it is, I hope the next book will be about Luna.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for providing an arc, in exchange for my honest review.