I have never read a book in my life that comments so much on eye colour, physical appearance or the perfectly chiseled face of men that women want to dribble all over. Does everyone in the Shadow Frost world have emerald or green eyes? Does everyone have an unhealthy relationship with Narcissism? It definitely feels like it. I had to put this book down so many times because I just felt like there was an unnecessary remark about that type of thing on every single page; it was just distracting, and that's a real shame because I actually think what Coco Ma has here is really interesting and her writing style shows enormous potential, but my God does she utterly ruin it.

The concept is quite simple. A princess wants to defeat a monster terrorising the Kingdom - sounds perfect. She does so with a group of friends who each have an affinity for certain powers. It's difficult to go into this too much without spoilers, but essentially it's based on having connections with the elements and being able to do unique things with them. So the concept is really interesting and definitely pulls you in.

But the problem is, you spend the first 15% of the book confined largely, it feels like, to Princess Asterin's bedroom. Where she mostly looks at herself in the mirror and muses over how special she is. I'm not joking. From here, she begins to muse over how beautiful the two male love interests are which is both irritating and cliche - a love triangle within 15%...really?

On top of this, one of Asterin's potential suitors is just plain weird. Not only does he insist upon insulting her and calling her a brat basically from the moment he meets her (she's a Princess and yet he gets away with this perfectly fine), but he also admits to have been watching her through her bedroom window. Naturally she finds this endearing, even going so far as to wonder if she was changing and finding this funny....make of that what you will. Honestly it reminded me of the time Edward Cullen admits to sneaking into Bella's room to keep an eye on her whilst she sleeps and she stupidly thinks that's sweet. It's not - it's just creepy!

I think Coca Ma has a really unique writing style. She's quite descriptive, which allows for really colourful world building, but not so much so that it begins to feel too fanciful or distracting. It actually felt like she had a lot of fun writing this book and I can imagine her future work will be really exceptional. But I think Shadow Frost reads almost like it was her first draft, her practice run for fantasy writing, with some rookie mistakes that she could easily iron out. The largest issue here is that she has fallen into the trap of trying to make her protagonist strong and confident by making her slightly snarky which just isn't necessary. Clearly her intention was to make her feisty and interesting, but often she came across as rude and this accompanied with cheesy dialogue and immature interactions between characters really detracted from the plot. Her story alone would have carried itself if only she had more likable characters.

Ultimately this felt like a collection of tropes and cliches which most readers will have seen 100 times over. A love triangle, a snarky protagonist who has no issue with weirdos looking at her through her bedroom window, some cheesy dialogue, a plethora of eye-roll-worthy quotes on physical appearance and pretty green eyes and to top it all off a touch of special snowflake just makes this book too much to bear.

DNF at chapter 15

I'm so disappointed that I had to DNF this one, it was one of my most anticipated for this year! And with a cover like that?? How could it be bad?!

This is how.

Honestly, I was all in for the first few chapters. A badass princess who can do magic, visitors from a mysterious kingdom (one of whom is clearly a ship), and a monster made of darkness terrorizing the land? I'm there.

But the deeper into the story I got two things bothered me more and more:

1. The dialogue. This is supposed to be a fantasy set in a different world. I always assume that fantasies of this caliber are in a medieval type setting, though nothing is explicitly stated. In any case, it is not contemporary American. But that's how the dialogue reads. They "flip each other off", the princess calls someone a "drama queen" at one point, everyone is constantly calling each other "asshole." Like....why? It just really pulled me from the experience and was more frustrating than relatable.

2. The more Asterin referenced her mother and the General.....I just didn't understand why their relationship was so strained. And I never got a good explanation. In a world where magic is prized, wouldn't her mother be more pleased that she can use more elements? Why would the General be so snarky about her powers? It just didn't make sense, and I never felt like I was getting a good enough explanation. Actually, all the relationships were very shallowly explained. Asterin's relationship with Orion was confusing (is it a ship or not??? You can't say he's like a brother, but then he's not, and now she's checking out his muscles, but now he's like a brother again). Quinlan's character was a strange mix of characteristics as well. Like is he shy? Is he awkward? Is he stoic, what is happening here?

I'm sure other people will love this one, because the basic plot does sound interesting, I just couldn't deal with how many times the dialogue ruined the setting for me.

I received an eARC of this book from Netgalley in return for an honest review.

Oh god this book draaaaaaaaaagged. I’m not the fastest reader, I usually do a 400 page book in a week, two if I’m busy. This book took me FOUR weeks to finish, and I wasn’t busy! There was nothing to really keep me coming back to the book, the plot was predictable and way too cliché. It reads like a high schooler wrote the book, and I suppose one did. There’s so many ridiculous lines I’ve heard in colloquial speech that somehow ended up in this medieval fantasy book that I had to read some aloud to my bf for the ridiculousness.

<b><i>”And then, just when Luna began to think the worst was finally over...”

“‘My magic—‘ But before he could finish his sentence...”
<\i><\b>

I see that the sentence wasn’t finished, you don’t need to explain that!

From the insta-love to the obvious (but surprise to the main character) villain I really had to push through to finish this book. The characters felt flat not to mention the lack of chemistry between any of the love interests. I even think the male/male relationship was thrown in last second to be a bit more modern.

I can’t really remember all the details in the first half of the book because it was sooo slow. I really had to push myself to finish this. I recommend not reading this book unless you like teenage clichés and ill written fantasies. It had good ideas that just didn’t get translated well. The bad formatting of the eARC didn’t event bother me, it was the content that did.

I struggled with this one. A lot. It took me about three days to decide I wanted to keep reading, instead of getting distracted by other, more enthralling stories. I got about 30% through the book before I had to consult goodreads and a good friend (see what I did there?) and figure out if I was going to DNF. DESPITE HOW I FELT, I listened to the advice of goodreads and soldiered on. ⁣⁣
⁣⁣
Things I liked: the idea of the story is really great. The synopsis sounded like just my cup of tea and the cover... get out of here with that beauty! The friendships in the book are strong and incredibly supportive. ⁣⁣
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Things I did not like: the writing. The dialogue between characters was literally cringy. There were so many times I had to stop reading because my eyes were rolled so far back in my head. The pacing wasn’t great either. I wasn’t gripped in the beginning which led to consulting other sources to see if it ever picked up. I would say I didn’t really feel like I needed to keep reading until the half way mark. ⁣⁣
⁣⁣
All in all, this was not the book for me. But that doesn’t mean it’s not the book for you. So many people loved this one. And I really wanted to be one of those people, but wasn’t. The book ends on a cliff hanger, but I just don’t see myself picking up a sequel. ⁣⁣
⁣⁣
Don’t let this one review sway you from reading it. If you like teen romance and adventure and magic, give it a try. You may like it.

This a well put together plot and storyline in the YA sword/sorcery/intrigue/coming of age adventure and quest line. There's enough turns and twists and nuances for all ages while being palatable enough for anyone to read. I would continue the series to see where the individuals that survived the first installation endup. It starts with a princess and those around her in a situation where things aren't quite what they seem and a quest to kill a demon. What is ire important are the dems we all carry and how to deal with them. Would recommend.

I received this ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I liked this book. I read it in one sitting, it was captivating enough that I couldn’t stop reading. I don’t like books with many POVs, because sometimes authors write the same situation from more povs and then the action can lose some tension, what happened in this book as well.

Other than that is was quite enjoyable if a bit predictable, but the ending disappointed me a little. I thought it’s a stand-alone.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Ok where do I even start?! I love every bit of this book! The world building was very straight forward, while parts could have been a bit more detailed, I am hoping for a continuation of the story. The characters are fantastic. I can not explain how much I love Asterin. Our fierce warrior princess is smart, cunning, and fun. She has flaws, and doubts, but there is also character growth. Quinlan and Rose, visitors from another country, have just the right balance of mystery, questionable trust, and some adorableness thrown in for good measure. Orion, this sweet boy. I see some serious back story to him, and major growth coming. His storyline is really open ended, and seriously I'm gonna need there to be a book 2. Eadric is like a long suffering parent to all of them and it's great. Luna, man her character development gave me some whiplash in the best way. Basically these characters are all adorable, I loved them all. The journey to save their land could have had a bit more action, but the last hundred pages were just crazy with action and plot twists galore.

The magic system was really good and easy to grasp and well developed. Honestly this book wraps up in a way where it could work as a stand alone, however I REALLY REALLY hope there is a second one because it is so open ended and I need some closure! Go add this book to your TBRs! If you like magic, cute boys with sass, and some squad goals, plus intriguing villains, I highly recommend this book.

What a great YA fantasy novel. I always love a well-written female protagonist. Asterin was fierce, loyal, and sassy in a fun loving way.

She was surrounded by a great cast of characters. All with their own strengths and weaknesses. What I truly enjoyed was watching everyone's growth as the tale unfolded.

Coco Ma knows how to do twists well. She blends in nicely ones you expect, ones that are slightly hinted at, and some completely unexpected. This keeps the reader on their toes not knowing if what they expect will be what actually happens or not.

I absolutely loved this book from start to finish. The way the ending crept up I assumed this would be stand alone, but there will definitely be a sequel and I can't wait for more in this story of Asterin and her friends.

Shadow Frost was a surprisingly great read after a rocky start.
At first I was rolling my eyes because our heroine, Asterin, is able to pull off the special magic of her people with ease. It seemed like she was your typical YA chosen one and I wanted more of this book.
But Asterin grows on you as the events move on and some great characters show up to bring the story to life.
Even the so-called monster gets a chance and there are some great moments and unexpected turns.

The only thing that didn't sit well with me was just how quickly Asterin and a certain someone fell very deeply for each other. At first, there is some great banter and some dislike but soon it's an I'll-die-for-you trope, at least for one of them. I would have loved for a little more teasing as it was so much fun with those two.
Therefor, the storyline of the other two characters that developed feelings for each other was handled well. But I won't give away who they are since it's beautiful to watch them working out their feelings.

Overall, I had fun reading Shadow Frost and it's stunning if one realizes how young the author was when she wrote this.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for letting me read this ARC!

Book – Shadow Frost
Author – Coco Ma
Series – None (but would love more)
Cliffhanger? - No
Publication Date – October 1, 2019
Genre – Fantasy
Rating – 4.25 out of 5 Stars

Complimentary copy generously provided by the author through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

My Thoughts - Story

I still can’t get over that the author wrote this when she was just 15 years old.

I was instantly sucked into this story especially with such a strong character as Princess Asterin. She is the epitome of a strong lead and definitely made the book worth reading!

I do have to say that out of all of Asterin’s friends in this book – Quinlan was my favorite…yeah, maybe I am just a sucker for a complete self-centered jerk but he sure did make the book more enjoyable!

The author did a spectacular job developing these characters and conquered the world building in an epic fantasy. I find too often that authors either miss the mark or over-extend the descriptions of the world which tend to make the book slow and tedious. This author was right in the center with the perfect amount of development!

Even though this book is supposed to be a stand-alone, I would really like to see this develop into a series – so much could happen.


Reason for Reading – NetGalley Review
Story – 5 out of 5 Stars
Steam – 4 out of 5 Stars
Angst – 4 out of 5 Stars
Writing – 4.5 out of 5 Stars
Content Flow – 4.5 out of 5 Stars
Would Read More from Author? Definitely
Recommend To – Lovers of fantasy with a strong female protagonist

Oh man. I tried. I REALLY tried to enjoy and get through this book, but I just couldn't. I made it halfway through when I finally had to give up. I'm so disappointed especially since most of the reviews online were RAVING about it! What I found to be lacking was just the cliché tropes that were covering the majority of this book. The plot was forced as well as the characters' relationships and motives. Everything seemed extremely rushed and not believable. "Oh, we're suddenly supposed to go along with this rushed and forced relationship now?" Yeah, no. I wish I could have loved this one more, especially since it had all the elements I usually LOVE about YA fantasy, but, alas, it was not meant to be.

I was enjoying this story very much, especially the relationship between Asterin and Orion but I'm having a difficult time reading with the format being all messed up on ebook. I'm giving it 3 stars because of this. I don't want to ruin the rating but I also don't want to give it 5 full stars without reading the full book. I am grateful for the opportunity to read this and will be getting a copy once it is released.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing and eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.


Shadow Frost is a book I have mixed feelings about. On one hand, it is an interesting new fantasy story, written by a 15 year old (!!!), with a lot of potential, on the other hand, it is quite inconsistent and full of clichés.
I going to try not to spoil anything, as the book comes out in a couple of months, so my thoughts might not be explained fully.


The book starts off amazing. It really captured my attention from page 1. The writing is beautiful, too, and it makes it hard to believe a 15 year old wrote it, which is even more impressive. Yet, with every chapter the book becomes more clunky and all over the place.
Shadow Frost is a high fantasy, with kingdoms, magic and a princess as a main character – Asterin.

She's not your typical princess (although very typical nowadays in YA), she enjoys fighting and all of the non girly things. She also has quite powerful magic. As we find out about halfway through the book, she is often sent on secret missions around her kingdom, to protect her people.

There are other main characters whose perspective we get to read from.

Orion is Asterin's friend and her royal guard. He's sworn to protect the princess. The story sets up as there could possibly be some romance between the two, but it dissolves along the way, when Orion becomes interested in someone else. I'm not sure if it's a spoiler, or not, but I felt like the character was written as a possible love interest for Asterin, then Rose, and ended up being edited in the later revisions for more representation.

Luna, the lady in waiting, and Asterin's best friend (or is she?) was one of my favourite characters. She doesn't have any magic and no real skills other than she's a great sculptor. She really develops throughout the book and her journey is definitely the most interesting of all, although at the start, she's not particularly important.

Rose, or Orozalia, is a queen of the neighbouring kingdom. She joins Asterin's guard in disguise. She's a great fighter, and altogether badass, and we definitely don't get enough of her in the book.

Quinlan, Rose's cousin, is my least favourite character. He is a pain in the backside – arrogant, in love with himself, and all in all annoying. I'm sure many girls are going to swoon over him, and maybe as a teen I would, too, but now that I'm old and a bit smarter, I know better.

Eadric and Harry are characters I can't say anything about because there really isn't much to say. They don't really develop, and one serves nearly no purpose at all.

As characters go, I see some of them appealing to the target audience (I understand I'm not part of it).

As I said earlier, the writing is beautiful at the start. It doesn't deteriorate much as the story progresses, not much, anyway, but it definitely changes and becomes more clumsy. The dialogues especially. I didn't like that the tone changes so frequently between the flowery language to a colloquial one, and it made it difficult to be fully immersed in the world. Another thing were the names of characters... we got Asterin, Eadric... and then Hayley, Nicole, Harry. It's just incredibly jarring to read these in one book.

One of the things I enjoyed the most about this book was the magic system. If you like Avatar The Last Airbender, then you definitely will enjoy it, too, as it is quite similar. I wish the author didn't try so hard to make it very complicated, and stopped adding rules to it. It became too complicated in the end, which is a shame, because it gives plenty of space for errors, inconsistencies and loop holes. I understand it's to make the world richer and more developed, but that could've been done in a different way. I mean, being able to control different elements is cool, using stones for it is cool, too. Depending on what family you are from to what's your affinity is okay, too, I guess. But also using spells? It just gets too much.

What I flat out didn't enjoy is, surprise, surprise... the romance! Saying that, I'm sure many people will. Romance is just not my thing, and the story could really do without it. Especially without the nearly love triangle, and the main couple teasing each other and calling each other names, but in an “endearing” way. It's such a kindergarten way of describing a brewing romance.


I think Shadow Frost is a solid YA fantasy with a lot of potential, that many readers will love. It gets 3.75/4 stars from me, because I definitely enjoyed it – I just didn't love it, as I feel I'm a bit too old for these kind of stories.

I received this ARC from Netgalley. This is my honest opinion.

Shadow Frost is one of the best books I have read this year.

The cover:

I found the cover beautiful. Honestly, it was one of the reasons that I requested this book from Netgalley. It's dramatic, it's simple, and it's elegant.

Characters:
Coco Ma created characters that are realistic. They have their good qualities and their bad. The protagonists are likeable in their own way. The antagonist is so evil it is delicious, but once I found out why she did what she did, my heart broke for The Woman. The author gave her characters trials that they had to overcome. She had them react in realistic ways that caused additional problems for the group of friends. Even though, they were just doing their best sometimes things happened. As it does in life.

The magic and world:

She made a very unique world. I thought it was really well done. It definitely helps to have a map at the beginning of the book. The magic is just great. I loved how she took the different elements into play. The magic was easy to follow and original.

Plot:

I was glued to my kindle and couldn't put it down. I had go pull an all nighter to finish it. I really was sad that the story ended. The action moved along at a good pace and several plot twists were unexpected. A couple I guessed what was going on.

I loved this book. The only reason I am giving it a 4 star rating is that I found the ending bittersweet. I felt like there should be an epilogue or second book.

This was the most childish, derivative work I’ve read. I didn’t know how young the author was when I requested an ARC from Netgalley, but from the first page onwards her youth is evident. The synopsis sounded interesting and I was keen on reading an Asian writer’s take on fantasy. But I couldn’t finish this book.

The slow start reads like a fairytale and has no focus or plot. Asterin is a dull character and the writing - though imaginative - is stilted and intentionally archaic. It’s hard to become invested in a story that is so safe and cliche. Nothing that I read in 150 pages subverted my expectations - mean parents, love triangles, chosen ones, it’s all been done before.

For a book that has a female protagonist, she spends most of her time being told what to do, with the dudes being in the thick of the action. If there is strife in the book, it is contrived. It all comes down to the naïveté of the author. Everything is glamorous and extreme because that’s what the world of young adult books and entertainment tend to be.

There was no impetus to tell a story; world building is important but we have absolutely no idea where this story is headed even 150 pages in. The uninteresting characters are little more than caricatures and it astounds me that none of them read as anything but hot Caucasians. Also, everyone is straight and I’m sure they would have paired up by the end of the book. The central love story of Asterin and Quinlan was the worst adaptation of Jane Austen’s writing style as well.

I’m sure people of a certain age and temperament will enjoy this book but it tried too hard and was too derivative for me.

I was super excited to get an eARc of this book as the blurb made it sound right up my alley. Warrior princess must fight a demon to save her country with the help of her friends? Consider me intrigued. Also the cover is beautiful.

Asterin was needless to say, awesome. She learnt how to swordfight, she’s a powerful mage and she doesn’t give a damn about the rules.

Luna, Asterin’s friend and basically magicless was strong in her own way. She was soft where Asterin wasn’t and had a relationship with the Elite’s captain. I loved reading about this girl’s soft strength.

Rose is just an utter badass.

Orion was sweet but I wish we got to see more of his relationship develop with Harry. It just sort of happened and I’d rather have liked to see it rather than it be kept secret from the reader as well as his friends for part of the time – and they all worked it out pretty fast anyway.

I didn’t really love the other characters so much. There were a lot of them introduced to us in the beginning and I feel this really affected the pacing of the novel. It felt slow in the beginning, as Asterin didn’t receive her ‘call to arms’ until about a fifth in to the book. It made the plot meander in the beginning and while I enjoyed learning about the characters I was just wondering where this was going if it wasn’t for the blurb. Then in the middle again the story seemed to really dragon on as they searched for the demon.

I wanted to root for Quinlan and Asterin, but they were very hot and cold towards each other. It was fun at times to read and others, I just couldn’t work out why Asterin was suddenly fuming at him. Also Quin’s level of cheesy made me embarrassed for him at times.

Overall I liked the story but the pacing was what really got to me. If you perhaps don’t mind a bit of a slower read then you’ll probably love this book. The magic system in this book was a real gem to read about and I liked how fleshed out the world’s history was too.

I wasn't sure what to expect, but I enjoyed reading this. An interesting story with fun characters. Well written.

I was approved to read this off Net Galley ARC for an honest review. And while it still needs proofing (lots of mistakes, spelling and what not) it was better then what i thought. . It follows the story of a princess looking to get her Mum's (the Queen) approval. It was so beautifully written and the detail in which it was written wasn't to much either... Definitely buying this when it releases.

Thank you to NetGalley, Coco Ma and Blackstone Publishing for an eARC of this book, in exchange for an honest review.

I cannot believe that Coco was fifteen when she wrote this! I am in awe! The cover grabbed me straight away, and the content is pretty wonderful also! It is enchanting, full of beautiful imagery and everything you can ask for in a tale of princesses, magic and evil threats that might head their way.

I thought the magic system was initially going to be fairly complicated, but not at all, and once explained it's very easy to follow and the world so enchanting you are quickly absorbed within the story.

I love all the characters. Every. Last. One. I have no favourites, although I am biased to all the girls obviously. They’re written wonderfully. I thought there would be a million cliché's but nope, I was pleasantly surprised.

I didn't find the 'twists' to be twists, they were expected, but I don’t even care. I was 100% here for it anyway.

I only have praise for this! I hope there are many more in the series! I'm on the lookout for anything and everything Coco has to come! Giving this one 4.5*, but rounding up to 5!

The cover instantly drew me to this book and the blurb sounded perfect for me! ... and it was! Absolutely perfect, love the characters; the world, the story