(4.5/5⭐️) “I dropped into his soul, light as a petal, steady as a root. His essence was a mosaic: loves and losses, victories and sins, memories, thoughts—everything that made him who he was. I drew it toward me, calling his soul as if it was a creature, and it bowed to me, its mistress. His soul was mine to control. I commanded it to shatter.”

What an absolute transformation our hero takes from the woman she is in book one, to now. Lira has lost everything, including Reyker. She watched her home burn and her family slaughtered at the hands of the Beasts of the Frozen sun. She wants vengence. Filled with the essence of the Fallen Gods, she embarks on a quest into enemy territory, to the frozen mountain of fire. But the Dragon is waiting for her, and no matter how hard she fights, he is always one step ahead. He is determined to claim her, to take her as his consort, and she must give everything to resist him. Reyker is fighting too, living under the false belief that Lira is dead. Only their love has the power to bring them back together. Even that might not be enough.

Wow! What a wild ride! The amount of suspense Jill Criswell employed by flipping between Lira and Reyker kept me turning pages at an insane speed. The story was FAR from predictable, so I was constantly trying to chart a path through the plot each time I set it down, ever unsatisfied by my own theories, which drove me to pick it right back up again.

Jill’s writing paints a portrait of a Viking inspired society that is both beautiful and brutal. I love the realism she brings to the pages. These warriors are deadly and flawed. Most of the characters are morally gray. Yet, the depth to which she has constructed them is outstanding. Case in point: I found myself relating to the Dragon in more than one instance. I still hate him, but I hope there might be some redemption for him in the third book. This is just an example of Jill’s talent with his character.

“...just as desire and morality do not exist on the same plane, neither does hate live alone in its castle.” (Spoken by the Dragon)

This quote really resonated with me. It was one of my favorite lines from Draki. He made a difficult but valid statement when he said this. I liked it.

Regarding the plot, Reyker and Lira are frequently crossing paths, but just a second too late. That frustrated me in a good way. I found myself practically yelling at them. No! Wait just a moment longer and you’ll see her! But they always barely missed each other. This technique kept me on the edge of my seat for the first half of the book. Then, when Lira comes to the Dragon’s lair, I was eager to learn more about her magic, and thrilled by the powers she developed.

“Just like that, I made my choice. Damn the god of death and his serpent-bitch sister. Damn the twisted monsters Veronis and his brethren had become. Whatever choices I made from here on would be to right the wrongs that had been done to the first gifted girl of Glasnith, a girl who’d been betrayed by her family and her gods just as I had, whose life and love were stolen from her as mine were. The woman my mother named me after.”

As a character, Lira’s growth is insane. She goes from a helpless woman stuck in her father’s clan, controlled by his decisions, to a woman who takes matters into her own hands. And there are times that she makes brutal decisions to kill. This is NOT this same woman we saw in Glasnith. I loved the changes. I loved the morally gray decisions she made. Her character thrilled me.

Reyker was...well, Reyker. He does the best he can, but when the battle sickness takes him, there’s not much he can do to stop it. He makes one questionable decision in the second half of the book that really challenges his morality. I liked that. No one is perfect, and he’s been thrust from one extreme circumstance to the next.

The love between Reyker and Lira endures. It drives each of them throughout the plot. I was sad that they got so little time together. But the moments were beautiful.

“These scars tell the story of our love. What we fought through and sacrificed to be together. If you erase them, you erase us.”

My only qualm with this story was the ending. I felt like after two books of hunting the dragon, there should have been more closure. Lira and Reyker are no closer to defeating him. If anything, their plight seems more hopeless than it did at the end of book one. I felt as if I was being dangled at the end of a string. The cliff hanger was great, but I’m mildly frustrated at this point. So I’ll have to trust Jill. Book three had better bring things to a resolution or I’m going to have trouble continuing after that. My patience will certainly run out. That being said, I can’t wait to see how Jill handles Lira’s character and the change we witness at the end of the second book.

I can’t wait for book three!

Kingdom of Ice and Bone

Sequel to Beasts of the Frozen Sun, I couldn’t wait to read this next segment of Lira and Reyker’s journey. I wondered how they’d find their way back to each other and how they’d be able to defeat Draki, the Dragon war lord set to conquer the world.

This being the second book in a trilogy, I knew that at the end of this novel I would be left with more questions than answers. I also knew that there wouldn’t be a resolution or happy ending to this story, because our hero and heroine would need to be at the bottom of the barrel emotionally to be able to rise up and overcome adversity, but I wasn’t expecting the actual way this book ended. I wasn’t anticipating how sad I would be to read how things played out. How will we come back from this!?!

The beginning of Kingdom starts with Lira and Reyker separated and both assuming the other is dead. They both believe theyve watched each other’s demise. They make promises to the other in their mind to live for them and to protect and help their people. On their separate paths they start to learn that maybe the other is alive, which sets them on a journey to find each other. Reyker works with the Dragon’s enemies to attempt to overthrow him, while Lira is with the Dragon and resisting his advances and trying to figure out a way to escape his control.

Jill Criswell does a really nice job creating new worlds and helping readers visualize her scenery through words. I wish I had Wraith and Vengence of my very own, and to be able to visit Stony Harbor or the glacier in Iseneld.

Kingdom did start a little slow for me, and took me about 20% to actually get hooked into the story. There wasn’t much of a recap from Beasts, so if you’re reading this with a gap you may want to reread the last few chapters of book 1 to ensure you’re caught up on the small details. I also, selfishly, wish there was more romance in this book because I love love. This book focused a lot more on getting to know Lira, Draki, the Gods and their gifts, and how they work on different lands.

Also, format wise, this ebook was hard to read. The first half of the book didn’t seem to have good formatting which made my eyes work harder and made me tired and not want to keep reading. Hopefully this is a pre-publishing issue and will be fixed prior to release.

Can’t wait for news of book 3 and to hopefully see a happy ending for Reyker & Lira, and the demise of the Dragon.

A solid 3 star read. I found myself, just like with the first one, that I was bored. The overall story is so cool but it falls into the pitfall of slow pacing and lackluster characters. I really wanted to love this one more than the first but...

“A man is nothing without his morality. My father taught me that.”
•
•
Is it legal to end a book in such a shocking and heartbreaking way? I think it shouldn’t and I can bet the next book will be absolutely awesome. But let’s speak about this one. Lira and Reyker are sure the other is dead and for the greatest part of the story they are not together and I seriously missed their scenes. They are misled and deceived very easily in ways that sometimes annoyed me. They both have their missions to saver their own countries from Draki and find a way to be reunited, even in the afterlife. The story is really captivating and I adored how the lives of the gods are intertwined with the ones of the main characters, as in the first book. I found Draki to be a very interesting villain, we get to know him better and we can see his motivations. I mean, I still hate him but it must be difficult to be the undesired son, the less loved... this can make you do despicable things. The problem is that in many cases possession and devotion are confused with love, and only the ones who have been truly loved can see and feel the difference. Draki is sure that what Reyker and Lira feel make them weaker because they are vulnerable, but if you don’t have a reason to fight, a reason to be good, then what can prevent you from becoming a villain?
I’ve been able to ready a copy in advance thanks to Netgalley.

I was so excited to dive back into the Viking world with Lira and Reyker again. This book was one of my top-anticipated sequels this year! Before I go on, I have to warn you that this review may contain spoilers for the first book, Beasts of the Frozen Sun. Read at your own risk!

This book picks up where BOTFS left off: Lira and Reyker are separated, and they each think the other is dead. But they both have the same goal to defeat Draki and restore peace to their lands. Lira grows a lot in this book, especially with her magic, and I loved learning about a new land with new gods. There weren't as many fight scenes in this book; it was more of an exploration of Iseneld, magic from the gods, and the characters' goals. However, it still remained tense and entertaining throughout! There were a few things that bothered me, but Jill Criswell is a fantastic writer. I can't wait for the third and final book.

Writing Aesthetic/Style: 5
Plot/Movement: 4
Character Development: 4
Overall: 4

Thank you, Jill Criswell, for the review copy!

Captivating and thrilling. This book left me breathless with twists and turns I never expected. I cannot wait to read the next installment in this saga.

***I received an uncorrected proof of this ebook from netgalley in exchange for an honest review***

⭐⭐⭐

I did not enjoy this volume as much as the first. It felt like a book-length interlude that could have easily been cut to a novella. The action-packed plot from book one was lacking here. There were action scenes, but there were SO many dream-sequence scenes cutting them up.

The main characters spent the majority of the book apart, only to have a momentary reunion that felt so pointless. I wanted to see more of their relationship development in this book, and there was almost none.

The interactions between Lira and the character she spent most of the book with made me feel extremely uncomfortable. That was the point of them, but I honestly just wanted to shower. I did not like certain decisions Lira made towards the end of the book. I hate memory-erasure as a plot point, just as I hate rape as a plot point. Both violations of different types and, frankly, I am sick to death of reading about them.

I do plan on reading book 3, and I'm really hoping it will turn around my opinions of this trilogy as a whole.

Wow, this book was an emotional rollercoaster! From anger, to joy, to frustration, to pain, to hope--Jill Criswell forces you to feel all these and more as you bond with her dynamic characters! Can this really be her first book? Her dialogue, world-building, character development, and plot are so well-written I cannot believe this is a debut! I want more! As I read this story, I felt a hint of Thor/Loki dynamic as well as a touch of "Wicked Saints."
I have so many questions! Does Criswell believe love can survive? Can hope last? Or are we all doomed to be controlled by the whims of fate? I want to root for Lira and Reyker so bad!
I predict a POWERFUL series in Criswell's future--if Kingdom of Ice & Bone was THIS good, I expect nothing but the best in the coming books.
Expect blood, expect steam, and expect to be blown of your feet and spending hours nose-to-book as you read this novel and get hooked on folklore, power, control, loyalty, and love.

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<p>OH! MY! GOSH!!! If anyone has followed me for a while, you know that I absolutely fell in love with Beasts of the Frozen Sun. I was so excited when NetGalley approved me to receive an ARC copy of it's sequel, Kingdom of Ice &amp; Bone. YAY!!! It absolutely did not disappoint, either. </p>
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<p>There is so much back story, so I'm not going to go into that, but it was so well done. The story moved quickly from the beginning, starting right where Beasts of the Frozen Sun left off. There was no point in this book where I felt the plot slowed down too much. I was engaged the entire time! </p>
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<p>The characters were superbly written. I really love the characters I'm supposed to love and hate the characters I'm supposed to hate. The bad guy isn't one dimensional either, which I love. He has depth and I feel like I understand him and why he does the things he does. It doesn't make them right, but I can empathize with him. </p>
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<p>The writing was great, too. This was an ARC digital copy and the formatting was rough, but I'm sure when it's actually published it'll be fine. </p>
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<p>Overall, I loved, loved, loved this book! Just know, then ending leaves you wanting more. Be prepared. LOL! </p>
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I didn’t like this one as much as the first book, but it was still an exciting story. I loved that this time they went to Reyker’s homeland of ice and snow.

And the romance was heart-wrenching, especially that one moment at that one place, kind of halfway or more into the book. But, I didn’t like the turn of events after this. I wish the book had more of Lira and Reyker and less of Lira with another character.

The very ending does give some promise to the next book, even though I hate what Lira did before that. I don’t like that plot device.

However, if you’re looking for a brutal tale of battles and warriors, gods and fate, then you should try this series.

This novel is one of the best I’ve read this year! The characters are so dynamic yet relatable. I loved the flow of the story. It held my attention the whole time.

An exciting sequel to Beasts of the Frozen Sun. Excellent characterisation, exciting plot and great world building. I can't wait for the final instalment. Highly recommend.