ARC from NetGalley

Firefrost is a love story with magical elements. The Flameskins have a second consciousness living inside them, Pyri who feed on emotions such as fear, anger and lust. The Pyri help them heal quickly and allow them to use fire. Sol hates Flameskins because her pa hated the Flameskins and every other idiot in her village and apparently most of the world hates them too.

Far too much of this book is Sol calling Kelan a demon and telling him that she hates him. It got old fast. I can understand being indoctrinated by your family to believe that a certain race is bad and evil. I think everyone can picture that, considering it still happens to this day, but this isn't just your traditional hatred, this is kill them all even the babies, cut out their hearts and burn them kind of hatred. I just couldn't understand how Sol could take so long to even register Kelan as human.

Honestly not a lot happens in this book. We don't really learn anything about the Flameskin history. We don't learn anything about the dryads or their magic. I don't know where they got the frost from for the title Firefrost unless they meant all the fucking snow they had to walk through for like 75% of this goddamn book.

The setting was almost entirely snowy mountain, and it got boring. Every single time someone was happy, like within 3 pages something bad would happen again, and it became predictable and boring. The back and forth, I hate you, I'm scared of you, I'm making out with you, oh god I can't, got boring. The end was anticlimactic. I know this is "book 0" and so I assume part of a series, but it was like a long prologue with nothing really ever happening. Hopefully the next books actually have some meat to them.

This legitimately might be one of my favourite young adult fantasy books I’ve read this year! Not only does this book have all the aspects of a artfully woven tale, but lovable characters and powerful world building.

First off, Sol and Kelan are literally adorable and somehow the fact that they could both kill me easily doesn’t seem to factor into that?! Both characters were raised to hate everything the other stood for, everything that they are, but as the story progresses they are forced to question everything they were taught to despise and who they once trusted. Lines are blurred and slowly a bond develops between the pair. I will always openly admit my love for the classic enemies to lovers troupe and character growth along the way, and this book has both of those factors perfectly executed. None of it felt forced or straightforward, keeping me on my toes up until the very end.

The story itself was refreshing and fast paced, but not so much so that you lost track of what was happening. I had a hard time putting the book down, there was never a dull moment and the plot twists had me at the edge of my seat. I absolutely loved how imaginative the plot and world building was, with the whole idea of the Flameskins and their pyras vs the Tokken, and Kelan’s own battle to keep control over his demon. Especially in the sense of world building it was fairly easy to follow, you were able to understand the dynamics of the world without being overwhelmed with unnecessary factors.

I have read many young adult fantasies but this one was unlike any I’ve read before, and it was AMAZING. I would highly recommend it to any fantasy fan or anyone looking to get into the genre. It’s release date is September 21st!!

Huge thanks to NetGally and the author for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review!

Kelan is a Flameskin lieutenant and Sol is a Tokken huntress.

The Flameskins are fire wielders that have something in them called pyri. The pyri take over the magic wielder eventually and they become one. And they live to destroy.
Some choose to numb their magic with an emberstone and don't allow the unity, so they don't wield their fire at all.
There is a war between the Tokken army and the Flameskins. Kelan and Sol are natural enemies, as it's all they have ever known. Can they change the course of their future and stop the war by uniting? Or will their friendship mean they will always be on the run from all sides?

This was an interesting read and not like most enemies to friends stories.
I found it to be relatable to some current events, while remaining in a fantasy world, which made it a bit lighter and an easy read.

This was beautifully written and had the perfect amount of romance for me.
The descriptions of the mountains, woods and many weeks of travelling through snow, were captivating and kept me intrigued throughout the story.
I do wish the ending was a bit longer as I felt it was a bit rushed, but it was overall a very satisfying read.

*ARC provided in exchange for my honest review*

4.5 ⭐️

I really enjoyed this book! The story was unique and the characters were so amazing. Sol is a complete badass who can hold her own against the best of them. Kelan is a lovable monster who I rooted for the entire time. The story was full of twists and turns that I did not expect.

My only complaint was that whenever Sol and Kelan found themselves in trouble, I felt they got out of it too quickly. I would have liked if some of their problem would have been slightly closer calls to keep up the excitement.

Overall, I loved this book and cannot wait to add a physical copy to my bookshelf!!

For the first 40% or so of this book, I was ready to give it 4 stars because I was enjoying reading the enemies to lovers plot quite a bit. I was finding it easy to read and I liked that it was basically just these two characters struggling to survive the harsh winter mountains. Also, I thought the magic system was pretty interesting. There was just the right amount of world building for a fantasy story romance focused on the developing relationship of the two main characters.
Unfortunately, there were some plot developments around the 40% mark that I really wasn’t keen on and the book started to lose me there. Around the midway point of the book I felt like I was reading something that should be at the climax of the story and following that the book dragged for a while. There was a lot of repetition of actions and feelings and I got a little bored to be honest. I ended up putting the book down for a while when I reached the 70% or so mark after another plot twist that felt out of place (which I felt went nowhere as well).
When I came back to the book, I found myself not very interested in the plot as it switched to being involved in the politics and world events that had previously been somewhat on the sidelines as the story had been so focused on just two people traversing some mountains. Having had not a very large cast of characters up until this point, there’s suddenly a good number of new people you’re introduced to and don’t have time to develop any thoughts or feelings about before a fight takes place and the book ends.
Was the first half of the book perfect? No, but I would have preferred if the book had just been that first half. I did feel like the characters were a bit flat and the relationship rushed and simple at times but I still had fun reading it.

This prequel (I think it’s a prequel...maybe...I don’t know it’s numbered book 0 in a series so we will see) had a lot of potential, but just did not hit the nail on the head for me.

The enemies have depth to an extent. The MCs have this weird trait of a lot of depth in some areas, with no depth in others. I just wanted to feel more and I felt like it was right there, but never pushed me as a reader. Throughout the book I wanted more feeling, but it was more told to me than allowing me to feel it.

The whole idea of this book is amazing. The moral lines are so blurred it really makes you look at what decisions you might possibly make in these situations. I loved the play on what makes someone truly evil, but once again it was never really followed through with.

The first probably 40% of this book had me hooked. I did not want to put it down and sleep, but I did. When I picked it back up the next day and continued reading, I sort of felt like I was reading a book written by someone else. Everything that was so wonderful previously just collapsed and sometimes I was looking around the room wondering what the heck was going on.

It is a brilliant idea and I hope the kinks get worked out for the series because I feel like this would be a great set of stories.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in return for my honest opinion.
-Stone.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.
I honestly read a little more than a third of this, left it for a few days, and then didn't care enough about the plot or characters to pick it back up. Sorry!
The two main characters literally want to kill each other, but as soon as the guy notices how nice the girl's legs are the hate magically disappears.
I wish there had been more of a backstory about Pyra's as well as the feud between the two groups of people.
The premise definitely had promise, but for me personally it just didn't seem to work.

Firefrost is a young adult romantic fantasy set in an interesting new world. A young woman guides a princess through the mountains where she and her father hunted, while a young man fights to save his people from genocide while trying to resist the dark urges that come with using his magic. The world is well built out in bits and pieces that don't interfere with the character-driven story or overall plot. This feels like an introduction to a new world full of many potential stories - I'm excited to read more of them.

Thank you NetGalley for the eArc copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Sol is a huntress who is doing what she can to ensure her village survives the wrath of the flameskin army.

Kelan is a Lieutenant in the flamskin army who has spent his whole life fighting what he is.

Sol and Kelan are enemies from opposite sides of a war that started years ago. Due to unforeseen circumstances they must depend on each other to survive. As Sol begins to question her beliefs, Kelan becomes desperate to fight the fire that threatens to consume him. Together they will face many hardships that will have an effect on both sides of the war.

What I Liked about this book

The concept - I loved the idea of the flameskin's and how their powers work.
Kelan - He is my favourite character in this book. he is a complex character and is completely devoted to Sol.
The world - even though this book is centered on the flameskin's there are other magical creatures at work as well. This book mainly focuses on explaining the world and setting the scene for the next book.
What I Didn't like
The pacing of the book - the story seemed to jump from place to place very quickly in the second half of the book
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and I would recommend this book to anyone who likes books such as Throne of Glass.

4.5 stars
✮✮✮✮✬

A story of love, sacrifice, hidden truths, longings, care and forbidden lovers. This was a tale, quite a powerful one which kept me intrigued until the very end. This story is the highlight of sacrifice and happiness which was so well written.

Thankyou netgalley for the review copy and I was actually interested in this book firstly by the description and later by that beautiful cover. The title was also something unique with opposites in it i.e. fire and frost, these led me to immediately request a review copy and I loved reading this book. At times I felt like the story was unnecessarily complicated and going forver but that turned out to be the basis for such a well read book.

This is a tale of Sol and Kalen who ard enemies but by unforseen circumstances they are forced to ensure each other in the worst of times and they end up uncovering secrets and discovering love and happiness in even smallest of the things. The emphasis on family, on how they arrive hard, always being hunted, just to have a normal life and live in love is heart-wrenching. The book on the whole was good and very well written. I loved the details in the landscape descriptions and also the complexity of the characters. This book is a treat to adventure and forbidden lovers genre lovers.
If you are a lover of such a genre you can definitely pick this book up.#netgalley #firefrostcamillelongley

Unfortunately this book just didn’t really land with me. I didn’t feel connected with the characters, the dialogue was repetitive and dull, and I felt like there wasn’t great transition between events in the book. Kind of like things just sort of happened, but I didn’t feel invested in what was happening. It was an interesting story and world though, just not for me.

This was a fun page-turner which held my attention until the end. The main character was strong and resourceful which made her likeable throughout.
The premise around firebloods and mages was interesting although (and this may be due to the luck of what I have been reading recently) there were times it felt similar to other fantasy YA out there.
It would have been really interesting to have a bit more fleshed out around the world the author has constructed and the history around the firebloods and their origin and especially the "Saints" as I found myself wanting to know more.
I would have also liked to see more detail around the main character's parentage because the big reveal or realisation felt too quick and just slipped in for me.
Overall an entertaining and diverting read that I enjoyed.

This had a lot of potential. Maybe the main series will be more flushed out. I especially liked the moral questions raised-what is evil? how far can/should you go to stop/prevent evil? However, it wasn't explored as much as I would've liked.

The plot was very repetitive. Sol and Kelan constantly (like every 10 pages) had the same argument. The pacing also felt off. I can't quite pin down what was wrong. Maybe the tension vs. release was off. There's a pretty strong romance element to this. That doesn't bother me, because I like romance. The romance wasn't insta-love in my opinion, but I didn't buy into the romance 100%.

I would've liked some more world-building. I'm guessing there will be more in the main series, but this isn't a small novella-there was time. I don't understand the politics and on a smaller scale, the magic system. I might continue...I might not. I'm currently undecided.

3.5

Sol and Kelan are the only survivors in a mission gone wrong. Unfortunately, they hate and want to kill each other. Over the course of the book, feelings turn to love and soon they will do anything to stay together.
I started off enjoying the book. I never go into a book with incredibly high expectations which lowers my chances of being disappointed. I enjoyed Kelan and Sol's relationship initially. Enemies to lovers is my favourite trope! But they so suddenly went from enemies to lovers. There was no falling in love and slowly seeing the other person, not as an enemy, but as a friend. I felt like I got whiplash from how quickly it changed.
Another thing that I noticed was her complete lack of pronouns. Paragraphs would be: Kelan couldn't believe it... Kelan pulled out his sword... Kelan fought his way out... Does that make sense? She just kept repeating names over, and over again. It would've flowed better to exchange quite a few of those with pronouns.
The writing wasn't bad. The characters weren't horrible. It was an overall enjoyable read for me, but it hasn't become my new favourite book. I might pick up the sequels.

Engaging from the beginning, it starts like a 'road movie' but with traveling on foot through snow and mountains. I do enjoy it when circumstances, usually extreme ones, force enemies to work together. "We're both afraid of what fire can do to us"

Sol is practical, straightforward, bossy and tough and you admire her strength. You can't help liking Kelan from the get go, he is the nicer one and more accepting. He also has a dry sense of humor.

Kelan's symbiotic relationship with the pyra is tenuous and I like how the inner turmoil is depicted. How the demon of fire taunts him and he fights it from totally possesing him. Also how Sol's conflict of her beliefs and her hate with actually liking Kelan is shown. This is a budding, confusing relationship, tinged with melancholy and the companionship of hardship.

The interchangeable 3rd person POVs have a straight to the point narrative with clear pictures of what each protagonist is experiencing. And you'll love those little details that makes the images so clear.

Emotionally charged, with wonder action, suspenseful and described beautifully (there are so many elegant picturesque sentences). Except for the growing feelings of the protagonists which you see coming a mile away, it is entertainingly unpredictable.

There is emphasis on how prejudice is not necessarily a fixed state and change to acceptance. Violence brings more violence, the wrongness of war, how it brings out the worst in people, how devastating it is for all sides.

An against the odds adventurous story. Heart-wrenching and wonderfully optimistic at the same time. With a great ending that satisfies but still promises more.

This was my first book by this author, It was pretty enjoyable. I would give this book a 3.5 star rating! It was a pretty Quick and easy read!

Two people were destined to be together, yet doomed from the start.
In Firefrost by Camille Longley, we witness a few ugly human characteristics play out in a fictional fantasy setting. Sol is a girl born in a small mountain community and is led to believe that the “Flameskin” people are evil from birth, long before they even begin to display their affinity for fire. Kelan is a boy born with what he feels is a curse – the ability to wield fire. He agrees that it’s a dangerous trait, but he can’t help how he was born. It’s immediately clear that they’re both born and raised to be enemies without a chance at civility between them.

Sol and Kelan cross paths when Sol, posing as a man, is leading a princess and her guards through the dangerous snowy mountains. Known to the princess and army men as “Hunter”, Sol is their leader on the dangerous journey because of her expertise in the mountains. Her status in the village was once held by her father. Since the passing of her father, Sol has been the provider for her family and thus poses as her father to keep the job.

We are human first. We’re not as different as we think.
A common theme throughout the book is Kelan’s desire to be seen as a human and not a demon. There are many Flameskins who have committed tragic offenses against villagers; yet, there are terrible humans who have murdered their people as well. The basic nature to protect their own by harming others actually makes them the same while they’d like to believe they’re very different.

The build-up of Sol and Kelan’s love worked well because it took natural stages. At first they were just civil with each other for survival. Then they started to warm up to each other and became allies. Friendship and love built upon those stages. It wasn’t a quick jump to love that we tend to see in YA books. Thereafter, Camille Longley provides multiple stages of conflict among Kelan and Sol. Love is never easy after all.

I enjoyed this story of love, danger, and compromise very much. Sol and Kelan work hard to see past what they were raised to believe. It’s even harder for them to try to influence their own family and friends. Needless to say, trying to end a war between Sol’s people and the Flameskins seems impossible but necessary. In Firefrost nothing is every easy, and no step that is taken comes without a personal price to Sol and Kelan.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me early access to Firefrost! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This is a book about Adventure, Fate, War, Love, Family, Destiny, and Heritage. As I've seen several other people say this book is binge worthy! Once I picked it up I didn't want to put it down. I adored Kelan and Sol's enemy to lover's relationship. It was beautifully written. All in all, I loved everything about this book. From the magic system to the politics. The world is so detailed I could picture myself right there alongside the characters. The characters were very well written and as far as I could see there were no plot holes. Everything flowed together nicely and linked back up.

I give this book five stars and I can't wait to continue Sol and Kelan's story! #Firefrost #NetGalley

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for giving me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Firefrost is a really good debut novel with excellent writing and a great storyline. I always loved enemies to lovers storyline. This one's about two people forced against each other by war. Sol's and Kelan's characters were very great and looking forward to reading more about them in the sequel.

(8/24/2020) Thank you to Netgalley for an e-arc copy of this novel. (4.5 stars)

Firefrost is a great action-packed adventure with a great enemies to lovers romance. The book has two protagonists and has a dual POV structure. We have Sol, a mountain huntress from Hillerod and Kelan, a flameskin warrior. The continent of Nordby is plagued by war and terror, stemming from King Anton Bruun's execution of his flameskin wife and daughter. Others across the continent, especially the Tokkens, have taken up arms against the flameskins, vowing utter annihilation of their race in order to prevent the burning of their lands. The novel shows how internalized prejudices and war can destroy nations and peoples, leaving countless innocent victims both within and outside of the armies.

I really loved the magic system of Firefrost. Flameskins are beings with magical fire powers; these powers manifest themselves because of pyra, a seemingly demonic that is able to possess flameskins after excessive use of their powers. Pyra have a penchant for destruction and chaos and feed on anger and other negative emotions. These aspects of pyra ultimately scare non-Flameskins and they harbor extreme prejudice against flameskins. The only way to keep them at bay is by not using powers and/or using an emberstone to extinguish the pyra's presence. Mages can also use emberstones in order to use fire magic; however excessive use of emberstones leads to mages becoming emotionally extinguished (emotionally blunted). There is also mentions of powers granted by the goddess Maja to the "saints" of Nordby.

The character development for Sol was great. Her feelings towards Flameskins changes drastically throughout the novel and we see her overcome what horrible ideologies she was taught. The great thing about the novel is that there is no purely good or purely evil character. Each has their faults and many are just victims of their environment. But we get to see both Sol and Kelan grow past their faults. They are both desperate to live a life of somewhat normalcy but are both used as tools. But in each other, they find the belonging they always wanted. The romance was heartbreaking and sweet. Both Kelan and Sol struggle with their emotions and it was nice to see how the romance developed in tandem with their development.

I only docked a point because there was a lot of redundancy in the beginning of the novel and it took me a little bit of chugging along to get through around the first 20%. After that it was super action packed and didn't let up for a second (much to the chagrin of Sol and Kelan).

For future novels, I hope to see some kind of resolution to the war in the future because it ends somewhat abruptly. I also want to see more worldbuilding and learn more about the other three kingdoms of Nordby outside of Tokkedal and Cassia as well as different races like the dryads. There is a lot of potential for this universe that Longley has created and I can't wait to see what she has in store next!