Omen of Ice is an engaging and fast-paced YA Fantasy. Keltania is an Aphelian Druid. Something she has spent her whole life training to become. She is one, of the quickly dwindling numbers of druids left descended from the legendary/mythical Aphelian. Known for having sacrificed herself and her magic to help save everyone by gifting her magic to the fae she loved and starting what is known as the Great Drain, the disappearance of magic from all fae. Now, as is considered their honor, Aphelian's train from childhood to serve the fae as protectors.

We enter this story at what is considered a type of graduation for Keltania. the end of her training and the start of her assignment as an Aphelian. Assigned to the nephew of the winter court, Valen. Valen is potentially the only heir to the Winter Court and must be protected, for he is hiding a very large secret that puts him in serious danger. Though Valen is determined to not have a guard and adamant about having Keltania removed. However, as the attempts on his life keep escalating, he's soon come to realize that he cannot fully protect himself and it may be more of a benefit to keep Keltania around. But, when a sigil meant to protect Valen goes awry, things start to become even more interesting, and even a bit more dangerous for the both of them if it's not fixed. It's time for them to leave, meet Keltania's trainer, and pray she can fix things before it's too late.

Told in dual POV we get a look at both Keltania and Valen through their journey within this story. While I did quite enjoy this story and find the history of the premise for this story interesting, I did feel the characters, particularly Valen, lean a little too heavily on the cocky male love interest trope a little too hard at times. The two points of view add to the questionable nature of the lore that is leading both their lives, as the products of their upbringing. The fae in this world can live for thousands of years, so there is potential for those to have been alive during Aphelian's time, and those who may only be a generation or two off. While the druids are multiple generations separated from the lore that has ruled their whole premise of being, relying on the tale being kept only by word of mouth. It gives you the idea to question everything, and while some answers are given to you fairly early on and then more revealed toward the end, I think we have yet to get the full story of what is true and what is left as fiction in their history.

This did read like an introduction, we have some world building and character development but not a deep level of it, as if we are just starting to dip our toes into what this could fully be fleshed out into in a series. My only really big argument is that the title is Omen of Ice but I am still unclear on what fully the Omen is, as it was a minor roll within this book.

Regardless of that one caveat I feel there is a good setup for the 2nd book, and am excited to see how the story progresses and grows as it continues on. A very good fast paced read that didn't leave many lulls. There was a few elements easy to guess but there are still plenty of shocking revelations.

Jus Accardo created such a unique fantasy story with this one. While some elements may not seem unique at first, when looked at as a whole, I did find the story unique.

Dual POV here with Keltania as our female MC. She’s a Druid who was raised with the sole purpose of training to become a guard for a single Fae as part of a sacrifice to honor the Druid history of partnership with the Fae. Valen is our male MC. He’s the nephew of the Winter Lord, and also the only Fae left with magic after a war hundreds of years prior destroyed magic and humanity.

This story has pretty great world/character building, although Valen’s character annoyed the heck out of me for the first half of the book and I applaud Keltania for not gutting her ward just to shut him up. He grows on you though, even though Tania is supposed to be the one like fungus. 🤣

There’s also intrigue, mystery, magic blending, betrayal and the slowest burn build up that will leave you wanting more…and I do mean leave you like that. The ending of this one is setting up for the sequel where hopefully these two leads will pull their heads out of their asses on the personal front.

I received an e-ARC from NetGalley & Entangled but all opinions are my own.

I give this book 4 1/2⭐️ wow this book I was not expecting the twist, the turns the storyline all together was gripping , attention grabbing ,and the cliffhanger, and I definitely need book 2 and reads more like upper YA

Unfortunately I could not finish this novel. The characters and the plot just did not pull me in and honestly I was a bit confused about the set-up as well. I was really excited about Keltania and Valen’s chemistry but it moved a bit slow for me.

I am not posting this to my social media or Goodreads.

This book definitely consumed me and I felt like I was always interested to see what happens next until I finished. The plot was great and overall I enjoyed it. Personally I didn’t have the attachment I normally do to the main characters but I am hoping that changes in the next book. I did particularly love the quote: “Magic is a funny thing. It can be infinitely powerful yet at the same time, as fragile as the most delicate bloom. All it takes to lose it is a single sacrifice. Or a single mistake.” This quote alone drew me in and it was only the first sentence/paragraph.

This story was set up like your usual introduction to a new fantasy story where the first half is all world-building and setting up to tell the plot while getting to know our Main Characters and the roles they will play. I feel like this did help me to care about the characters and what will potentially happen to them going forward. I did enjoy this book a lot though I think the beginning could have been a bit shorter it really didn't take away from the story at all. I am very interested in the 2nd book and seeing how this story progresses.

Jus Accardo has a way with words and characters in her books. I was pulled in from the first chapter wanting to learn more about the Fae and druids losing their power. I loved both main characters and the side characters was just as spunky. The ending leaves you wanting more !! Really excited for book 2 ! More detailed review when the book releases!

This was such a captivating and fast paced read! I enjoyed the multi POV, it flowed really well.

I absolutely loved the druid and fae aspects. The mythology and lore were really interesting and kept me entertained.

This book has adventure, romance and some great twists. I highly recommend this book to any fantasy readers!

Thank you to Netgalley and Entangled for allowing me to read an early copy in exchange for my honest opinion.