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Digital Reads Reviews

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Frost by C. N. Crawford

Digital Reads Reviews is a blog-haven for book posts and reviews. This is a review of an urban fantasy, Frost.
Shalini
Frost
Okay
2.5/5

Publication Date: Oct 2022

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Blurb

On the worst birthday of my life, I come home to find my boyfriend in bed with another woman. Within hours, I’m drunk, homeless, and pledging to stay single forever. And that is when the dangerously sexy Seelie King rolls through town, looking for fae like me.

Every generation, the king holds a competition for Seelie queen. But for reasons he won’t explain, Torin is looking for a charade, not a real marriage. So when I drunkenly sling insults his way, I have his attention.

When Torin offers me fifty million to participate, I think, “What have I got to lose?” The answer turns out to be “my life,” because my competition will literally kill for the crown.

And the more time I spend with the seductive king, the harder it becomes to remember it’s all supposed to be fake. Now, my life—and my heart—are one the line.

 

My Review

What was it all about

Frost by C. N. Crawford was a light urban fantasy picked up by me for a few reasons. The cover was so gorgeous. The book had fae and their Seelie Kingdom. The blurb sounded interesting. 

It was actually the Bachelor series in the faedom when the King of fae had to choose a wife amongst the 100 contestants. Once the queen sat on the throne, magic would begin to flow and the Kingdom would replenish itself. There would be no more winter. 

So our heroine had to be one from the human world where she was the fae abandoned who didn’t know her parents and couldn’t care less about fae or their king or any kinda magic because she didn’t have any. And this heroine had to be included in the competition and win it. That was the crux of book 1. So far, so good. 

I went in with high expectations as Frost promised me pulse-spiking moments where it was a fight to death between the contestants. Book 1 of the series, I kinda expected it to end on a cliffhanger. So, I went into it with much gusto. 

The Hook

Trigger Warnings: Juvenile writing. That was all I could think of after reading 350 pages of the story. 

The idea of the competition where one would remain standing, in the end, was quite a compelling hook along with the fact the heroine Ava was the unknown fae whose magical powers had so far not been revealed. 

The book could have been way, way better if the author had put some depth into it, but more of that later. With the star rating given, it was obvious many of my expectations were quite violently dashed.

The Characters

I started out caring for Ava as she had spunk to rant against the king, uncaring if his magic tried to make her bow down to him. She was drunk and I was sure the alcohol helped with the courage. 

But down the pages, Ava didn’t seem to grow. Not that King Torin was developed. He was the same from beginning to end, a broody, lonely figure who had a secret that would kill him if he revealed it to anyone. 

I cared for them in the initial pages, but as the subplots kept dwindling, they kept reacting in the same manner and sometimes became too passive. Something that shouldn’t have happened in this story.  

Maybe book 2 had them rocking their parts and showing me the depths hidden inside them. Keeping my fingers crossed. 

There was a blind fae who was interesting. Alas, her role was minuscule. Blink and you would miss her. 

The Intricacies

Fight for the hand in marriage of the fae king was the concept that was being televised and sponsored as that money would help the Fae King buy food and other necessities since magic was fading away. 

So our heroine was supposed to enter this competition and stay alive, and the King would choose her even if she didn’t win. Are you asking why he didn’t choose her directly and avoid this competition in the first place? The answer is simple. 

Money. 

Humans loved fae-drama, and sponsorships were pouring in. The television network wanted its money’s worth. Hence the fight to death. And of course, it was the way of the Gods even after so many years. 

This sorta plot line kept me gripped initially. The first race was grueling, and then the book kinda started going down. Right around its midway. 

There was training and death but no other competition. So it was all about showing me each day of the time interval between the first and second competitions. 

No pulse spikes or workouts of the heart. The book had intense chemistry between the main characters, though individually, they were quite bland. No other subplots at least in this book. Other than one shocking reveal which couldn’t shock anyone except for the main character because we had already been told of this shocker by King Torin in the second chapter. 

From mid-half of the book, the plot began losing me since all the intrigue of the fae life and secrets were downplayed. The writing lost its sheen then and actually nothing much happened in the book. No other competitions too. 

The Setting

I would have liked more intrigue and adventure in the fae land along with shades of darkness. Scenes were inserted but they didn’t flow all through. The zing in the lines was missing.

The Pace

I felt the book kept turning the pages on its own in the first half until I reached about 130 pages. Then my curiosity progressively decreased as I kept reading. 

Ava could have been more proactive while navigating through the various corridors of the fae world. She kept waiting for the king to help her out. Everything was dampened from the second half. 

I would be reading book 2 to see if the story improved. 

The style of writing

This was my first fae book after a very long time so I wished the writing were stronger, but I had nothing to compare to other than my inner need for powerful lines that would evoke a spark in me. 

Both the characters didn’t have the drive to further the book in a stronger way. 

How it made me feel

Very, very underwhelmed was all I felt as I had so many expectations from this book. I had hoped my venture into the fae world would be rollicking, but unfortunately, it left me feeling sad that I didn’t get even half of it. 

But hope sprung eternal, so would definitely be checking out book 2 to take a final call about this author. 

Do I recommend this book?

I thought I should read book 2 before I could advise you to read this book. If that managed to capture the momentum that this book had lost, then it would be worth reading it to understand the characters. 

I downloaded the digital version of the book from an online retail, and this is my journey down its pages, straight from the heart. STRICTLY HONEST and UNBIASED.

If you’ve loved the review, buy me a cuppa to perk me up.

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