Firefrost by Camille Longley ★★½
“Wouldn’t dream of it, sweetheart.” Sol stomped her foot. “Don’t call me that. I’m no one’s sweetheart.”
I received this e-book from Netgalley. This does not affect my review or opinion. All thoughts are my own and I’m being 100 percent honest. Thank you to Netgalley and BooksGoSocial for providing me this e-book for reviewing purposes.
I would call ‘Firefrost’ by Camille Longley a YA romance novel that reminded me of the Avatar series
I don’t know what to think of this book. Firefrost sounded so cool when I read the synopsis… And the plot is interesting but the book was focused on the romance and not enough on the world-building and plot.
Synopsis
She’s a huntress:
Sol d’Hillerod is sent on a desperate mission through a treacherous winter pass. She carries with her the only hope of her village’s survival, and she will do whatever she must to keep her world from burning.
He’s a monster:
Lieutenant Kelan Birke has spent his whole life fighting for his freedom and his soul. As his control slips, and the war rages on, he knows it won’t be long before he loses himself entirely to the fire that flows through his veins.
Sol and Kelan are enemies in an age-old war, forced to depend on each other to survive a perilous journey through the mountains. As fire melts the ice in Sol’s heart, she questions everything she’s been taught to believe, and Kelan becomes more desperate to fight the flames that consume him. Together they discover that their struggle will have repercussions for both sides of this burning war. The sketches in this book are gorgeous. You get a sketch of Kelan and one of Sol, and I was so surprised when I saw these. It adds so much to the book. I love to know how the characters look, so I can picture them clearly.
Now the plot wasn’t bad at all but it took too long for things to happen to stay interesting. The whole book was focused on the romance. The story did remind me a bit of the series Avatar The Last Airbender. I love this series, so I did like these similarities. I do think everything in Firefrost happens too fast. The plot and the romance.
I loved the magic system in Firefrost and would’ve loved to see more! I definitely think we will get to see more of these epic powers in the next book in this series.
“Sol was like the mountains, an unchangeable part of the land. Eternal and unbreakable.”
So the romance in this book isn’t bad but I rolled eyes quite a few times when reading Firefrost. The amount of times the two main characters have a fight is ridiculous. They get angry at each other for no reason. The relationship is supposed to be a slow-burn enemies to lovers kind of thing but everything happens really fast and it’s so blatantly obvious that the two are getting together. However, I did like the main characters. Kelan and Sol were fun to follow and I love their names. Their chemistry was amazing and I did like them as a couple. The romance could’ve taken it’s time a bit more and it would’ve been a better slow burn romance.
The world-building lacked details. As I said, the author was too focused on writing a love story that the other aspects of this book lack details and depth.
The ending was nice and exactly what I expected. It was a satisfying ending to this story!
I’m having a hard time reviewing this book because I don’t completely hate it but there were not enough good elements to make me love it. That’s why I settled on a score of 2,5 stars, right in the middle.
Would I recommend it?
If you’re looking for a short romance book that takes place in a fantasy world, yes. I wouldn’t call Firefrost a new favorite but it wasn’t bad at all. I think the author has potential and I can’t wait what the next book in this series brings.
Trigger warnings
Blood, death, death of a loved one, violence, fire
Representation in this book
Main character of color(?)
Genre
Young adult, romance, fantasy
Publication date
September 21, 2020
Publisher
BooksGoSocial
About the author
Camille Longley is the author of the Flameskin Chronicles and the Talons and Teeth series. She grew up in Arizona, graduated from Brigham Young University, and now lives in the Bay Area with her husband and daughter.
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