A Soul as Cold as Frost by Jennifer Kropf

​I had the absolute pleasure of receiving an ARC of A Soul as Cold as Frost from Winter Publishing House in exchange for an honest review. This is such a cute YA fantasy set in a magical wintery world and with a main character to root for. It’s a warm Christmas tale spiced with thrilling adventures; something of Alice in Wonderland meets the Snow Queen, the Scrooge, and the Nutcracker in an updated holiday legends story.

“May the forces of Winter save you from what I have just done.”

When Christmas shopping, sixteen-year-old Helen Bell is handed an orb by a mysterious girl, and suddenly starts to see and hear things no one else does; like strange rabbits in the snow-covered streets, a train horn ringing, places that have been hidden, and a handsome boy all dressed in black following her around. After being attacked, she suddenly finds herself on board an invisible train and swept away into a magical Winter wonderland. Finding out that she isn’t just another ordinary ‘Trite’, but in fact the Carrier of Truth whose life is now linked to the Revelation Orb in her hand, a whirlwind of adventures begins. Together with the boy in black, her (somewhat reluctant) Patrolman Zane, she answers to a whispered prayer to take on the fight against the crooked Queen, Mara Rouge, in the ancient Quarrel of Sword and Bone. On the journey to set the truth free and save the Rime Folk, Helen and Zane face snow monsters, giants, dwarves, the monstrous Greed and so many other magical creatures.

“The snow globe’s been shaken. A winter storm is coming, and we need to make it past the frost giants.”
“Whatever,” I remarked. “Snowsquatches. Pirates. Rabbits. At this point, who cares about crossing giants?”

I immediately rooted for Helen. Being orphaned at an early age and an outcast at her school she’s already had to overcome so much in her life. She’s so strong, and brave and lovable. I can relate so much to her feeling of being out of step with her classmates, feeling like a hundred years older than them, and being a “boring bookworm” thinking that books are more interesting than people.

The start before Helen figured the whole thing with the Winter Realm out was a bit slow and there were parts where the writing felt drawn-out with long descriptions and adjective upon adjective, but from the second half of the book the flow was so much better and there were so many adventures and breathtaking action that kept you on the edge of your seat. And I just have to mention how much I loved “The End?”-shock (you need to read this book yourself to find out what I’m talking about, but I can tell you that it was a clever way to give the readers a fright...)

A Soul as Cold as Frost is truly a wonderful debut by Jennifer Kropf and a perfect cozy wintertime YA story for anyone who is a fan of The Chronicles of Narnia, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Christmas folklore, and I can’t wait to continue this series to see what new adventures life has in store for Helen and Zane.

Rating:
4 stars

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​Author info:
Jennifer Kropf