Frostblood by Elly Blake

Frostblood (Frostblood Saga, #1)

by Elly Blake

Seventeen-year-old Ruby is a Fireblood who has concealed her powers of heat and flame from the cruel Frostblood ruling class her entire life. But when her mother is killed trying to protect her, and rebel Frostbloods demand her help to overthrow their bloodthirsty king, she agrees to come out of hiding, desperate to have her revenge.

Despite her unpredictable abilities, Ruby trains with the rebels and the infuriating--yet irresistible--Arcus, who seems to think of her as nothing more than a weapon. But before they can take action, Ruby is captured and forced to compete in the king's tournaments that pit Fireblood prisoners against Frostblood champions. Now she has only one chance to destroy the maniacal ruler who has taken everything from her--and from the icy young man she has come to love.

Reviewed by Leah on

5 of 5 stars

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Where do I start with my love for Frostblood? Fantasy is still an incredibly new genre to me personally, but it impresses me every single time, the ability authors have to bring you into their imagined worlds is immense. Frostblood is right up there with what I’ve read so far of the Throne of Glass series, it’s addictive, and I finished it feeling immensely satisfied (thank you Elly Blake for not giving us a cliff-hanger ending) but also knowing if someone offered me Fireblood to read RIGHT NOW I would take them up on in immediately. Because I wasn’t done with Ruby, with Arcas, with the world of frostbloods and firebloods. I craved more.

What I liked most about Frostblood was the pace of the book. It zips along at such a fast pace, but it feels entirely natural. You never feel like anything is being rushed, but you’re never bogged down in the details. From Ruby’s mother dying, to her entire village being razed, to her being held prisoner, to her being broken out, it all skips along quick enough to hold your attention and leave you wanting more. The chemistry between Ruby and Arcus is off the charts. They’re enemies right off the bat, with Ruby being a fireblood and Arcus being a frostblood, and they’re mistrustful of each other, but willing to work together to defeat the common enemy: the frostblood king. But as they spar and banter with each other, it just transformed into something more, at the blink of an eye and I was HOOKED. I could feel the tension in the air, and during every interaction, I was sitting, thinking, “KISS DAMN IT KISS KISS KISS KISS KISS.” It made my heart sing, because I love, absolutely love, enemies-turned-friends. It’s intoxicating and written well, it can really get you excited and Elly Blake absolutely nailed it.

I also really liked that the plot wasn’t overly complicated – the mission was simple: Ruby wanted to kill the frostblood king, and with the help of Arcus, and some monks, they would help her do that. It was easy to follow, I could imagine the world in my mind, something I struggle with with fantasy books, and I really, really enjoyed the book. The writing was amazing, the plot was fantastic and leaves a lot open for Fireblood, and the characters blew my mind. The whole idea of pitting frost vs fire was amazing and I genuinely can’t wait to see where book two takes us.

If you like fantasy books, you’ll love Frostblood, I promise. It’s fresh and exciting, the chemistry between the characters is off the charts (if you like that kind of thing, which I do – I lap it up!) and the plot was fantastic. I raced through the book in just one sitting and I can see this being a massive release of 2017 and the sequel cannot come soon enough (and thankfully I only have to wait until September – phew!).

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 10 January, 2017: Finished reading
  • 10 January, 2017: Reviewed