Book Review: Gathering Frost

  

Title: Gathering Frost

Author: Kaitlyn Davis

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Fairy Tale

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Gathering Frost is a surprisingly well thought out book and a lovely kick-off to a new series based on fairy tales. Our first tale is that of Sleeping Beauty and yet nothing like Sleeping Beauty. It's clever in its use of the idea of being asleep or emotionless and has some great characters. 

Yes it's a young adult book so there is the required romance and all that. But while there are moments where I roll my eyes a good 85% of this book is solid story telling. With interesting and believable characters Kaitlyn Davis provides us with a magic system and fantasy world that (literally) crashes with our own and creates unique and interesting scenarios. 

I didn't go in with very high expectations necessarily but without a doubt I am blown away by what a good read this is. It's so rare to find interesting and unique retellings of fairy tales (Cinder is another amazing one). Goodness knows there are enough of them out there right now! 

Additionally I couldn't help but have major feelings about the photo walls. It reminded me so much of our real world and the search for lost ones after crises or the average milk carton missing child. Very sad and difficult to deal with. This use of a photo wall was easily a major turning point for me to realize that Davis had really thought out this idea for a split word and wasn't just slapping words on the page. 

Overall it's a nice, light, well built read. Gathering Frost measures up in an over saturated genre of typical fairy tales. Looking forward to more in this series!