Review: Frost by Kate Avery Ellison

Title: Frost

Author: Kate Avery Ellison

Source: ebook from author via smashwords

goodreads...

In the icy, monster-plagued world of the Frost, one wrong move and a person could end up dead—and Lia Weaver knows this better than anyone. After monsters kill her parents, she must keep the family farm running despite the freezing cold and threat of monster attacks or risk losing her siblings to reassignment by the village Elders. With dangers on all sides and failure just one wrong step away, she can’t afford to let her emotions lead her astray. So when her sister finds a fugitive bleeding to death in the forest—a young stranger named Gabe—Lia surprises herself and does the unthinkable.

She saves his life.

Giving shelter to the fugitive could get her in trouble. The Elders have always described the advanced society of people beyond the Frost, the “Farthers,” as ruthless and cruel. But Lia is startled to find that Gabe is empathetic and intelligent…and handsome. She might even be falling in love with him.

But time is running out. The monsters from the forest circle the farm at night. The village leader is starting to ask questions. Farther soldiers are searching for Gabe. Lia must locate a secret organization called the Thorns to help Gabe escape to safety, but every move she makes puts her in more danger.

Is compassion—and love—worth the risk?

My take...

"We all have a fear of the unknown, what one does with that fear will make all the difference in the world" (Lillian Russell quote). Thought this quote was fitting for the book since so much of it is fear of the unknown.

Lia lives just outside the gates of the Village on a small farm her parents had bought way before the Watchers killed them. No one else wanted it because it was too far from the safety of the Village gates. But now that they are gone, Lia is left to care for her crippled brother and scatterbrained younger sister...all while trying to make quota each week for the Village. And sometimes it proves to be too much for the young girl. So when her sister demands they care for a dying Farther, one of the very people the Elders have warned them against, Lia believes this could be the final straw that could finally tear her family apart.

Lia is breaking all the rules and possibly putting her family’s lives at risk to care for this young man. But there is something about him that pulls her in and soon feelings start to grow. Lia thinks she is crazy for falling for a Farther of all people. But this is just the beginning of the story...more and more secrets unravel and now Lia must help him escape her people and his own to get to safety. Lia will sacrifice everything she has ever known for him, but in the end is it worth it or will it cost her her life and the lives of those she loves?

This book to me was like some crazy mix up of The Village (M. Knight Shyamalan) and The Forest of Hands and Teeth (Carrie Ryan) all jumbled together...in a very good way. I was creeped out through a majority of it wondering what the Watchers really were. I only know of a handful of books that have brought on such intense feelings of fear and this one did it. That shows the author knows what she is doing and doing it well.

Loved the intensity and emotion that Frost had flowing through it…you will have a hard time finding a stopping place. The author throws a few twists out at you, having you remember things from the beginning you thought meant nothing. I thought the whole storyline was great and loved how it all played out in the end. Would definitely love to read more about these amazing characters and hope the author plans to continue on with it.