Review: Tears of Frost (Heart of Thorns #2) by Bree Barton
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Series: Heart of Thorns #2
Author: Bree Barton
Published November 5th 2019 by Katherine Tegen Books
Goodreads Synopsis
The electric second book in the Heart of Thorns trilogy explores the effects of power in a dark magical kingdom—and the fierce courage it takes to claim your body as your own.
Mia Rose is back from the dead. Her memories are hazy, her body numb—but she won’t stop searching. Her only hope to save the boy she loves and the sister who destroyed her is to find the mother she can never forgive. Pilar is on a hunt of her own. Betrayed by her mother, and plagued by a painful secret, she’s determined to seek out the only person who can exact revenge. All goes according to plan… until she collides with Prince Quin, the boy whose sister she killed.
As Mia, Pilar, and Quin forge dangerous new alliances, they are bewitched by the snow kingdom’s promise of freedom and opportunity. But with the winter solstice drawing near, they must confront the truth beneath the glimmering ice, as lines between friend, foe, and lover vanish like snowflakes on a flame.
Goodreads
Review
Tears of Frost picks up after the climatic ending of Heart of Thorns, this time from the differing points of view of Mia and Pilar. After Mia decoded her mother's message, and stopped her heart in order to slow down Angelyne and Zaga's wicked plans, she awoke in the forest without her feelings and emotions. She thinks that if she can get to Luumia, and the renowned Snow Queen, she may discover the truth about her mother, and be able to return to the Glas Ddir, and save Quin. For Pilar, she's on a similar track. Fleeing to Luumia, to find her father and escape her past, Pilar refuses to use her magic for anything, and soon stumbles across a disoriented Quin, finally free from Angelyne's control, and hell bent on getting as far away as he can. As the two are drawn together throughout their travels, it seems that their common goal may just be what brings them happiness.
I wanted to love this book, especially considering how much I adored Heart of Thorns, but parts of this book were lacklustre to me. I think the biggest reason I only gave this book 4 stars was Pilar's point of view, and the way Mia was so wholly different from her character in book 1. Pilar was a character I thought abrasive when we first met, but she proved it when we were in her own head. I really felt for her, and her past abuse (the assault and sexual violence is never explicitly shown on page, but may be triggering), but I still couldn't find her chapters enjoyable. Her and Quin together were a couple I never would have imagined, but it did work for the most part. For Mia, her actions in stopping her heart, and essentially dying, killed a part of her inside, and she can no long feel sensation or emotion. Because of this, she lost that spark that made me love her so much, I was a little bored during her chapters at times. Again, the second part of the story, where the action was ramping up, and the reveal that had been teasing us in Angelyne's letters, is what made this whole book, and because of that, I gave this 4 stars. I will still be reading Soul of Cinder, but I'm not as hopeful for another five star read.
Dates Read:
December 12-15, 2020
Rating
4 Stars
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