Review: Fire in Frost by Alicia Rades

FIRE IN FROST

A Crystal Frost Novel Book 1

by Alicia Rades

Paperplane Publishing

YA Paranormal

242 pages

Crystal Frost has spent her whole life believing she’s ordinary, and her mother has long held the secret of her heritage. When Crystal begins seeing the ghost of a dead classmate, her life spirals out of control. She’s faced with the threat that everyone will find out she’s a freak, as if the struggle to figure out her new-found abilities wasn’t enough pressure. Crystal has to find some way to save the people who have come to her for help all while trying to keep her abilities a secret. Will she be able to fulfill these overwhelming demands while solving the mystery that is the ghost of Olivia Owen?

MY TIDBITS

We start out in pretty normal circumstances with a pretty normal, teenage girl, Crystal. And already, in those first pages the stage is set--she sees a ghost. This moment hits well, and immediately pulls in with a sense of mystery and tension. Too bad that it takes a few chapters after this for the story to really get going--a lot of time is spent on Crystal, her mother and her friends as we're gently introduced to the situation. But after this lull, things get moving nicely.

The mystery is well woven except for a couple fairly predictable moments and suggestions. Crystal first has to get a handle on what she can do and what these new found abilities mean for her and her life, totally believable and understandable. While she's fumbling her way through, the world around her is becoming more uncertain, which added a good amount of suspense.

Crystal's friends are golden and one can only cheer for them. Her mother and her mother's colleagues are just as amazing, offering Crystal a great support group from all directions. Even the so-called 'outside' isn't as unsupportive as one might think. I was a bit disappointed by this easy acceptance of Crystal's powers. Although, on one side, it was great to see such a supportive environment (one could only wish this for someone like Crystal), a bit from the possible tension was taken away.

The bad guys are perfect! They scream mean, and I did fever for Crystal and want to punch those guys in the noses. There are dangerous moments, and times where I really wonder if Crystal is in over her head.This story never falls into the danger of going overboard with death and violence, but rather remains in the realm of reality, which makes it more believable and closer to a level for even younger teens.

This book opens up tons of possibilities for a series, one that has the potential to be very good if the tension can be held up right (which I'm cheering that it can.) Can't wait to see where Crystal goes from here.