Frost, Winter's Lonely Guardian Book Review

    Buenos dias a todos! Welcome back to another book review!! A few weeks ago I hinted at this review so I'm very excited to finally share it with y'all! (And don't worry, this review will be spoiler free!) ;P Before we jump into the review, I want to thank the author for giving me a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review! All of the following thoughts and opinions expressed are my own. 

Y'all remember this gorgeous cover, don't ya? XD

TITLE: Frost, Winter's Lonely Guardian

GENRE: Young adult fiction

BLURB

Frost, Winter Guardian and current resident of Boston.

For centuries he’s watched over the winter seasons, feeling the steep toll of being in the world

yet not being a part of it, of seeing families spend the holidays together, knowing that he can

never do the same. He works alone, and time has made his heart grow callous.

Now, he longs to end his work and move on from this world. But for that, he must find a

replacement…

In Concord, New Hampshire, seventeen-year-old Norah dreams of becoming an artist and

making a better life for her and her little brother, Tim—one that’s free of their mom’s cruel

boyfriend. While working to save up money, her life is suddenly turned upside down when she

meets a handsome guy with snowflakes in his hair and frost glittering down his coat sleeves. He

offers her his job, saying he’ll train her to become the next Winter Guardian.

This could solve her and Tim’s predicament… But there’s something Frost isn’t telling her—that

to quit his job, his life must end—and secrets have a way of spilling into disasters, especially

when feelings become involved, and weather demons are set loose. Can Norah break through

Frost’s weary, stubborn heart? Especially before winter and Earth come to a destructive end?

A Jack Frost retelling and sweet teen romance!

PRE-ORDER LINKS

AMAZON | B&N | BOOK DEPOSITORY | GOODREADS

AUTHOR BIO

    E.E. Rawls is the product of a traveling family, who even lived in Italy for 6 years. She loves

exploring the unknown, whether it be in a forest, inside a forgotten castle, or within the pages of

a book. She runs on coffee, cuddly cats and the beauty of nature to keep the story wheels of her

mind turning as she writes stories with immersive world-building and misfit characters you’ll

grow to love, who strive to overcome the odds stacked against them (with a dash of humor

thrown in)!

WEBSITE | INSTAGRAM

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POSITIVE ELEMENTS

    Y'all, can I just SQUEAL about the sibling relationships in this book!?!?! I absolutely LOVED how Norah is so protective and caring towards Tim and always put him as a first priority above anything else. You can also see that with two other characters at the very beginning of the book, so I feel like the theme of the importance of family was integrated throughout the whole story. There are also some wonderful messages about healing from grief and abandoning vengeance.

SPIRITUAL ELEMENTS

    There are some beautiful references to Christianity and trusting God throughout hard times in life. However, I personally felt like they're a bit detached from the story and seem randomly "stuck" in there, because they don't appear to have a huge impact on the book. (But then again, it's been like... a month since I read this so my memory might be a little fuzzy on that.) XD There are also beings called weather demons and little magical creatures called sprites.

ROMANTIC ELEMENTS

    There were some hugs, a kiss, and some fluttery crush-like feelings between some of the characters, but nothing was described in detail. It's kinda implied that Norah's mom and her boyfriend live together or stay at each other's houses every now and then, but I don't think it's ever outright stated. Overall, the romance stays clean and age appropriate for preteens/teenagers.

VIOLENT CONTENT

    There's some fighting with magic, physical contact, and an instance where a kid is hit by an adult.  There are also some deaths and accidents that result in injuries. However, none of this violence is graphic.

CRUDE/PROFANE LANGUAGE

    I'm pretty sure the only language used was "crap", "heck", and "freak(ing)". I'm personally not bothered by any of those, but I know some other people might be, so I figured I give y'all a heads up. 😉

DRUG/ALCOHOL CONTENT

    I think some characters drink wine, and the boyfriend of Norah's mom appears to drink a lot of beer.

OTHER CONTENT

   

    Some characters lie and hurt others (physically and emotionally) to get what they want, but all of these flaws and actions are seen as bad. These characters eventually recognize their mistakes and apologize.

FINAL THOUGHTS

    When I first found out about this retelling, I was very excited to read it and I'm glad to say it was quite enjoyable!! The storyline was very interesting and had a flair of mystery that kept me guessing! I will admit, sometimes I feel like the writing style didn't click with me and seemed... less advanced maybe?? I don't really know how to describe it... some of the dialogue just felt a little cliche. There were also a few moments in the plot and character development that seemed a tiny bit unrealistic (if memory serves right), leaving me with questions. So those parts weren't my favorite, but if you're in the mood for something light-hearted and fun (that you could occasionally take with a grain of salt lol) I'd definitely recommend this book! Also, I can't finish this review without fangirling about not only mah boi FROST (because Y'ALL HE'S SUCH AN ADORABLE GROUCHY LIL BEAN) but also another certain guy named Leaf who absolutely stole my heart too! I'm tellin' ya, the relationship between Frost and Leaf left me with SO MANY Bucky and Sam vibes from the MCU. Their banter is HILARIOUS and I cannot get enough of it! XD

This would SO be Frost and Leaf if they had to go through therapy together. *nods*

ANYWHO, with all of that said, Imma rate this book....

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3 STARS!!

    Now, if this surprises you, remember: 3 stars out of 5 is still "I liked it" on the Goodreads rating scale (which is what I go by). To be honest, I really struggled with rating this novel because in the sense of reviewing books, I'm very much a people pleaser and don't wanna hurt anyone's feelings with ratings less than 4 stars (unless it's a boring book I have to read for school and author is already dead *coughs*). BUT, I gotta be completely honest, you know? And while I did enjoy the book (especially the characters) 😉 I've just read other novels that are, in my opinion, better. But like I said, that's my personal opinion, and you may think this is one of the best books in the world! Either way, I'd still definitely recommend it to anyone because it fulfilled its promise of being a sweet teen romance and if that's what you're looking for, you should absolutely give it a go! (And feel free to share your thoughts on it with me too, because I love talking about all kinds of books with people!)

Tally-ho!

Have you read Frost, Winter's Lonely Guardian yet? Do you want to? What do you think of Frost and Leaf? Do you like characters that have banter-filled relationships like they do?

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