Hey, ForeverBookers,
How are you? Hope you’re well!
I’ve just finished Frostheart by Jamie Littler and I absolutely LOVED it! It’s a middle-grade/YA polar fantasy adventure story that follows a young boy called Ash that goes aboard the Frostheart vessel where only adventure awaits...
5 Stars!!!!
I read Frostheart for a few readathons. They were:
Polarthon - I read Frostheart as my third book after two manga. It was perfect for Polarthon as it worked for three of the 5 challenges. The 2 manga I read worked for the other two. I was originally just reading it for Icy Cover but it worked for that, snowy setting and polar fantasy too. (The manga I read were Millennium Snow for One Day Read and Sailor V for Furry Friend.) I'll write here too that the main reason I picked this up was because of Gav at How To Train Your Gavin on Youtube. He LOVES this book and now I know why...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LopTuSr-Zr8 - he speaks about it at 23 minutes into his Believathon live show!
Cardcaptor-a-thon - The Snow Card - Read a Polar Fantasy - see above (#20)
Reading Rivalry - I had to submit this for pages only as it didn’t really fit any of the challenges.
Popsugar 2020 Reading Challenge - A book with a great first line - "They never should have been out in the snow..."! I think this works well, because that line is a great lead-in to the rest of the story about forbidden places, and things the characters do...
There are really cute illustrations within the pages of “Frostheart.” They take you on a journey themselves. Jamie Littler drew them himself, I believe so you really get a feel for how the story is meant to be without having to read a word.
Review
“Frostheart” is very much a pirate story with heart. When I think of pirates I think of harsh, greedy Captain Hook types. This certainly isn’t the case with Frostheart!
“They shouldn’t have been out in the snow.
The snow hides death, the Fira people would claim, one of the many cheerful sayings taught to their children as soon as they were old enough to learn.
And with good reason. The snow was a deadly place to be.”
This is one of the first sentences in “Frostheart.” Before we’re introduced to any characters we learn that the snow can be deadly to the people of this community. The Fira is the Stronghold where our main character is from. A Stronghold is another word for a community of people in this world. The Fira have a lot of superstitions that not every member agrees with.
“I shouldn’t.
His people would exile him for sure. All the terrible rumours . . . they would be proved true. He would show himself to be the monster the Fira feared him to be for so long.
No. I can’t . . . I won’t. I’m normal!”
When Ash, our main character gets into bother within the first few pages he feels the need to sing, which is forbidden in his Stronghold. Ash is a Song-Weaver, someone who can craft magic through their singing abilities. This is feared by the Fira Stronghold because it is not understood. He believes he’ll be thrown out if he tells his people, the Fira.
Ash’s parents don’t feature in this book. They set out on a quest a long time ago and never came back to Ash. That’s one of the reasons he sets out on the Frostheart vessel...to find them, or at least to find answers about where they could be or what happened to them. What Ash does have is a guardian in the form of a Yeti called Tobu. Tobu is another fantastical part of “Frostheart.” He’s is a funny yet serious character that I grew to love. He wasn’t easy to like at first as he’s quite controlling towards Ash. Are his intentions true? You’ll have to read to find out...
“Do you think I’m evil?” Ash blurted out...I don’t feel evil...I try to be nice.”
Ash asks this of Tobu. He doesn’t feel as if he’s evil but he knows he can trust whatever Tobu tells him. They’re from the same Stronghold so will be friends for life. Or so Ash thinks at the beginning of Frostheart. Tobu is also Ash’s teacher, as well as his guardian at the beginning of the story. Does he show Ash how to use his Song Weaving powers? Or is he as afraid of them as everyone else. You’ll have to read to find out...
Another integral part of “Frostheart” is the actual crew aboard the vessel sleigh, the “Frostheart”. Each character we come across has a personality. Lunah, I’d say is our second most present character in the story. She’s one of the young crew members of the Frostheart. She has a few funny lines within the text of “Frostheart.”
“You spyin’ on us or somethin’, fire-boy?”
is Lunah’s first line. She has a very positive personality. She and Ash strike up a very strong friendship throughout the rest of the book. I loved how the author chose to write her speech, like she was a proper pirate.
The Pathfinders are the crew that are on the Frostheart sleigh vessel. Not all of them like Ash to begin with but will they by the end of Frostheart? You’ll need to read to find out...!
Lastly Shaard is the other main character, I’d say. I don’t want to write too much about him because he’s a mysterious character and it’s best to go in not knowing much at all I think. What I will say is Shaard makes Ash question everything he’s ever known and been led to believe...why and how? You’ll have to read to find out.
Well, I ADORED “Frostheart.” I can guarantee it’ll be somewhere in my top 10 books of the year come December 2020, maybe even top 5! Frostheart gave me pirate feels without being too action orientated. It was more about the characters, as I said above, which I loved. The author is a man too! I know, shocker, I’m reading a book by a man! This wasn’t dense at all, though and it was cute. I knew there wasn’t romance before I went in as well.
I’m sorry this review isn’t more in depth but for a middle grade book this had a lot of twists and turns that I just don’t want to spoil so that’s why it’s so brief. I cannot wait to read the sequel hopefully coming out later this year to see what happens to Ash and the Frostheart vessel next!
Will you be reading this polar fantasy adventure?...let me know your non spoiler thoughts of it in the comments below if you do decide to read it.
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