Crown of Ice by Vicki L. Weavil

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Book summary:

Thyra Winther's seventeen, the Snow Queen, and immortal, but if she can't reassemble a shattered enchanted mirror by her eighteenth birthday she's doomed to spend eternity as a wraith. Armed with magic granted by a ruthless wizard, Thyra schemes to survive with her mind and body intact. Unencumbered by kindness, she kidnaps local boy Kai Thorsen, whose mathematical skills rival her own. Two logical minds, Thyra calculates, are better than one. With time rapidly melting away she needs all the help she can steal. A cruel lie ensnares Kai in her plan, but three missing mirror shards and Kai's childhood friend, Gerda, present more formidable obstacles. Thyra's willing to do anything – venture into uncharted lands, outwit sorcerers, or battle enchanted beasts -- to reconstruct the mirror, yet her most dangerous adversary lies within her breast. Touched by the warmth of a wolf pup's devotion and the fire of a young man's desire, the thawing of Thyra's frozen heart could be her ultimate undoing. 

        As a kid I really was fortunate enough to get and read many of H. C. Anderson's fairy tales. I loved them and had a nice collection of them. But somehow "The Snow Queen" was never among them and it wasn't before Frozen exploded worldwide that I have heard of this tale. Now with Crown of Ice I think I've got to understand it better.

      The first thing I noticed while reading Crown of Ice was how much it stick to the real story. There were a lot of new elements, which I'll mention later on, but basic is there. We've got a boy and a girl, Gerda and Kai, who are a bit older than in fairy tale. But they've been friends forever and during that time Gerda saw Kai as her future and her safe harbor, something that was written in start. At the same time Kai even though incredibly smart still aware that it's likely that he will stay in village despite his desires to go to University. It was all as planed until our Thyra returns to their lives, but now as the Snow Queen and lures Kai into her castle where he is bound to help her. They have little time and lots of things to figure out.

      Despite the base that was somewhat similar to the original this story presents some fresh elements as well. Even though the cover will tell you different story, Crown of Ice was dark and at moments really cruel. The line between good and evil was always present and while I could understand Thyra and her behavior I couldn't connect with her at the same time. That's actually the main reason why I couldn't enjoy this one fully, but everything except that was nicely done. I loved how the story was even unpredictable even though the background was familiar to me.

      All in all, even though story was a bit low at moments, it still was nicely organized and well written.

Rating: 3.5 stars.

Until the next time,

*Note: Copy of this book was kindly provided by the publisher, Month9Books. Thank you!