Bitter Frost (Frost #1)
by Kailin Gow
235 pages
Published June 1st 2010 by The Edge
seriesFrost #1
Characters and the world of Feyland first introduced in Gow's children/Middle Grade Series The Fairy Rose Chronicles (originally published in 2003)
All her life, Breena had always dreamed about fairies as though she lived among them...beautiful fairies living among mortals and living in Feyland.
In her dreams, he was always there the breathtakingly handsome but dangerous Winter Prince, Kian, who is her intended. When Breena turns sixteen, she begins seeing fairies and other creatures mortals don't see. Her best friend Logan suddenly acts very protective.
Then she sees Kian, who seems intent on finding her and carrying her off to Feyland. That's fine and all, but for the fact that humans rarely survive a trip to Feyland, a kiss from a fairy generally means death to the human unless that human has fairy blood in them or is very strong, and although Kian seemed to be her intended, he seems to hate her and wants her dead.
Bitter Frost, was the Award-Winning Finalist in two categories - "Fiction: Chick-Lit/Women's Literature" and "Cross-Genre Fiction" of the 2011 International Book Awards, where Kailin Gow won first place overall in Fiction Horror, joining winners from St. Martin's Press, Simon & Shuster, Zondervan, and Random House. She joins other winners such as Bishop Desmond Tutu and Rick Warren in the 2011 International Book Awards.
Kailin Gow's books has been recommended by the Parents Teachers Association, PBS Kids, and a Sr. U.S. Senator and her daughter. President Obama's daughter Malia has stated she is reading the FROST Series.
"The dream had come again, like the sun after a storm."
Briana has always been a loner and never fit in except with her best friend since kindergarten Logan. She has always had dreams of a magical land and fairies Dancing to a beautiful song with a gorgeous boy that she longs to be with named Kian. On her 16th birthday everything changed. All the questions she has had about her dreams and the things she seen in them are answered with her trip to Feyland.
I loved the world created by Gow. Feyland sounded so wonderful and magical. It had all the things I love in a mythical book, including mythological creatures like mermaids, satyrs, and minotaurs. I would love to see the multi-colored skies with two suns Gow wrote about. The descriptive language and vivid descriptions, made me feel like I was in Feyland with Kian and Breena.
It delighted me to see how courageous Breena, Logan, and Kian were. They all were willing to sacrifice themselves for the one they love. I liked Breena. She wasn't afraid of anything. The love triangle between Breena, Logan and Kian was sweet and innocent.
The only problem I had with Bitter Frost is I felt like I was jumping into the middle of the story, like I missed the whole set up of the novel. There was no world building. It would go from one thing to the next and I would look back to the previous page thinking "heck I missed something". I never really got to know the characters like I would have liked to. When someone died or went missing I never felt that pain that you do when you KNOW them. Also, I didn't care for the ending. It was way too abrupt and I didn't feel like it concluded the story.
This was my first experience with the fairy genre. I will have to read a few more to be able to give you a more experienced review. But as far as Gow picking me up and dropping me in Fayland, she did a great job.
Beautiful book. I give Gow and Fayland 4 stars.
A little about Kailin ...
Kailin Gow has appeared on top national syndicated talk shows such as ABC Radio, Barbara Dooley show, Chat with Women on KKNW Seattle, Broadminded on Sirius Radio XM, and more as a leading authority on YA and women's issues including self-esteem, body image, dating and sexual relationships, abuse, and bullying. Kailin has been a published author for over 10 years with over 100 titles published under her name and under pen names.
She is the founder of the community social site, The Saving You Saving Me Project,http://www.savingyousavingme.com which helps teens, young adults, and women deal with social issues like sexual abuse, self-esteem, body image, bullying, cutting, relationships, and more in a positive community environment. The Saving You Saving Me Project is an extention of her YA-mature fiction Saving You Saving Me.
Kailin Gow began writing books for tween girls to help them with self-confidence and self-esteem. Her book, Gifted Girls Activities Guide to 365 Days of the Week, became a reference book used in girls organizations across the U.S. As her tween fans grew to become teens and young adults, Kailin began writing engaging and entertaining young adult book series for them. The results are book series like the Frost Series, PULSE Series, Wicked Woods Series, Stoker Sisters, Phantom Diaries, The Fire Wars, FADE, DESIRE, and more.
All her books are inspired by personal experiences. Saving You Saving Me was inspired by her experience as a peer counselor for young women during college and from her psychology major college roommate's experience being in a relationship similar to the one portrayed by Sam and Collins in the book. Loving Summer was inspired by Kailin's experience growing up with a family consisting of a mother, two sons, and a daughter who went through a similar experience of tragedy in the book. Aunt Sookie is based on herself and some actor friends she knows. The Frost Series, Circus of Curiosities Series, and FADE Series came about through vivid dreams. Never Say Never was inspired by Kailin's experience as a radio host and working with and interviewing bands, as well as having college friends who were in bands. Kailin also played the drums and keyboard for a band she once started. A classically-trained musician, she was once led her school orchestra, playing first chair violin. Her experience in the music world and her love of Phantom of the Opera, inspired the Phantom Diaries. PULSE was inspired when Kailin was in the hospital suffering from heavy blood loss post surgery and needed several bags of blood to survive (like a vampire). Beautiful Beings was inspired by her college encounter with a young demon exorcist. A pastor once told her she had the gift of sight and that she was destined to become a prolific author, many times over.
She began taking her writing seriously when her daughter was diagnosed as being on the spectrum and her mother was fighting three types of cancer. Four years later, her daughter was no longer on the spectrum, and her mother became cancer free. Kailin believes in hope and miracles, after having been through several struggles and experiences herself. This is why she writes.
When not busy inhaling chocolate and drinking coffee by the gallon, Kailin makes time for writing fantasy books, blogging as an expert blogger for Fast Company, volunteering as an Emergency Responder and volunteering for battered women's shelters. For fun, she plays the electric violin, and puts together a music playlist for her radio and web shows.
Her Frost Series consisting of the Bitter Frost Series, The Wolf Fey Series, and the Fairy Rose Chronicles along with her other book series are being developed into worldwide MMORPG Games by SEE GLOBAL ENTERTAINMENT, which is the world's leading game developer known for developing the top blockbuster films into games.
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