Fantasy of Frost (The Tainted Accords Book 1)

I suppose I liked the book more than I hated it, but it was an obvious first novel by an indie author. The spelling and grammar was awful. No flow to the writing at all. No contractions.Character development was all right but the thing that bothered me the most was how familiar this book was to me as it felt borrowed from other books. Inspired rather. Black Dagger Brotherhood. The Blood Trail Chronicles. The Dust Lands series. I could pick out scenes and know which one had inspired the book. Which I imagine happens with authors, especially indies. A good editor would pick up on that. The language in the book was wrong for the genre too. Also, an editing issue. As a huge fantasy buff, I didn't love it. I would recommend Kyla Linde's Affiliate series over this.

Strong female main character, well developed secondary characters, excellent world building, and my favorite trope - culture clash - made this an excellent read. It's available on kindle unlimited.The tldr reviewI read this book last year and somehow did not rate it. But I love this series. It was a complete surprise for me. I went in with no expectations, I had never heard of the author. It kept creeping up on amazon/Goodreads recommendations for me and I snagged it when it went on sale.Pros- The main character Olina is such a strong character. She has been abused by her mother but she is not weak, physically or emotionally.- World building is amazing. There are two planets Osolis and Glacium, connected by the great stairway (I picture a big asteroid field). The map in the hardcover is helpful and is also on her website. The Solati race is on Osolis - the hot planet. The Bruma race is on Glacium - the ice planet. Glacium's ice keeps Osolis from being one giant ball of flame and Osolis's heat and warmth keep Glacium from freezing.- The clash between the two cultures is so good. Solari are more conservative in speech and dress, but open minded towards women. The Bruma open minded towards speech and dress, but more have more traditional views on women's roles. Neither race is portrayed as better or worse than the other.Cons- The plot is good but it does drag at times toward the middle. This is fixed in other books but there's a lot of world building in here and it can drag a little.I loved this books so much. I can't say much about the plot without spoiling it. I thought I knew where it was headed and boom, 20% in it surprised me. This isn't a perfect book, but I loved the characters and setting so much that I easily overlooked it.

3.5 stars, actually.I think there are many readers who will like this one. However, for me, despite the engaging voice of Olina, the main character, this one was not fun for me to read.There is obvious care and thought put into the alternate world here: the frozen Bruma and the hot Solati...but wow, was it complicated. Even after Olina had an exposition bit where she explained the rotations to a child-- I still was confused. They talked about "worlds" ....but it sounded like they were just on different continents? "rotation" and "season" was used a bit interchangeable and I totally didn't get it at all. I felt that was needlessly complicated and so gave me frustration whenever i encountered it (which was a lot in this first book).Also: violence. Brutal, casual violence. Multiple beatings of Olina where she has broken bones or a limp. Killings by Olina where I wanted to know more about her inner reaction and ability to come to terms with killings and beatings when she is a victim herself....and not nearly enough for me.Her ninja powers are cool, but they get in the way of her emotional and character development. Her ability to take on and kill 6 ruffians in a dark alley is presented as "isn't this cool action" instead of what i wanted: a look into the complicated darkness a victim must experience when enacting violence on others even in self defence.King Jovan, presented as a love interest, seems to be an alpha male plucked straight out of old skool historical romance with alternating bluster, violence against Olina, and tender care. (shrugs) your mileage will vary depending on if you like that sort of thing. I have liked alpha males in the past, but I wanted more interaction wtih Olina and Jovan (rather than Olina and her kidnapper/delegates from Bruma) to let me enjoy the slowly growing awareness between them.Finally, the veil. Weirdly enough, the way Olina wears the veil was not one of my issues. I thought it developed as combination of trauma/phobia within the context of her evil mother's treatment quite believable. On the other hand, I totally guessed from early on the reason for the veil.So probably not going on with this series. Especially because despite Olina's super-important goals of figuring out how to stop war and also discover an assassin, she's decided its okay to bide her time doing some fighting....so not going to go along with the suspension of disbelief required for this or for her to be "lost" from King Jovan that long. But others may not have that peeve.

Wow! Fantastic world building! Very unique. This novel goes deep. Deep with emotions. Depth of characters. This story is told thru the eyes of Olina who has suffered much at the hands of her abusive mother and uncle. She learns to persevere, however. We should all learn a lesson from her to be as strong as we can and persevere. Also, a bit of a romance with a prince from another section of her world, but never comes to fruition as he was assassinated. Then she is taken by his delegates to stand before his King. Living in a different world she is not familiar with, she now finds she is not happy with her circumstances and finds a way to escape. This book took me by surprise. I never would have thought that this would be so epic. I’m hooked! I’m going after the next book, maybe the box set so I don’t have to pause my reading in between.

This book is a refreshing new take on relationships between nations/worlds and the differences between people, whether they be good or bad all told from the experiences of Olina, the Tatuma of Osolis. The book has a little bit of a slow start but after one specific scene which I'll leave for you to discover the whole story kicks off with a bang. I'm a big reader and have been in a slump recently, but this book has been on my mind since kick off and has been bringing me back to read it at least once an hour as it's my day off, luckily or I think I'd be going stir crazy for more! Enjoy!

I've waited until reading the series before deciding if I want to post a review... this series is simply amazing. From the internal dialogue, the depth and range of characters to the brilliant storyline and the way the author sets the scene leaves you wanting more and more. Please don't be put off by someone somewhere saying these books are for young adults - they aren't. The writing is beautiful (with no noticeable grammar/spelling mistakes!) Loved it!!!! (I read the four books in four days and am looking forward to rereading which is a rarity for me)! Most definitely keep an eye put for this author.

(Source: I received a digital copy of this book for free on a read-to-review basis. Thanks to author Kelly St. Clare.)"Do you choose to wear that veil?" he asks, turning back to me.I shake my head, and suddenly Kedrick is boiling mad. "Your mother is one sick, twisted bitch."This was a really stunning YA fantasy novel, leaving me highly anticipating the next instalment!"You can't be saying that you've never seen your own face," he says. My silence is confirmation enough.I really liked the characters in this book, and I felt so sorry for Olina. The way her mother had treated her was truly disgusting, to have never seen your own face, to be forced to veil yourself from everyone, and to also receive regular beatings at your own mother's command is really shocking. I was really glad that Olina had managed to find love with Prince Kedrick, and I really wanted them to be allowed to be together."What happened?" The question barely disturbs the air, it is so quiet."I was being followed everywhere. They were on her before I could do anything. They slit her throat and made me watch her die."The world-building in this was really good, and I liked that things were explained so simply, without the use of info-dumps. I sometimes get confused by fantasy novels, but I didn't have that problem at all with Fantasy of Frost."When you get married you lose the `O' at the front of your name," I say. "So when I marry. My name will go from Olina, to Lina." I try to imagine getting married and Kedrick pops into my mind.The storyline in this was done really well, and I even appreciated the heart-breaking moments. I felt really scared and upset for Olina at times, and I just couldn't stop reading!"Do not test me. Your life is forfeit if I so much as detect you have twitched your veil without my permission,"There was some romance, and I liked it, but I was very saddened by the way this romance was brought to an end. It was just so, so sad!"I would be more than your friend." He steps up to me and grabs my other elbow, bringing me to face him. I place both hands on his chest to steady myself, speechless. He tilts my chin upwards, leans his head down and kisses me thorough the veil. The heat of his skin reaches mine. The veil moulds to my lips and I taste the salt of my sweat. The friction causes tingles to spread through my body all the way to my toes. "I love you," he says.The ending to this was a little surprising, and we were left with a bit of cliff-hanger. I will certainly be keeping an eye out for the next instalment of this thrilling tale!8.5 out of 10

Amazing idea behind this book. The way the author has created a symbiotic interaction between the words is flawless. The main character has everything you want in a heroine. But she isn't super powerful like most books place them to be, she is just a regular girl with the strength to move worlds. Couldn't put the book down. Just amazing

This book is so good! SO GOOD! I was completely sucked in and I didn't stop reading until I finished the last book of the series. I was in love with the way this book was written, there wasn't a single moment when I felt like I needed more information/more anything! I loved how clearly developed the characters were but I especially loved Olina. For a girl who has been through so much to keep fighting on so many levels... She is so strong. No whingeing and no unnecessary tears! Kelly St Clare has a new fan.