Review: Frostbite

By: Richelle Mead
Published: April 2008 by Razorbill
Format: Paperback, 327 pages
First Reviewed: January 2010
Buy: Barnes & Noble//Books-A-Million//Amazon//Book Depository
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When love and jealously collide on the slopes, winter break turns deadly...

Rose loves Dimitri, Dimitri might love Tasha, and Mason would die to be with Rose…
It's winter break at St. Vladimir's, but Rose is feeling anything but festive. A massive Strigoi attack has put the school on high alert, and now the Academy's crawling with Guardians—including Rose's hard-hitting mother, Janine Hathaway. And if handto- hand combat with her mom wasn't bad enough, Rose's tutor Dimitri has his eye on someone else, her friend Mason's got a huge crush on her, and Rose keeps getting stuck in Lissa's head while she's making out with her boyfriend, Christian! The Strigoi are closing in, and the Academy's not taking any risks….This year, St. Vlad's annual holiday ski trip is mandatory.
But the glittering winter landscape and the posh Idaho resort only create the illusion of safety. When three friends run away in an offensive move against the deadly Strigoi, Rose must join forces with Christian to rescue them. But heroism rarely comes without a price…

Rating: 5/5

Huzzah! Obviously, another re-read, considering I've been a VA fan since they started. And, gah! The more I work my way through my re-read-a-thon with this series, the more I'm falling in love with it.

Frostbite had so much going on in it. And if it weren't for Richelle Mead, it would have never worked. Yes, I found more errors. Ahem--editors, come on! But Mead is still a god! Goddess, I guess. Anywho, Mead threw conflicts at the reader left and right as well as some intensity that had my heart racing and my mind reeling. And I'm just sitting here thinking, And it's only the second book! How in the world do I review the next few?!

I'm rambling, sorry, but this is what VA does to me. Mead brought in new characters with this and brought characters we met in the first book to the spotlight. And in my opinion, this is the book where Mead first started getting heavy with the plot that will become the series. She knows how to wrap things around so much that gets the characters and story in a bunch, but the readers are just flipping out at the awesomeness. Know what I mean? No? Well...too bad.

I must mention the boys. Adrian makes his appearance in this book. On my first read ever? I remember being very angry that Mead threw him in. After reading the series? Hell (excuse the language), I fell in love with him so much more on this re-read through. Like with VA #1, I've gained more appreciated for Mead's characterization. She really does a fantastic job with it. Not to mention, she's the only person in the world--so far--who's been able to make me love love triangles/quadrangles/however-many-side-angles. Not kidding. It even shocks me. Me? Loving...love triangles? Have pigs flown? Probably. Look out your window.

And...before I go off into a tangent about how engaging the plot was, how strong-as-ever Rose was, how incredibly-awesome-as-ever Dimitri was, how much I loved the new additions--both character-wise and plot-wise, and how I loved witnessing Mead's growth again, I'll just going to stop talking/typing. Y'all should know by now that VA is my favorite, and all reviews from here on out will be pretty much praise. That is all. Oh...gah! I don't...oh man...