Review: There were some totally unexpected twists and turns in the story that made it all the more exciting.
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 07 3, 2014
THE STORY:THE GIST: Amanda Smith and her brother Scott have been on the run since their parents were murdered by Agents of The Center. The Center dabbles in genetic manipulation, and under the guise of allergen testing, used their mother for their experiments. She developed the ability to manipulate ice, and that was passed down to Amanda when she was born. Now The Center wants to study Amanda, so that they can create more like her. Amanda and Scott have settled in Arizona after fleeing Minnesota. They both are finally able to set down roots. Scott has a flourishing smoothie shop and Amanda is soon to graduate high school. She even has a best friend and a guy who's interested in her. But some things are too good to be true and The Center is moving in on Amanda, waiting to make their move.WHAT I LIKED: FROSTBITE was a really exciting read. There were some totally unexpected twists and turns in the story that made it all the more exciting. I really liked Amanda's relationship with her brother. They are really tight and protective of each other, which is to be expected with the life they've lead, but I just felt that there was something special about their relationship. The mystery behind how their mother got her ice powers, and Amanda after her, was really interesting and I liked how it was revealed gradually.WHAT I DISLIKED: Oh, boy. I don't really know what I didn't like. Well I definitely didn't like the people of The Center. I didn't like how they thought that they had some kind of ownership of Amanda. I kind of just wanted to punch one of them.THE CAST:Amanda: "Mandy" to her friends and family. Has a stranger and dangerous power over ice, in all its many forms. Doesn't let herself get close to people, only Scott and her best friend, Georgia. Has feelings for her classmate, Zach.Scott: Mandy's older brother. Has tried to give her as much of a normal life as he can. He takes care of the Coats Mandy leaves frozen. Owns a smoothie shop in town.Georgia: Mandy's best friend. Has a connection to Mandy and Scott that goes deeper than any of them realize.Zach: He has feelings for Mandy and tries to get her to open up and accept him as her boyfriend. He freaks out when he learns the truth about Mandy and pushes her away. When he comes to terms with her abilities, he's loyal and stays by her side through everything.THE VILLAIN:The Center is a company that works with genetics. Mandy and her mother were products of one of their experiments, disguised as allergen testing. Now they want Mandy, to study and experiment on. They feel that she belongs to them, like property. They are responsible for Mandy's and Scott's parent's deaths. They are relentless and won't stop until they have what they want - Mandy.THE ROMANCE:When Mandy and Zach first start seeing each other, she fears freezing him to death, so she keeps some distance between them. When she finally lets herself get close to him and knows that she can control her powers, their chemistry is like a slow-burning fire. Even Mandy sometimes wonders if her powers have changed because of the heat she feels when with Zach.I was really kind of disappointed in Zach when he freaked out after learning the truth about Mandy's powers and pushed her away. She already feels like a freak and like she doesn't belong, so Zach's rejection really hurt her. I can understand to a point, but he didn't even let her explain anything to him. That bothered me.I did like that once he calmed down and talked to Mandy, that he became even more loyal and devoted to her. He stood by her through attacks by The Center and other life-threatening events. They seem pretty solid by the end of the book, so we'll see how strong their bond really is in the next book, Absolute Zero.