 4.5 stars
It feels so surreal to be talking about this third and final book in the one-of-a-kind Frozen Fate trilogy. These characters and this truly bonkers/dark/wonderful/epic storyline have held me in a GRIP all year! And we're finally here... at the end. Do NOT continue reading this unless you've read the first two books in this trilogy or are okay with lots of spoilers for the previous books. It's literally impossible to discuss anything without spoiling massive cliffhangers in books 1 & 2. Consider this your warning!! Curious about this series? Check out my reviews... My review of Hills of Shivers and Shadows. My review of Cage of Ice and Echoes. Okay, the newbies gone? Let's dive in. Heart of Frost and Scars starts exactly where the previous book left off--Frankie, our survivor and main female protagonist, has escaped the hellscape of HOSS with her lovers, Kodiak and Leo, and all three of them have been forcibly reunited with Frankie's husband, Monty, who has been on a rampage looking for his missing wife. They've been through fresh hells, all four of them, and now it's time to assess their next move(s). Denver, Frankie's abductor and Kodiak and Leo's abuser, is dead courtesy of Frankie. But Denver's legacy lives on... At the end of book two, we discovered that there's another person out there stalking Frankie and willing to do depraved things to have her. In typical Denver fashion, this posthumous information is delivered with much drama and no answers, leaving Monty, Kodiak, Leo, and Frankie all in the lurch and afraid of an unseen target. So naturally, they all move to Monty's heavily fortified and secured island. Yes, you heard that right—Frankie, her two new lovers Kodiak and Leo, and Frankie's husband, Monty, all in one unhappy pile on Monty's property. What could go wrong?? Oh, and did I mention that the Strakh men all recently discovered that they're all related?? Yes, so we've got Monty, Frankie's husband and Leo's uncle / Kodiak's half-brother. Kodiak discovers that while he's the same age as Leo, he's actually Leo's uncle as he was fathered by Rurik Strakh—Denver and Monty's father. And Denver was Leo's father. Making Monty Leo's uncle. (And they're all in love with Frankie. And they're all traumatized beyond belief but unwilling to remove themselves from the ring of Frankie's suitors.) Listen, I told people in my very first review of this series that this was a Credence for another, darker audience. And I meant it. And that's it, that's the setup—the rest is what this third novel is about, and it's best to go into it blind for best effect. My general, non-spoiler thoughts for Heart of Frost and Scars are.... 1. Pam Godwin is a masterclass in angsty, real-world, painful scenarios. She takes these characters to the very brink of reality and then gives them impossible choices. As a reader who's been around the block, I find this level of adrenaline-soaked decision making to be very...fresh. We go there, folks, and we confront the worst corners with eyes wide open. It's dark, it's extremely trigger-filled—but it's raw. There's an intensity to this writing and these concepts that I appreciate. 2. That arc of incorporating Frankie's husband into this new dynamic??? So rich. Rich with tension, angst, drama, and healing. Monty's a possessive bastard who had a monogamous marriage until a shattering abduction and now... there's other men? and they're newly discovered relatives? His raw reactions to that setup were fascinating to me and, honestly, my favorite part of this particular installment. 3. This entire series hinges on secrets and surprises, with the stakes rising with each chapter. With that, I was nervous for this third book. Would the final pay-off be worth it? Would the romance(s) break apart or mesh? How could we resolve this extreme plot? Without getting into spoilers, I think it did and it didn't. Did I love reading it? Yes. Was it a great story? Yes. Did I feel... fully satisfied, fully complete with the arcs, pacing, final reveal, and time spent with the build up? ...Not completely. But similarly to the first book, I wonder if this one needs to be sat on for some time before fully actualizing into a favorite read. Don't get me wrong—I still loved it. But there were some threads, some arcs, and some pacing moments that I didn't completely love. Truly, one of the most unique and interesting romance series currently on the market. All the kudos to Pam for making this a reality—and I am SO looking forward to more. Dun dun dun...!
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 5 stars
Obsessed with this. There is nothing I love more than a hybrid-genre, convoluted, and dramatic mess mixed with the occult and dark academia. Evocation is a dash of polyamory, a dash of messy rich people, a heavy dusting of the occult, a moderate dumping of modern-day Boston, and a clash of speculative mixed with academia mixed with paranormal fantasy vibes. Concept: ★★★ Pacing: ★★★★★ Characters: ★★★★★ Vibes: ★★★★★ As a teen, David Aristarkhov was a psychic prodigy, operating under the shadow of his oppressive occultist father. Now, years after his father’s death and rapidly approaching his thirtieth birthday, he is content as a Boston attorney, moonlighting as a powerful medium for his secret society. But with power comes a price, and the Devil has come to collect on an ancestral deal. David’s days are numbered. Reluctantly, he reaches out to the only person he’s ever trusted, his ex-boyfriend and secret Society rival Rhys, for help. However, the only way to get to Rhys is through his wife, Moira. Thrust into each other’s care, emotions once buried deep resurface, and the trio race to figure out their feelings for one another before the Devil steals David away for good… This book has oddly low ratings, considering it's a new favorite read for me. I think it's a mix of a few issues. The first and largest one being that this novel is not too much of any one thing. The dark academia folks coming from The Secret History aren't finding enough literary descent into madness. The occult baddies are not finding enough buzzwords and practical plot developments to make this feel like a dark tapestry of occult happenings. And the people who like strictly fantasy, or horror, or speculative, are confronted with this hybridized version of all three concepts wrapped up in a package that feels very... contemporary fiction vibes with its modern-day dramas and emotional politics between late 20-somethings in Boston. I like it all, folks, so this series opener was a smash hit for me. The exes drama? On point. The slow-build poly negotiations? Exquisite. The culture clash of old-world occult with talk of cell phones and Boston apartment costs? I love that duality. Evocation will be a slow-burn hit for those who like to read a little bit of everything. I hope it finds its audience, as I NEED the author to keep going and write us more about these characters and their world. I'm obsessed. Very much looking forward to where ST Gibson takes us with this series, especially as we move beyond the opening act of relationship-dynamic excavation and move on to the good stuff in the demonic plot and the (hopefully) good ending for all of our favs on the page.  5 stars
A new favorite book!! Like a continued conversation of C.S. Lewis' Narnia but with some much-needed modern updates and encapsulating the most important bit: the joy of portal fantasy. Concept: ★★★★ Pacing: ★★★★★ Characters: ★★★★ Plot: ★★★★ As boys, best friends Jeremy Cox and Rafe Howell went missing in a vast West Virginia state forest, only to mysteriously reappear six months later with no explanation for where they’d gone or how they’d survived. Fifteen years after their miraculous homecoming, Rafe is a reclusive artist who still bears scars inside and out but has no memory of what happened during those months. Meanwhile, Jeremy has become a famed missing persons’ investigator. With his uncanny abilities, he is the one person who can help vet tech Emilie Wendell find her sister, who vanished in the very same forest as Rafe and Jeremy. Sometimes, there are stories that come out of nowhere and knock you back on your feet in pure joy. The Lost Story was one of those tales for me. I went into this novel with little to no expectations—it was my Book of the Month book club pick, and seemed like the best of the lot in a lackluster selection pool. So it was to my pleasant surprise that I found myself captivated by this fairytale of childhood escapades colliding with adult dreams. If you were a Narnia kid, you've got to give this novel a try. (And, if you weren't a Narnia person for the religious reasons, rest assured that this story is a safe space for you too as religion is not a factor in this remake.) The Lost Story is about two adult men coming together again after decades of separation and separate grief periods following a mysterious lost period of their childhood. It's also about an adult woman looking for her long-lost sister, who she never knew but has always mourned. And it's about "finding" in all of its forms. Finding your way, finding love, finding home, finding what was once lost. Like all the best fairytales, this story isn't that deep yet hits all of the deep notes. We're not excavating Christianity like C.S. Lewis, and we're not trying to take any moral stance on anything. But we are coming to the meaning of love, and acceptance, and overcoming childhood traumas to discover inner peace. I think it's best to go into this novel with little more than that as preparation—part of the magic is in the joy of experiencing this story for what it is. However, please note there are some trigger warnings: childhood abuse, parental abuse of father to child (not sexual), trauma from those experiences affecting the child as an adult, confronting your abuser, homophobia. |
Amy Imogene ReadsJust someone looking for her own door into Wonderland. Categories
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All reviews posted are my own and do not reflect the opinions of any other individual or entity. When applicable, reviewed titles sent to me by the publisher are noted at the bottom of each review.
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