ARC Review: Frozen by Melissa De La Cruz and Michael Johnston

Title: Frozen (Heart of Dread #1)
Author(s): Melissa De La Cruz, Michael Johnston
Publication: September 17th 2013 by Putnam Juvenile
Genre: YA Dystopian
Source: Provided by the kind publisher...
Goodreads

From New York Times bestselling author Melissa de la Cruz and Michael Johnston comes this remarkable first book in a spellbinding new series about the dawn of a new kind of magic.

Welcome to New Vegas, a city once covered in bling, now blanketed in ice. Like much of the destroyed planet, the place knows only one temperature—freezing. But some things never change. The diamond in the ice desert is still a 24-hour hedonistic playground and nothing keeps the crowds away from the casino floors, never mind the rumors about sinister sorcery in its shadows.

At the heart of this city is Natasha Kestal, a young blackjack dealer looking for a way out. Like many, she's heard of a mythical land simply called “the Blue.” They say it’s a paradise, where the sun still shines and the waters are turquoise. More importantly, it’s a place where Nat won’t be persecuted, even if her darkest secret comes to light.

But passage to the Blue is treacherous, if not impossible, and her only shot is to bet on a ragtag crew of mercenaries led by a cocky runner named Ryan Wesson to take her there. Danger and deceit await on every corner, even as Nat and Wes find themselves inexorably drawn to each other. But can true love survive the lies? Fiery hearts collide in this fantastic tale of the evil men do and the awesome power within us all.

-- My Rating --

3/5 Oscars: Liked it

-- My Thoughts --

     Melissa De La Cruz is a very famous author with her many bestselling series. But I had never tried anything written by her and when this showed up - a collaboration and a dystopian - I knew I had to try reading it. Even though I have been reading a lot of not-so-good reviews about it.
     Nat has been hiding for years, nobody can know that she is not normal. She is not like the others. She has to hide her eyes. But when she finds a stone and a map, and the key to a future in the Blue, she decides to journey to the Blue with the help of a group of vigilantes - Wes, Shakes, and the others. And on the way, they face many obstacles that challenge the true nature of friendship and love.
     I have been reading a lot of reviews about this book. But many of them are not very positive. They say that this is not the usual writing style of Melissa De La Cruz and that this has disappointed them. But since I am a very new reader, I don't know if this differs from her usual, but her writing style captivated me. She breathes life into her characters so that when you read the book, it feels as if you are there, with them, experiencing the same things.
     Nat is a very likable character. She is an average girl- everything about her looks and her attitude is average. But she is special, on the inside. She is a brave. There is not much development considering the other characters, because there are too many to keep track of. I read this book about two weeks ago and right now, I only remember the name of the main characters, the others are just gone. Blank.
     The romance is a very small subplot in the story. It's mostly attraction-at-first-sight. But the romance builds up slowly and I liked that a lot. It has tension and chemistry to spare. I loved Wes and his gorgeous self. Although he wasn't without flaws, he felt real and that is something that is not very present in YA novels these days.
     But there are also flaws with this book. Like, how can elf-like creatures and small-dwarfs come out of the ice-cold climate.  Where they real humans who evolved into elves and dwarfs?  It's just not possible. Also the part about writing being reduced into symbols and numbers. Not believable either. These aspects were never explained and that bothered me.
     The part that I didn't like the most was the ending. It just didn't appeal to me and I know that it ended this way to give more room to the sequel, but still - it just wasn't likable. Overall, this is an interesting read. I liked it.