Frostblood (Frostblood Saga #1) by Elly Blake

Hardcover, 384 pages

Expected publication: January 10th 2017

ISBN13: 9780316273251

4/5 books

**eARC provided by the publishers through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review**

Seventeen-year-old Ruby is a fireblood who must hide her powers of heat and flame from the cruel frostblood ruling class that wants to destroy all that are left of her kind. So when her mother is killed for protecting her and rebel frostbloods demand her help to kill their rampaging king, she agrees. But Ruby’s powers are unpredictable, and she’s not sure she’s willing to let the rebels and an infuriating (yet irresistible) young man called Arcus use her as their weapon.

All she wants is revenge, but before they can take action, Ruby is captured and forced to take part in the king’s tournaments that pit fireblood prisoners against frostblood champions. Now she has only one chance to destroy the maniacal ruler who has taken everything from her and from the icy young man she has come to love.

Fast-paced and compelling, Frostblood is the first in a page-turning new young adult three-book series about a world where flame and ice are mortal enemies—but together create a power that could change everything.

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Ruby is the kind of girl I can root for, even with her self-doubts about being a fireblood, she still finds strength to fight for what she believes in. Growing up she was trying to learn how to use her abilities with her grandmother, but after her grandmother died her mother forbid her from ever using her abilities again. Being the only fireblood in a kingdom of ice was pretty much an instant death sentence.

Ruby is outted by a local village boy, and she is taken prisoner, in the dungeons she is treated horribly. Oddly enough she is saved by some frostbloods and taken to a hidden

monastery, where while there she is trained to use her fire abilities. While there, she is told of a prophecy that she may be a part of.

While under the care of the monks at the monastery, Ruby has a love/hate relationship with the very jaded and on guard young man Arcus. He pushes her buttons to get her to use her fire abilities, but shows a kind side on rare occasions. The relationship between Ruby and Arcus drove me nuts at first, but as the story progressed it made more sense by the end of the book I was cheering for them.

I found the history of the firebloods and frostbloods very interesting and I’m hoping there will be more of this in the next two books. There is Fire and Ice along with Light and Dark, all seem to be major factors of a world that has been thrown into unbalance, and Ruby may be a part of putting it back into balance.

I’m curious to see where Ruby and Arucs are headed in Fireblood the next book in the series.