Literary Review: Glass Frost

In January 2013, I read and reviewed First Frost, the novel that launched the Frost series by Liz DeJesus. I remarked how grown men aren't supposed to get all gushy about fairy tales, unless they're reading them to their young children. Well, I'm hooked now so I might as well man-up and get on with it...

In Glass Frost, we pick up the lives of lead character Bianca Frost as well as those of her friends Ming, Terrance, and Prince Ferdinand. Readers of First Frost will remember that Bianca is the seventeen-year-old daughter of Rose Frost, and a direct descendant of Snow White. Up until stumbling upon her mother battling the witch Lenore, Bianca believed that she was just an ordinary teenager. But as Terrance reminds her in Glass Frost, "...you are everything but normal."

Terrance, who Bianca wasn't sure she'd ever see again, has called in a few markers and found his way to the normal world, where Bianca and her family live. I say normal because Terrance lives in Everafter, where things like magic and witches and such are, well, normal.

As all of us know - because we were teenagers once - we would move heaven and earth to find someone whom we loved; and Terrance and Bianca have a budding relationship that is explored, expanded, and sternly tested in Glass Frost. Of course, that's not the only reason Terrance has crossed the magical boundaries between Everafter and our world: and therein lies what causes Glass Frost to get really interesting.

Beyond his own growing feelings for Bianca, Queen Felicia has dispatched Terrance to come and fetch the young witch who, the queen believes, can be of some assistance with a slippery problem that is growing into a real danger for Everafter. Bianca would accompany Terrance even if they were going to battle a fire-breathing dragon, simply because of her heart. Yet, like any seventeen-year-old, she has to seek parental permission. Rose mandates that if Bianca is to go, then her friend Ming must go with her.

After Ming arrives at the Frost household, Bianca chants the spell that causes a door between worlds to materialize before them...

Find the shortest distance between
This place and the faeries’ green.
A place for weird-less days and weary nights,
Put this door within my sight.

...and the three friends step through into another thrilling fantasy adventure.

Glass Frost picks up shortly after the end of First Frost and carries on with the education and maturation of young Bianca. Although she demonstrated great resolve and tremendous magical ability in First Frost, there is still much for the fledgling witch to learn. As readers will discover, her learning curve is steep and not without significant mortal danger. Beloved characters are met, Everafter is explored in greater depth, and very old magic is uncovered.

Ms. DeJesus has penned a worthy sequel to First Frost. The main characters are fleshed out expertly and continue to grow into the story - and our hearts. Delightful new characters are introduced and blend artfully into the narrative. The plot is exciting, believable, and interwoven with well-known and little-remembered fairy tales from long ago.  

Thankfully we didn't have to wait long for Glass Frost, following just eight months or so on the magical heels of its predecessor. A little Faerie has whispered in my ear that book three is being cast even as we speak, but let's not get ahead of ourselves. Relax and enjoy the adventure, romance, magic and action of Glass Frost - you'll be glad you did!

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