Killer Frost
Rating: 5/5
Buy or Borrow: BUY! ALL OF THEM
Source: ARC Courtesy of NetGalley
The final showdown between Gwen and Loki is coming. Things have been pretty quiet lately at Mythos so obviously, something bad is going to happen very soon. And when Linus Quinn shows up at the Academy, Gwen's thoughts are confirmed. The Protectorate are at the Academy to pick up and guard an incoming shipment of artifacts rescued by Logan and his father (back in Spartan Frost), the Reapers are gunning for these artifacts, or atleast, one specifically, and they need Gwen to use her tough magic to work out which one it is.
When the Protectorate go to move the artifacts to the Academy, the Reapers launch an attack to get them. They've become more daring, and more lethal. When their attempts to get the artifact are thwarted one of Gwen's loved ones is put in more danger than ever before when they're kidnapped in the Reapers bid to gain control of the artifact they need. A pretty harmless looking artifact, but looks are deceiving.
Feeling betrayed by everyone she knows and loves when they refuse to make the trade, Gwen goes rogue. She may have gotten away from Loki and his Reapers with the artifact and her loved one thanks to her daring plan, but Gwen knows it's not over.
The final battle is coming, and everyone at the Academy knows it. As the Reapers prepare to storm the gates of the Academy, everyone must make a choice...whether to stand and fight. Loyalties are tested, secrets are revealed, but can Gwen work out Nike's riddles? Can she Loki for good? And will Logan and Gwen FINALLY get their happy ending with nothing getting in the way?
Well. I 'm so sad this series is over, but I'm sure I'm not the only one to appreciate the finality of Killer Frost, even if I am sad we won't be reading about Gwen again, although there's been a door left open for Rory, so we might get to visit the world again. I've loved these books, and I've loved watching Rory grow as a character from a regular girl..well as regular as you can be with touch magic, with slight anti-social tendencies, to a fierce warrior, with friends she loves, and the fully deserving of her status as Champion.
I freely admit, there's a bit of repetition in the book with the Reapers attacking, and Vivienne always flying away on her roc, and I will admit to nearly screeching in frustration as Logan and Gwen had yet another thing come between them, although it was finally solved in this book!
I love these books because they're funny, they're relevant, they're full of action and romance. But my favourite part is the mythology. There is pretty much every type of mythology and God you can think of present in this book, and they're all blended together to create this fantastic world with rich legends and history.
Killer Frost starts roughly 2 weeks after the events in Midnight Frost, the Valentines Day Dance is coming up, and Logan and Gwen are back together but still dealing with Logan's fear of her hurting her. I love how what happened in Book 5 wasn't swept under the rug, and Logan is very realistically dealing with nearly killing Gwen, and still being wary around her. So many times something like that would be swept under the rug or fixed in the space of a page.
Relationships and loyalties are tested in Killer Frost. Logan's dad won't make the trade Viv proposes to save Gwen's Grandma, and she feels betrayed by her friends as well as Metis and co when they seem to just be about to let her Grandma die. This already puts a strain on Gwen and Logan's relationship but Gwen being Gwen she decides to go rogue to steal the candle, even though it's going to hurt her friends. We see Gwen become the strong girl we've always known her to be, independent and willing to do what she has to do to save the person she loves most. Well...slightly more than Logan. To add to the sense of hurt flying around, everyone finds out Gwen's mission from Nike is to kill Loki and she's the only one who can. So it's safe to say, the drama is not held back!
I love the friendships Gwen has with Daphne, Oliver and so on, and it really is satisfying to see friendships you've watched grow and develop in to this amazing friendship we have now between Daphne and Gwen.
I love all the characters, they've all grown and changed and dealt with their fair share of crap. Each character is full of depth and can stand alone. We have Daphne, the former mean girl, who knows Gwen well enough to know it's time to crack out the catsuit and grease paint, and enlist the other's in their friendship group to help out with Daphne's plan to help Gwen's plan. We have Oliver, full of jokes, but loyal to Gwen until the end, their friendship was truly beautiful to watch come to fruition in this book. We have warrior bard Carson, far more badass than any supposed Geek has any right to be. We have Alexei, boyfriend to Oliver, and the newest addition to Gwen's group, and as graceful as a dancer when fighting. And finally Logan, Gwen's boyfriend, the resident badass who can kill you with a paperclip, but is protective and gentle to Gwen.
This book is as much about friendship as it is about Gods and Goddesses, myths and legends and battles, and each friendship has been written and developed beautifully, and I choked up really badly when Gwen finds out they all knew she had a plan and where ready to help her with it.
I feel I should also mention that Nickamedes and Gwen FINALLY HUGGED. It totally happened. Cue more choking up from me. I loved how Nickamedes get's some love, and he and Metis get together, in my opinion it should have happened forever ago but it just added to the perfect ending.
In Killer Frost all the clues come together, every riddle and comment Nike has made all makes sense. Self-sacrifice. That's the theme of Killer Frost. It's what defeats Loki, along with free will, and it's what saves Gwen when Nickamedes makes his own sacrifice.
All the questions you've ever had about the book are answered, and I was especially eager to find out what the deal was with Raven. Directly after finding out who Raven really is, I am left with the feeling of truly wanting to slap myself for not working it out sooner! It's not like there weren't enough clues! Not to mention we find out about the Guardians!
Killer Frost is fast paced, and very action-centric, which is obvious with the whole warriors and final battle thing, and the writing flowed smoothly. There where plenty of twists and turns to the plot, ones that I personally didn't see coming, even though I really should have, because as I've said before, there are clues everywhere in the other books. Viv and Gwen's smack talk could use some work, it was a tad cliche and samey to the other books, but it didn't really take away from the story for me.
Everything is wrapped up nicely, there's nothing left unanswered and the ending is quite final. I was sad there wasn't more romance in this book between Gwen and Logan, but their relationship came together rather nicely!
Killer Frost is an explosive and emotional end to a series that is one of my favourites. I really didn't want it to be over and I really didn't want to leave the world or the character's behind, but the ending is just so satisfying. Fans will not be disappointed.
Killer Frost is full of action, and like me, you will find yourself sitting on the edge of your seat frantically turning pages, constantly being caught off guard as you gasp and swear at the bombs constantly being dropped. Statues come alive. Gryphon's fight Rocs. Artifacts and their powers are finally revealed. Gwen and Viv showdown. And there's one final heart stopping battle that will take your breath away. You really don't want to miss it!
