A Breath Of Frost by Alyxandra Harvey Review!

Title : A Breath Of Frost
Author : Alyxandra Harvey
Pages : 304
Published : January 2nd 2014 by Bloomsbury Childrens
Source : Netgalley

    

In 1814, three cousins—Gretchen, Emma, and Penelope—discover their family lineage of witchcraft when a binding spell is broken, allowing their individual magical powers to manifest. Now, beyond the manicured gardens and ballrooms of Regency London, an alluring underworld available only to those with power is revealed to the cousins. By claiming their power, the three cousins have accidentally opened the gates to the underworld. 

Now ghouls, hellhounds—and most terrifying of all, the spirits of dark witches known as the Greymalkin Sisters—are hunting and killing young debutante witches for their powers. And, somehow, Emma is connected to the murders…because she keeps finding the bodies. 

Can the cousins seal the gates before another witch is killed…or even worse, before their new gifts are stripped away?

My Thoughts :

Emma and her cousins Gretchen and Penelope are at a party when the bottle Emma was wearing fell and broke. Next thing they know there is an enormous tremor and a fire breaks out. When they are evacuated Emma stumbles upon a girl full of blood, she goes to get help but the only person she finds is Cormack. When they get there unfortunately she is dead. Cormack seems to think Emma is involved and tells her to run before the order comes. She has no idea who or what the order is and doesn't know how she could be involved. 

Cormack explains that her and her cousins are in fact witches, with her mother being the strongest, and when the bottle she had broke, it released a spell that was suppressing her powers but also opened gateways to the underworld. Out of one of these gateways The Greymalkin sisters came through. They are a trio of the most evil witches ever and the order banished them years ago. How does Emma react and how will they stop the sisters from killing? 

Ok, I don't even know where  to start with A Breath Of Frost but I think Ill start with the cover. Isn't it just fan freakin tastic!! So pretty and gorgeous. Its definitely eye catching.

Now onto the book. Ill start with what I liked! I loved the characters, everyone of them grew throughout the book. Gretchen was my favourite, her quips made me laugh. She was brave and not into all the girly things! She would always end up in the library at dances. I loved her fiery spirit.

Emma was a good heroine. She had absolutely no idea magic was real and when she finds out her world is turned upside down. She is hated by the order simply because her mother outwitted them. She always seems to be at the scenes of the murders that are happening and everyone thinks she is the killer! Through all that she keeps her elegance and struggles through.

Cormack is a member of the order but has no power himself. Even though he isn't magical he still manages to hold his own in a fight. He has a soft spot for Emma but tries to hide it because its forbidden. Emma thinks he hates her and one thing I loved was seeing how their friendship developed. It was slow and sweet!

I loved the world the author created. The Greymalkin sisters were pure evil and the author described them perfectly. I loved the familiars each person had and when we found out what Penelopes was I laughed!! Her reaction was priceless. The authors writing was magical and descriptive and wonderful! She has a way of pulling you in with the details and making you apart of the world! 

But there were a few minor things that annoyed me. At times I was really confused and was wondering if I missed parts! It switched between the cousins and a madcap named Moira whom I still don't know what she brought to the story! The order was another thing, they were supposed to be The big thing in witchy circles but they didn't do much. 

Like I said they were minor annoyances but  overall A Breath of Frost was a really solid start to the series. It was magical and thrilling. It had a few twists and surprises and Im looking forward to more.