Book Review: Heart of Dread, “Frozen” by Melissa De La Cruz & Michael Johnston

We all dream of a paradise, an escape from the chaos of our reality, and sometimes those dreams are too good to be true. For Nat, the paradise that takes her beyond the Frozen city of Loss and her dream is no longer a unimaginable escape but a necessity for her survival. She has the map, she has the power (however uncontrollable), and she has Wes’s crew to help with her ultimate escape into the Blue.

The world as we know it has been corrupted, invaded, flooded, and frozen into demise. The only city to survive the chaotic rift is Las Vegas, better known as Loss. Loss still has a government that controls everything and everyone in the city, therefore an escape is really a fantasy that many get killed trying to attempt. But it no longer bothers Nat: she has done and seen it all. The city feared what it didn’t know, and Nat, being a golden green-eyed girl, was one of the biggest fears the government felt they needed to control. There is nothing more dangerous than those with colored eyes. Those who are born with green, gold, or blue eyes have powers that could easily become monstrous and overturn the overbearing government.

Unlike others, Nat is her own yin and yang: in her darkest moments innocence and light are always lurking behind her shadow. She hasn’t let the darkness control her, but also living in fear of what she can do can destroy her just as easily as her powers. She may feel she has a monster in her head, but sometimes she needs to let go of the fear and embrace her full self to conquer it once and for all.

Her first step in listening to her inner monster, as she calls it, is looking for an escape out of the frozen city into the land of blue that has been rumored to have piercing turquoise water, unfiltered fresh air, and real warmth provided by the sun itself. All she has to do is find a guide and that is where Wes, an ex-military boy, comes into play. She promises him money in exchange for taking her safely into the Blue. Wes himself takes many customers to what they believe to be the Blue, but he does not believe in the old wives’ tale anymore. After witnessing the world collapse around him it was hard to think of a world where there was anything but wreckage and filth. As Nat and Wes become closer things start to seem possible to him again, but every time they get their hopes up they get beat down, shot at, and manipulated.

“Frozen” by Melissa De La Cruz and Michael Johnston was one of the best series I got myself into. I usually wait until all the books are published before I start a series, but this novel was too tempting. I can’t wait until I get my hands on the rest of this series!