Author: Jackson Pearce
Date of Publication: November 5 2013
Pages: 323
Source: Library ebook

Kai and Ginny grew up together–best friends since they could toddle around their building’s rooftop rose garden. Now they’re seventeen, and their relationship has developed into something sweeter, complete with stolen kisses and plans to someday run away together.

But one night, Kai disappears with a mysterious stranger named Mora–a beautiful girl with a dark past and a heart of ice. Refusing to be cast aside, Ginny goes after them and is thrust into a world she never imagined, one filled with monsters and thieves and the idea that love is not enough.


If Ginny and Kai survive the journey, will she still be the girl he loved–and moreover, will she still be the girl who loved him?

Review:

Cold Spell isn't my favourite of Jackson Pearce's stories. That spot is reserved for Fathomless, which was dark and disturbing. Still, Cold Spell does have its charm and I ended up reading it in one sitting.

Jackson Pearce is an underrated writer. She is capable of creating stunning atmosphere and even though it's August, I could just feel the cold Canadian winter when it's -40 with wind chill and breathing hurts. Cold Spell was the last of her fairy tale retellings, and I'm sad about that because the world is so fascinating. Cold Spell is a retelling of the Snow Queen, which embarrassingly, I don't know the original tale, so I can't comment on its faithfulness because my point of reference is Frozen.

What I like about Jackson Pearce's stories is that she is so good at creating characters and their lives that are different yet believable. I could easily relate to Ginny, who for a long time now has been in a relationship with Kai. When Mora, the Snow Queen of the story, steals him away, Ginny can't just let him go. Thus begins her quest to save him.

It was very typical storybook quest that Ginny ended up finding herself and growing as a character. Her relationship with Kai was full of love, but not without its flaws. Still, I love that there is a story in YA not about new love, but about maintaining the love. Ginny has her strengths and weaknesses. She desperately craves love, and she is a fighter.

Her relationships with the other characters were rather sudden, but charming. Ella and Lucas have to be the most adorable people in the history of ever, and frankly, they are believable to me too because I've met people sort of like that. I won't get to the next two characters of note because that would be a pretty big spoiler, but they had such a fascinating dynamic as well.

The reason I consider the characters "charming" rather than great is that Cold Spell lacks some development. Everything occurs so quickly and if you go along with it, the story is good. But the story needs more emotion and to really love the story, you need more. I think that's what was so appealing about Fathomless. It was long and angsty and it took its time. Cold Spell is not a long read, it's more entertaining so it's more readable in that sense. I just want a little more time with these characters because the build-up of their relationships is nice, but fairytalesque in its speed, which makes sense since this is a retelling. However, the strength of Pearce's stories have been that they can be read emotionally like contemporaries because they're that well written and developed. So, Cold Spell was lacking a little of that.

Overall though, Cold Spell was what I needed to break out of my reading slump. I really like Pearce's writing and the mythology in these companion type novels is amazing. I only regret that I couldn't find some sort of series review to read before I started Cold Spell so I could better remember Sisters Red, Sweetly, and the aforementioned Fathomless. I would rate the series as Fathomless, Sisters Red, Cold Spell, then Sweetly. They're all good books however, and you don't need to read then in order because they take place in the same world but are about different characters with only the loosest of relations.

Anyway, I liked Cold Spell. 3 stars!

-P.E.

Author: Jennifer Brown
Date of Publication: May 6 2014
Pages: 288
Source: Library ebook

Jersey Cameron has always loved a good storm. Watching the clouds roll in and the wind pick up. Smelling the electricity in the air. Dancing barefoot in the rain. She lives in the Midwest, after all, where the weather is sure to keep you guessing. Jersey knows what to do when the tornado sirens sound. But she never could have prepared for this.

When her town is devastated by a tornado, Jersey loses everything. As she struggles to overcome her grief, she's sent to live with relatives she hardly knows-family who might as well be strangers. In an unfamiliar place, can Jersey discover that even on the darkest of days, there are some things no tornado can destroy?


In this powerful and poignant novel, acclaimed author Jennifer Brown delivers a story of love, loss, hope, and survival.

Review:

Please note that this review was written in early August. 

Torn Away by Jennifer Brown blew me away. It's the type of contemporary I always hope to read, because it's one that I can connect to emotionally.

I read Torn Away at the perfect time. Jersey goes through a traumatic experience- a tornado that kills her mom and sister, and she's left coping with the loss of her family. Now, I haven't experienced a natural disaster (knock on wood!!!) but it's currently the summer before university, and I will be moving away, and I guess I'm coping with the thought of moving away from my family, especially my mom and sister, like Jersey. Jersey's dynamic with her sister is so similar to my own, because my sister is nine years younger (Jersey is ten years older) and I'm extremely protective of her. So, I understand Jersey and her voice was authentic to me, especially at the beginning.

Jersey is a very normal girl. She tries to be kind, and she loves her family, and sometimes she doesn't treat them the way she would like to. Her reaction to the tornado, and then the realization that she lost her mom and sister rocked me. In fact, I had a hard time reading Torn Away because even the smallest passages resonated with me and I would end up tearing up in public. The writing was so raw and expressive that it felt like thoughts I could easily have, and although the story seems to be a reasonable amount of Kobo pages long, 200, it always kept me on edge.

The beginning was insane, and it's one of the few books that impacted my actions. I considered DNFing Torn Away because it made me sad, and in fact, every moment I read Torn Away made me want to stop reading and play with my sister. But, I figured that I needed to figure out how Jersey dealt with her pain and her rough go at life. I desperately needed her to have a happy ending.

The ending was a little more sugary than I would want, but still very believable. I was surprised during reading that it wasn't just the obvious tragedy that hurt to read about, but I truly cared for Jersey and was rooting for her when she was faced with so many awful people. Jersey learns a bit, and maybe I want what I consider the last third of the story to be expanded upon a little, but I feel like Torn Away was still a great story.

It's a book I'm considering buying (I have no money, this is a big deal!) just because some of the passages need to be highlighted and sticky noted and read every day, because they're so powerful and real. The parts about Jersey's sister, the last epiphany, all the thoughts Jersey had, they were all extremely poignant. So much happened that broke my heart but I feel like the story was very realistic too because everything was written in such a way that it was never all good or all bad.

See, I'm raving about a contemporary! Trust me, this doesn't happen very often, so you need to read Torn Away. It's a great book, it would be a great movie, and I'm planning to read more Jennifer Brown! 5 stars.

-P.E.