Book: The Ice Beyond by Olivia Wildenstein
Reviewed by Puzzledbooknerd
Rating: 4/5
I was so excited to receive an ALC for The Ice Beyond, but man was I unprepared for this story to take my brain over like it did! Everything I thought was going to happen was so wrong, and I'm glad I was!
While I thought most of the story would be Zaskja's journey through the wilderness to seek her true heritage, it was much more than that. It turned out those closest to her knew more than she was ever told. It made for a delightful web of lies and uncertainty.
The only certain thing in this story was Nordin's love and protectiveness over Zas. While there were times I wanted to throttle both for their stubbornness and idiocy, I still loved everything about them. The forbidden love cast so much tension into the story and made every moment together so perilous I was eating it up.
I loved both Nordin and Zaskja's fierce protectiveness and even their jealousy a bit, too! I really felt for Zas and understood where her insecurities and fears came from. She went through so much. Yes, she was naive, but the way she was raised made that almost unavoidable. I felt for Nordin as well. Both had trauma.
I fully wanted so many others to get their just desserts! I'm glad a certain someone did! I can't wait for more because I have so many questions and want to meet more valkyrie. I'm definitely buying a shelf trophy ASAP! Thank you Olivia for the wonderful adventure!