Review: Ice Wolves by Amie Kaufman

This book was full of excitement and fun. Also heartbreaking at times too. I'm thrilled to say that I enjoyed this book so much. It's a four star for me, and I am dying to read the next two books in this series. I also pretty much adore Amie, and am so happy that she is writing this middle grade series. Eee. This book was great.

I am also fully thrilled at this gorgeous cover. I love it very much. And must also mention that this book is wonderfully diverse too, and was written really well. Such gorgeous writing. Also, these characters just about killed me. I loved the world and story too, and the small parts of magic were so great to read about as well.

I'm unsure how much I wish to share about this lovely book. Not too much, as it wasn't that long, but it was still pretty incredible. And I enjoyed reading this book a whole lot. Ice Wolves tells the story of twelve year old Anders, and his twin sister, Rayna. The book is from Anders point of view, which I adored. He was such an amazing boy to read about. He started out as really shy and not all that brave, but he ended up changing a lot, and he grew to be really brave by the end of the book. I can't wait to see how he changes even more in the next ones. And also so curious to know if the next books will be from his point of view too, or from Rayna next. I'm hoping book two will be named Scorch Dragons. Fingers crossed. I would love to still read from Anders.

As I said, this book tells the story of Anders and his twin sister Rayna. They are orphans, and have been living on the streets since they were six years old. They steal to eat every day, and hide away to sleep at night. My heart kept breaking for these adorable children. I only wanted the best for them. Sniffs. They were such amazing characters, though. Still strong, despite not having the best life. Still trying their best to survive. And loving each other, protecting each other. I loved their special bond a whole lot. So cute.

I'm not going to describe everything that happens in this book, but must talk a little bit about the history of it. In this world, some people have the power to change into wolves, aka ice wolves. The wolves protect the city against some fierce scorch dragons, whom they had a war against years back. The dragons are evil, or so the wolves claim. And the wolves have been protecting everyone for years now. When children become twelve, they are all to be tested to see if they have enough wolf blood to become an ice wolf too.

And this is how this book begins, with Anders and Rayna ending up being tested by accident. And it does not go well. Rayna ends up turning into a scorch dragon, the enemy of this whole town. The wolves ends up attacking her, trying to capture her, but she gets away. At the same time, Anders ends up turning into a ice wolf. Which should not be possible, since they are twins, and should have just one type of elemental blood. But it still happened. They turned into different creatures. They are now supposed to be enemies.

This whole plot is all kinds of exciting. Anders is learning how to be a human and a wolf. He now has to study at a school, ending up as a soldier when he's grown up. But even while he is at this school for a few weeks, all he can think about is going to the dragons to save his sister, as he is sure she is going to end up killed. I loved reading about Anders a lot, about how he found new friends, yet always thought about his twin too. Their bond was gorgeous, and I am really excited about reading more about them together.

While I pretty much loved this book, I am giving it four stars. I don't really have a big reason for this, just that I felt like some things could have been a little more. A little more magic, a little more exciting things happening. It felt a bit slow in the entire middle of the book. But I still adored it a lot, and I'm so glad I read this book. You are all going to love it too. It's an fantastic stories about awesome creatures and kind of a magic school. There is a lot happening, and I haven't mentioned all of it. I enjoyed this story a whole lot.

Ice Wolves was such a stunning middle grade book. Full of adventure and fun. Stunning friendships and gorgeous magic too. I adored these characters, and I cannot wait to read more about them in the next books. Eee. Fingers crossed book two will be from Anders too, but I will love it either way. And just so excited. But oh, waiting a whole year will be torture, I'm sure. Rude. But worth it. Huge thank you to the publisher for the auto approval on Edelweiss. And to a friend from trading this gorgeous print with me.

 

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