Review: Devil's Frost (Spellspinners of Melas County #3) by Heidi R. Kling

  Source: Received a review copy from the publisher for an honest review.

Publisher: Coliloquy, LLC

Release Date: Already Released
You can find out more about Devil's Frost and the Spellspinners of Melas County Saga on Coliloquy's website.

Blurb from Goodreads:

Every young witch looks forward to her first Solstice Stones. The pride of representing her coven against the warlocks. The rush from her first taste of dark magic.

But a few short minutes into the Stones, and Lily’s lifelong dream turns into a nightmare of pain and regret. Betrayed not once, but twice, her restraint snaps—with dire consequences.

Lily is wracked with guilt and on the run from the powerful Congression, when her broken confidence is further shattered by an ugly secret from the past. As her options dwindle, Lily is forced into a distasteful alliance.

Will she be able to find her way back to the light? Or will darkness consume her before dawn's new day?

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I've really been enjoying Coliloquy's interactive titles, and the Spellspinners of Melas County is one of my favourites, so I've been eagerly awaiting this book. I absolutely loved getting to return to Lily and Logan's story in Devil's Frost, but there were a few things about this installment in the series that I wasn't a big fan of, so while I did really enjoy it, it is my least favourite out of the three books so far.

Mostly, I was disappointed with this one because it really wasn't interactive at all. As I have gushed about the interactive parts being one of my favourite elements in these books, it's probably not that surprising that I was disappointed with a lack of choices. The only options in Devil's Frost were whether you wanted to read bonus material or not....which frankly isn't a choice at all because it doesn't actually do anything for the plot itself, or to the narrative that you as a reader are following. The fact that there were no actual choices in the book made a lot of it seem really repetitious, too. We see the same events from both Logan's and Lily's points of view, which was drastically different from the narratives of the first two books, where we rarely saw the same scenes twice, and while I enjoyed the story, the repetition made it feel really anti-climatic, and like it was all filler. I also didn't realize that this was going to be a nine-book series. By the setup of the first two books, I was thinking four or five at the most (since I knew it was a "saga"), so instead of having the story start to tie together in this one, like I expected, we just got more conflict, and circled back through the alternating points of view.

While I was disappointed with this one, I was glad to see more of Lily and Logan. I still love their chemistry and the dynamics they have together, especially when they cast spells. As I mentioned, a lot of this book did feel like it was more filler, and that it was laying the groundwork for future books in the series, so I'm hopeful that the next book will return to the feel of the previous ones. A lot of questions were left open at the end of Devil's Frost, but we finally got more about the prophecy and about both Lily's and Logan's pasts. In the bonus material, we also got to see a little bit of Daisy, which was definitely different from the rest of the book, but was interesting nonetheless. I still loved the imaginative world that Heidi R. Kling has created in this series and embedded within our own world. I love the way her spells work, the dynamics of the witches and warlocks, and the vast history surrounding the segregation of the spellspinners by gender...it's incredibly interesting, and has kept me riveted since I first started the series.

Overall, I enjoyed Devil's Frost, but was disappointed in the lack of interactivity in it, and I felt that compared to the first two books, this one was a bit lackluster. There was action, and we got a little bit of Logan and Lily romance, but the parallel narratives felt a bit repetitious, which was very different from the first two books. I do think that fans of the series will enjoy returning to Lily and Logan's story though, and I'm personally really excited for the next book because I think that Devil's Frost set it up for some serious action and intensity...and hopefully lots and lots of romance, too. ;) If you haven't started this series yet, don't let my disappointment in this book stop you. The first two were fantastic, and the magical world in the Spellspinners of Melas County series is amazing, and I think you'll be riveted by it, too.

You can find my thoughts on Witch's Brew and  my review for The Gleaning, here:
Witch's Brew (Book #1) - short GR review
The Gleaning (Book #2) - blog review

Twitter Links: Heidi R. Kling | Coliloquy

Have you started the Spellspinners of Melas County series yet?

If you have, have you read Devil's Frost yet? Thoughts?

And if you haven't, are you a fan of witches and magic?

Does the series sound like something you'd like to read?

Heidi R. Kling Interview and Giveaway!

I have an awesome guest on my blog today! :D Heidi R. Kling, the author of Sea
and her new interactive series The Spellspinners of Melas County, has answered a few of my questions! And her fabulous publisher, Coliloquy, has generously provided a giveaway that you can find at the end of this post. :)
 
Also, a note, this interview does not contain any spoilers for the series, but it does make mention of characters that you might have never heard of if you haven't started the series yet.

You can find out more about Witch's Brew, and The Gleaning on Coliloquy's website.
And here are their Goodreads pages: Witch's Brew | The Gleaning

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About Heidi R. Kling:

After earning her BA in Literature & Creative Writing Literature from UC Santa Cruz and finding her voice in YA, Heidi went on to earn her MFA in Writing for Children from The New School. She has directed and written children's theatre on both coasts and lives with her husband and two children in Palo Alto, CA.

(Photo and Bio from Goodreads)
 Other Links: Facebook | Twitter | Tumblr


And finally, here is my interview with Heidi R. Kling (questions are bolded):

Hi Heidi! :D Thanks for stopping by my blog and chatting with me! 

Thank you for having me!

First, for people who are just hearing about this series, can you tell us a bit about The Spellspinners of Melas County?

The Spellspinners of Melas County is an interactive eBook series akin to those Choose Your Own Adventure books we loved as kids. But this time there’s no falling off cliffs on page 8 and starting over. Throughout you have choice points and you can lead our main character Lily, head of the young witches, on her dangerously romantic adventure with Logan.

Witch’s Brew is the set-up. The Gleaning tests the strength of their relationship.

 

What made you want to write about witches?

It was actually my agent’s suggestion! After I finished my debut novel SEA, she tossed out, “What do you think about witches?” I’d recently had my second child, a daughter, and while in a hormoned-out state created Lily and her fascinating world.

When you’re writing an interactive story does your method for writing change? / What is the process for writing an interactive story like? Is it a lot different from how you write when the book you’re writing doesn’t have choices?

Yes. It’s both challenging and exhilarating! I want to make sure the readers of each path gets all the pertinent information in regards to plot and character development, so if in Path A Lily finds a specific clue, or has a certain feeling toward a character, I try and repeat it in some way in the other path. It gets tricky! 

In Witch’s Brew and The Gleaning you alternate between Lily and Logan as the narrator. How do you decide when to go from a Lily chapter to one about Logan?

That’s a great question! It just sort of flows like that. I write one POV until it has a nice conclusion line, then I switch. I’m writing Spellspinners 3 now and I’m doing something quite different than in Witch’s Brew and The Gleaning in regards to POV. Remember this question when you read it. J

I love the whole prophecy surrounding Lily and Logan. Did the idea come from anything, or is it all from your imagination?

Thanks! It’s all from my imagination. I love the idea of Yin/Yang and the way females/males balance each other out, create a whole. I practice yoga and the theme comes up again and again about balance. So, I played around with the idea of being unbalanced. What that does to us as people, and, in the specific case of witches, how it would alter your magic.

What can we look forward to in the next installment?

The Gleaning pushes the bar as far as Lily being tempted. The theme largely moves around temptation and want. Also betrayal. Spellspinners 3 is largely about loyalty. Who do we love, why do we love them. (Friendship as well as romantic love.) If they betrayed us in the cruellest way imaginable would we still try to save them? Spinners 3 is action packed AND has the perfect ending (in my humble opinion). :D

And finally, what are some of the things that you love about getting to write in such an interesting format?

Unleashing my creativity in a way that is totally acceptable.

My publisher, Lisa Rutherford, is so awesome in so many ways, but what I love best about her is that I will throw out something like, “Invisible ink! Can we do a magic trick in this book?!” and she’s like, “Yes! Let’s try that!” She’s very much a yes person and I’m a yes person, so it works out great.

Thanks for having me! I’m so happy you’re enjoying the series!

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What awesome answers!!! :D I hope you all enjoyed Heidi's interview as much as I did, and....now here's your chance to win a set of the first two books in the Spellspinners of Melas County series, Witch's Brew and The Gleaning! :D

GIVEAWAY!

Details:

- US/Canada Only
- 1 Winner will win a set of Witch's Brew and The Gleaning in the ebook format of their choice.
- Ends Dec.28th
- Winner will be contacted via email and will have 48 hours to claim their prize.

 TO ENTER FILL OUT THE RAFFLECOPTER BELOW:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Also, The Gleaning's official release is today, so if you've read Witch's Brew and can't wait for The Gleaning, you can get yourself a copy at these sites:
Google Play Store  | Barnes and Noble | Amazon.

First, Happy Book Birthday to The Gleaning!!! Second, thank you to Heidi R. Kling for her fabulous answers and Coliloquy for setting up our interview. :)

Now, what did you all think of the interview?
Are you a fan of this series, or is it new to you?
Either way, what do you think? :)

Thanks for reading, and if you've entered, good luck in the giveaway! :D