Frost

Gr 7 Up—Described as a dystopian fairy tale, Kozlowsky's novel will attract many genre YA readers. Sixteen-year-old Frost must cross a treacherous landscape, accompanied by her robot caretaker, in order to save her beloved pet from death. Out of the apartment she lived her whole life in, Frost discovers the Eaters and rogue robots that plague the world after the Days of Bedlam. The protagonist must fight her way through many obstacles to reach her beacon of hope, the Battery. While written as a YA novel, this will also appeal to younger readers, as there is very little strong language and the violence is not overly graphic. The main character does feel younger than her years, which could be attributed to how she grew up. There is wonderful world-building, but the pacing is slightly off. Certain events happen very quickly, while others drag. There is also a disconnect between the story lines with the Eaters and the robots. It feels as though two different worlds were pushed together. Readers may also assume this is a fairy-tale retelling, which it is not. It is instead a new fairy tale for the modern age.