#2 book review

Cry of the Icemark by Stuart Hill <Review- spoiler free!>

Rating: 3/5 stars

The story follows Thirrin, a 14 year old girl who must inherit her fathers throne and defend her war stricken kingdom The Icemark against its enemies. 

When i first starting reading this i thought it reeked of Game of Thrones, there was a few similar references. When i got past the 100 page the story really came into its on. This book was published in 2005, i really wish i had read this as a 15 year old as Thirrin is a bad ass protagonist and i find that thats sometimes lacking in YA and 'middle grade' books. Quite often women/girls in YA are submissive and pining over boys. Thirrin was a breath of fresh air, she was mouthy and fiesty. I liked that. She also wasnt blindly following a boy.

The story was about 200 pages long, it felt really drawn out at some parts. I needed to skim some chapters as they felt like fillers. Upon reading the blurb you immediately find out that Thirrin's father dies leaving her to inherit his throne and his war. I expected this to happen a lot sooner than it did. He dies about 150 pages in. Not sure why you find out about his death as it would have been a nice plot twist, instead of just expecting it.

Things i liked:

• How badass Thirrin was- i wish more protagonists were like her!
• Snow leopards!!! enough said. 
• The world building, it was cleverly thought out and well delivered. 

Things i didn't like:

• The length- seriously too long!
• The amount of paranormal elements packed into one book- vampires, talking snow leopards, werewolves, witches, warlocks. It all got a little much!

When i looked this book up on Goodreads i found out that it was a trilogy. I dont think i will carry on with the series but if i see them somewhere for cheap i will pick them up as the covers are gorgeous!