The Girl and the Mountain yet another stonking story from Mark Lawrence. Once again, the author had that perfect formula for breaking me. It’s a straight run on from The Girl and the Stars, it didn’t skip a beat, not for one second and I settled into meeting old friends again. An ending that had me needing more, an ending that proved just how addictive Lawrence’s writing is. His writing skills are so dastardly and intoxicating that its impossible not to race to the end. I’ve had to wait a few days to write this review because I have been living in a hungover, adrenaline intoxicated state.

Let’s take a small walk and discover just how I ended up in this fugue state.

The Girl and the Mountain. Never has a fantasy novel held such promise and such truth. It had a lot to live up to, but Lawrence once again hit the bullseye. His precision isn’t to be messed with, the historic feel to the story always shouts out its lament to me. This series feels like a story passed on through the generations and retold by campfire. Nostalgia at its absolute best.

The story is set in a place that feels like the coldest place on earth. You have a real feel for its worldbuilding and its atmosphere. I imagined a world where the cold was more likely to kill you than its inhabitants and I found myself wrapping the cold away with blankets. Yaz of the Ictha is back on the ice after escaping from beneath it. Their mission now takes them from The Black Rock which is inhabited by Priests of Abeth and make it to the Greenlands – a place they only believed existed in myth. Expect strong female characters, a running thread of mythology and traditions being played throughout.

Lawrence’s highly skilled writing is receptive to how the story should unfold. Yaz is a wonderfully strong female lead and instead of being a diminished character due to her past traumas, is indeed all the stronger for them. Her strengths and limitations are not unrealistic. We also had POV’s from Thurin and Quell and we got to see different sides to them both. Hardships and misgivings adding to the relationships that unite them on a harrowing journey. The story was a perfect length, and you weren’t bombarded with information that wasn’t required. The author gave you everything you needed.

The Girl and the Mountain leaves a lot to look forward to. We had plenty twists and turns, highs and lows. It’s a thrilling ride that pushes to the edge with every intention of pushing you in.

Thanks NetGalley and the publisher for the digital copy in exchange for an honest review.

This is the second book in the Book of the Ice Trilogy, which is set in the same universe as The Book of the Ancestor Trilogy (but the events happen before TBotAT), so there may be spoilers about the first book ahead.

Yaz is our main character. She is an ice triber who defied the priests of the Black Rock and their authority and paid the price for it. Her friends died and now she need to go through a harsh journey to break the Hidden God’s power and find out more about the rest of her group.

First of all, I really like Yaz. She's a very interesting character and has a great development throughout this series so far. I imagine that in the last book, she will get an even more complex arc. Plus, the author's writing is still action-packed and be prepared for some shocking twists!

A nice addition to this book was Quell and Thurins POVs as well as Yaz's. It really expanded the universe view for me. Oh, and the way he explore this world's mythology is incredible.

4.5 stars

The Girl and the Mountain is the follow up to The Girl and the Stars and continues to follow Yaz in her adventures both above and below the desolate wasteland of the Ice. This is a book about the desire for survival, the hope for a better life, and the relentless pursuit of that goal.

In the first half of the novel we are under the Black Mountain, as at the end of book 1 Yaz is kidnapped by the priests and taken into captivity as well as the (literal) cliffhanger of the cage the others are in being cut. I thought this was resolved very well and very believably, I alos really liked how we had both Quell and Thurins POVs in addition to Yaz, this added an extra perspective, especially to the scenes under the mountain where our charcaters are all seperated. One of my favourite tropes in books is where characters are all trapped in an enclosed hostile space and trying to escape (a la rhythm of war) and the start of the book fits that really well. I also liked how the section under the mountain wasn't dragged out for the whole book, but it still managed to pack a punch and almost felt like its own story arc had resolved at the halfway point.

The portion of the book set on the ice where our characaters are in a desperate bid for survival against the elements was absolutely chilling to read. It was extremely well executed by the author and I was genuniely so fearful for the survival of our group and could feel the cold and hunger radiating off the page - I had to go and get myself a blanket and hot chocolate to comfort myself lol. In my opinion this was the best section of the book, the tension was so palpable and there is something about reading the relentless and raw desire for survival that is very humbling and at its core - what makes us human.

Yaz is a great character to follow, in my first review I think I said she had big dick energy and honestly I still stand by that. In this book we really see her grapple with her growing leadership and responsibilty, as well as holding onto her culture even though it doesn't serve her anymore and learning more about her heritage and power. I also really like Thurin as a character, he was one of my faves from book 1 and I loved seeing his growth in this book, as well as all the other side characters (especially Erris and Zox, and yes Theus as well, I'm a sucker for a sexy villain lol).

We find out a lot more about the lore of Abeth in this installment, I actually really like it when fantasy and sci-fi blend together and I think the history with the Missing and is so fascinating. I still can't work out if this series is set before or after (or even during) the book of the ancestor (at the moment I would say before) but I do think it really adds to the lore of that book to read this series as well. I think objectively this is a better book than the Girl and the Stars, we get to know the characters a lot better and start to really care for them! Also the pacing was really good, although I would have liked a few more quieter character moments.

Also side note: is mark lawerence planning on writing a hades and persephone book?!?!?!?

In conclusion a really enjoyable second installment in the series, I think if you enjoyed the girl and the stars you will really love this and even if you didn't love book 1 I would still reccomend giving this book a try because I think it improves on a lot of elements and adds extra dimesion to the world.