Teenage aged and up fantasy. There’s a lot more to this story than the title and first chapters suggest. The exciting action and secrets soon ramp up. Nice story, good characters. This seems to be the first book in at least a duology. Looking forward to finding out more. Thank you to Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op and NetGalley for the ARC. The views expressed are all mine, freely given.

Big thank you NetGalley and to the publisher for the chance to review this book pre-release. Shattered Ice was a fun read, and a great debut for a YA series. Kaia is not without her flaws, but it was entertaining to read, and I think as the series progresses the story and characters could polish themselves more. I liked the world building and the unique environment, and would certainly recommend this to someone looking for a fun sci-fi read. A more formal review will be available on my IG/TikTok and Goodreads.

Review: Another YA novel set in a narcissistic reality.

Everything and I mean EVERYTHING is about Kaia. Yeah, someone actually went and put a twist on the often used name KAI. Yep, she did that.

Kaia likes to HIYAH! down the glacial slopes in her glacier board because it is so cool and stuff and if she could just save enough money to get in a race while buying her dad a new helmet that would be so rad. But there is evilly peeps around and she is just so mad and stuff. Like when everyone got blown up and she was so in grief and shock but people died cause of her and she will never be good enough so I cried for a long time then got better with sick friends. Not the real sick kind but cool sick.

Rating: 1.2/5

This story is adventurous and the world is really cool. The writing and characters didn't grip me so I struggled to keep going but I think it's a solid start to a YA sci Fi series.

Kaia has lived her entire life in the ice caves deep in the glacial underground of the planet Eirlys. Her future seems set in stone: continue to work in the mines and try not to die of an unfortunate accident. But when the mysteriously advanced Solon medical team arrives at her village a web of secrets starts to unravel around her. Kaia is forced to run from everything she has ever known, fighting for her life, and battling with unending guilt and shame. She must learn the uncomfortable truths about herself and the people she loves the most to survive.

Shattered Ice is full of action packed chase scenes, fights and the ever popular deadly sports competition, but it really shines in it's realistic portrayal of a young girl suddenly confronted with the knowledge that secrets have been hidden from her for her entire life. Kaia's is a realistic character with flaws and hang-ups and it is heart wrenching to watch her battle herself and the world around her.

There were parts of this book where the pacing dipped and my progress with the story slowed down, but thankfully this was a temporary issue that disappeared in the last portion of the story. Kaia's characterization is the best part about this book. The plot is still great and fun, but I am glad that a lot of focus went towards a realistic portrayal of how a young person would deal with the number of traumatic events that Kaia has to experience. I know that the entire premise for this book is that she has to participate in the iceboarding competition to survive, but it was honestly my least favorite part of the entire story. I massively preferred Kaia's escape sequences and the story surrounding the iceboarding competition. It felt a little out of place in the overall story. Which is a shame since that was a major pull in the description of the book.

Overall, this is a really strong debut novel and the ending made me genuinely upset that I have no idea when the next book in the series will come out.