Series: The Beast Charmer #2
Author: Maxym M. Martineau
Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca
Released: December 1^st, 2020
Received: Own

The second novel in the Beast Charmer series, The Frozen Prince, is a novel I’ve been waiting for since I concluded Kingdom of Exiles. It is also a novel that is so worth the wait, and has already left me looking forward to the third novel in the series.

Noc Feyreigner has long been known as the leader of the assassins of Cruor. Yet even then, there’s always been a dark suspicion that there’s something more to his past. A reason why he died, and was raised to become the leader.

Now Noc must deal with his past – all while trying to find a way out of the Cruor’s Oath. For he will die before he killed his mark. Before he kills Leena, his love. A beast charmer who changed his life, and the lives of his people.

“No one had denied Cruor’s Oath before. Whenever we accepted a bounty, the mark simply appeared and would remain inked into our skin until the job was done. If we tried to renege on our promise, our life would be sacrificed in exchange.”

So, somehow I nearly missed the release of The Frozen Prince, despite how anxiously I was waiting for this sequel. I’m going to blame that on my inability to leave the house and browse the bookstore.

Anyway, I’m SO glad that I didn’t miss it, and that it lived up to my expectations! I’ve been waiting to see what would happen with Noc, Leena, and their varied allies (not to mention, all of Leena’s wonderful beasts!).

Noc and Leena’s plots are the most dominant stories in this novel (after all, it includes his past, their struggle to survive, and a growing war), yet they’re far from being the only plots in The Frozen Prince. I think that is one of the many reasons why I loved it so much. Once again, Kost, Oz, and all of the others are making an appearance. And I couldn’t be happier about that fact.

I love that we got to see a bit more of the world, and some of the politics as well. I’ve always felt like the big bad of the series (that is to say, the opposing nation that exiled beast charmers) needed more development, and now we’re starting to get that.

As for the beast charming side of things – that was lovely, as always. I love the concept, and really do need to find myself more books like this. Leena’s plot arcs raised dozens of questions along the way, but I’m confident that they’ll be answered soon (and I even have some theories on that front – something I’m sure I’m not alone on).

We’re getting a whole lot more than that as well, which has left me eagerly looking for any news on when the third novel (The Shattered Crown) will be out. More importantly, I just want to get an idea of what sort of revelations will be snuck inside it.