Frozen BeautyBy:
Lexa Hillyer
Publisher:
HarperTeen
Release Date:
March 17, 2020
Add to:
Goodreads
Source:
eARC from the publisher in exchange for a honest review
Book Synopsis:
Everyone in Devil’s Lake knows the three golden Malloy sisters—but one of them is keeping a secret that will turn their little world inside out….
No one knows exactly what happened to Kit in the woods that night—all they have are a constellation of facts: icy blue lips and fingers cold to the touch, a lacy bra, an abandoned pick-up truck with keys still in the ignition. Still, Tessa, even in her fog of grief, is certain that her sister’s killer wasn’t Boyd, the boy next door whom they’ve all loved in their own way. There are too many details that don’t add up, too many secrets still tucked away.
But no matter how fiercely she searches for answers, at the core of that complicated night is a truth that’s heartbreakingly simple.
Told in lush, haunting prose, Frozen Beauty is a story of the intoxicating power of first love, the deep bonds of sisterhood, and a shocking death that will forever change the living.
My Thoughts:
I was drawn to this story by the attractive book cover, and knew I needed to read it after I read the synopsis. I enjoy stories that have sibling relationships, and thought it would be neat to read about sisters, with one of them having a big secret, turning up dead, and one of the remaining sisters investigating, to try to find out what happened.Ms. Hillyer writes beautiful prose that are poetic and lyrical. Her words effortlessly painted this story in my mind. Frozen Beauty takes place in the small town of Devil's Lake, and is the story of the Malloy sisters.
We learn about the eldest, senior in high school, Kit, who is the "perfect" sister. She gets excellent grades, and volunteers her time. Middle sister, Tessa, often gets overlooked, and doesn't have many friends. The youngest sister, Lilly, a sophomore in high school, is a bit immature, likes being the center of attention, and often times feels left out, because the two oldest sisters are closer. Right smack dab in the middle of the sisters is their friendship with next door neighbor Boyd, who is a junior in high school alongside, Tessa, and they are best friends. Each of the sisters have feelings for Boyd, but keep their feelings about him a secret from one another. As for Boyd's feelings, he gives mixed signals to the sisters.
One night, when Lilly is spending the night at her best friend Mel's house, she wakes up to find her missing. When she goes to look for Mel, she is shocked to see Kit and Boyd together in his truck arguing, and then kissing. The next day Kit turns up dead, and Boyd is locked up. Boyd claims his innocence, but based on what Lilly saw, and the fact that Kit's DNA is all over his truck, the police believe they have a solid case against Boyd. Tessa believes in Boyd's innocence, and is determined to prove that he isn't the one that killed her sister...
Frozen Beauty is told in chapters alternating between what happened before Kit's death, and what happened after her death. We get a prologue by Boyd, as well as the majority of the story narrated by Tessa and Lilly. The story casts a suspicious light over a few characters, and has the wheels in the reader's mind turning to try to piece together the puzzle of who murdered Kit.
I enjoyed the author's writing style, and learning about the Malloy Sisters. The plot unraveled rather slowly. This was a mystery that I was excited to solve, and along the way various serious topics were addressed. We learn a lot about Lilly's best friends Mel, the pushy leader of the group, and Dar, who has an eating disorder and struggling with coming to terms with her sexuality. We learn about Patrick Donavan, Lilly's eventual love interest, who is the resident bad boy. We get little poems sprinkled throughout the story written by Kit, and one thing quickly becomes clear; she was keeping a lot of secrets from her sisters.
This story deals with the grief of losing a loved one; as Tessa, Lilly, and their mother struggle to move forward with their lives. If you are looking for a murder mystery with seamless beautiful writing, interesting characters, and a quick, effortless read, check out Frozen Beauty.
About the Author:
Lexa Hillyer is the Founder and President of Publishing at Glasstown Entertainment, an all-womxn creative development and production company located in New York and Los Angeles. She is also the author of Frozen Beauty, Spindle Fire, Winter Glass, and Proof of Forever, all young adult novels published by HarperCollins, as well as the poetry collection Acquainted with the Cold from Bona Fide Books. Acquainted with the Cold was the 2012 gold prize winner of the Foreword Book of the Year Award for Poetry and received the Melissa Lanitis Gregory Poetry Prize. Her work has been featured in a variety of journals and collections including Best New Poets 2012, and she has received several honors for poetry. Lexa earned her BA in English from Vassar College and her MFA in Poetry from Stonecoast at the University of Southern Maine. She worked as an editor at both HarperCollins and Penguin, before founding Glasstown Entertainment along with New York Times Bestselling author Lauren Oliver. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband and daughter and their very skinny orange tree.
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