Reviewed by Rosie Malezer for Readers' Favorite

First Frost is the first book in the Frost series written by Liz DeJesus. Bianca Frost smiles as she listens to her mother read ‘Snow White and the Seven Dwarves’ to the children during Storytelling Hour in the Princess Room of the Museum for Magical and Rare Artifacts. Her mother, Rose, reads to the children three times per week, each time with a new story, much to the delight of the children and their parents. It had been ten years since Bianca’s father had mysteriously disappeared without a trace and she often thought about him. On returning home one night, after feeling something was terribly wrong, Bianca walks into the middle of a battle of magic between her mother and another woman, who then tries to kill Bianca. Realizing that magic is actually real, Bianca now sees the museum’s magical artifacts in a whole new scary light and is further horrified to learn what had really happened to her father. With the clock now ticking, Rose needs to teach her daughter to become a magical warrior in order to prevent their blood line from being eliminated completely in a war which began many generations ago.

Liz DeJesus has produced an incredibly imaginative novel which was not at all what I expected. I felt sorry for Bianca in so many ways, especially in that she lost her father when she was so young. I pictured First Frost being a book about a cooler climate, but was pleasantly surprised by the story within which was fast-paced and introduces a girl who’d had her whole family lineage hidden from her. Liz DeJesus has created two very strong female roles – Bianca Frost and her mother, Rose – both of whom are able to protect themselves from harm on a whole new level. Each of the well-known (and not so well-known) fairy tales were so cleverly introduced, taking me back to my childhood years, although the revelations in First Frost most definitely painted them in a whole new light. I very much enjoyed reading the first book in the Frost series and would recommend this book to anybody who loves mystery, drama, and humor dished up with a huge dollop of magic on the side.