FROST by MARIANNA BAER

Leena Thomas’s senior year at boarding school begins with a shock: Frost House, her cozy dorm of close friends, has been assigned an unexpected roommate: confrontational, eccentric Celeste Lazar. But while Leena’s anxiety about a threat to her sanctuary proves valid, it becomes less and less clear whether the threat lies with her new roommate, within Leena’s own mind, or within the very nature of Frost House itself. Mysterious happenings in the dorm, an intense triangle between Leena, Celeste, and Celeste’s brother, and the reawakening of childhood fears, all push Leena to take increasingly desperate measures to feel safe. Frost is the story of a haunting. As to whether the demons are supernatural or psychological . . . well, which answer would let you sleep at night? From goodreads

Hardcover, 400 pages
Balzer & Bray
Published September 13th 2011

THE FAERYS VIEW

Leena and her friends really had it made senior year at Barcroft Academy. Leena had scoped out Frost House, a cozy cottage tucked away on the campus grounds and received permission for her and her friends to spend the year there instead of the dorms. When it turns out that it’s just her and Viv for the first semester, they get an unpleasant surprise in the form of their semester replacement roomie, Celeste, Goth Girl extraordinaire. Things at Frost House aren’t as they first appeared with bizarre happenings that defy explanation; it’s as if the house itself has its own personality and it doesn’t like visitors and it’s not afraid to let them know that.


Frost by Marianna Baer has a unique voice interweaving a paranormal story with a suspenseful thriller which kept me guessing throughout the book. Leena made a fantastic protagonist, strong yet strangely susceptible to the house which lent her a sense of vulnerability that made her a much more relatable character to me. As Leenas life becomes more confusing and muddled, she starts a downward slope and the happenings in Frost House target Celeste and Leena with a vengeance. Torn clothing, smashed belongings, strange odors-all kinds of creepiness ensues and Leena starts changing along with the house. The intensity of Leenas psychological confusion and chaotic events was at times overwhelming but definitely contributed to the meat of the story and the sense of the surreal that often surrounds Leena.


There were a lot of things I really liked about Frost, the blossoming romance between Celeste’s older brother David and the incredible creepiness of the book-Ms. Baer’s narrative was written so tightly that I felt the bone deep chill and goose bumps raise with each uncanny encounter; she also kept the flow of the novel going so that there weren’t any ‘waste words’, each word, each sentence and each page contributed to this haunting novel. My one complaint was the ending: even though it was unexpected, it wasn’t fulfilling. I felt like I had a whole box of chocolate truffles but could only eat one---okay, maybe two!


THE FAERY SAYS THIS BOOK IS A WORTHY READ AND JUST MAY KEEP YOU UP AT NIGHT!