Synopsis:
An Heir of Frost is the fourth book in A Trial of Sorcerers, a young adult, epic fantasy series intended for readers who love stories involving: sorcerer competitions, slow-burn romance, adventures to distant lands, good triumphing over evil, and elemental magic.
The fate of five kingdoms teeters on the knife’s edge, and Eira’s destiny is in the icy grasp of the Pirate Queen.
After a narrow escape from the brutal end of the Tournament of Five Kingdoms, Eira and her friends find themselves prisoners of the legendary Pirate Queen Adela. To most, death follows shortly after the pirate queen’s icy stare. But for Eira, those all too familiar eyes hold long-sought truths.
As she and her friends dive deeper into the pirates’ world, their magic is pushed to the brink. Morals are tested. Old passions reignite, and fresh desires spark. But love can be the deadliest vulnerability.
Amidst high-seas action, close-call escapes, and unraveling the twisted political machinations that happen in the shadows of their world, a haunting question looms larger and larger:
How much are they prepared to sacrifice for what they believe in?
Review:
I’ve been putting off An Heir of Frost for quite literally a year now. The ending of the last book made me nervous for the fate of Cullen, something that I never want to experience again. Yeah, that didn’t happen. Once again, my favourite boy is put in the way of danger and I won’t comment further on that part of this book as A. it’s near the end and B. it’s too painful to talk about. Without giving too much away, we may or may not lose a main character and it almost made me actually cry.
That’s a pretty intense way to start a review, but I had to get that off my chest straightaway. I finished An Heir of Frost days ago but I’m still reeling from the ending.
I hate to say it but this is my least favourite instalment of this series so far. It took far too long to get going and the love triangle was infuriating. It makes no sense that both Cullen and Olivin would be so ok with Eira seeing them both romantically, for lack of a better term. She’s known Olivin for about five minutes and Cullen is literally her first love. It makes no sense to me. I’d pick Cullen every day of the week and based on certain steamy scenes, I hope Eira will do the same.
The last half of the book did pick up and if I didn’t struggle to get through the first half, this could have been a five star read. The love triangle and long days spent on Adela’s boat were just too much. There also wasn’t a lot of magic in An Heir of Frost. I love the descriptions of magic in Elise Kova’s books–elemental magic has so many different applications and water magic in particular has some really beautiful descriptions.
Don’t get me wrong, I did love An Heir of Frost. I’m yet to be actually disappointed by an Elise Kova book. However, after the absolute perfection that was the previous instalment, this just wasn’t as great.
I’m still giving An Heir of Frost a solid four stars as the writing is great and I adore the core four characters. It was incredible to see Alyss finally get recognition for being a crazy powerful sorcerer and Cullen to finally take control of his own life. Eira also had an interesting development arc but the indecision for who she loves took away from that for me.
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Like this post? Why not read this one too: To Be Read: ARC Update // April 2025