Books and movies with a premise similar to Frost by Marianna Baer always attract me, but the endings usually disappoint; Frost was great from beginning to end. Frost begins at the start of senior year for Leena and her boarding school friends. It’s supposed to be a fantastic year. Not only are the seniors, but Leena was able to convince the Dean to let her small group of friends live in Frost House, a beautiful Victorian usually reserved for senior boys. There’s just one hitch. Leena’s intended roommate is studying abroad for the semester, so she ends up rooming with weird girl Celeste, who needs a first floor room because of her broken leg. Crazy, unexplainable things start happening right away, but why? Leena suspects Celeste, who has a mentally ill father, might be acting out for attention. Celeste first think the other girls are tormenting her, but comes to believe the house is haunted by the spirit of a “hysterical” woman who once lived there. There are so many possibilities here: Leena and/or Celeste could be crazy or there really could be something going on in the house. It is wonderfully unclear throughout Frost what is actually going on; then, the end provides the perfect explanation while still leaving enough hanging to not spoil all that came before.
5/5
Review copy provided by the publisher, Balzer + Bray.
Posts
Hmm, a perfect back to school title!? It looks like an interesting read and I haven't heard of it before.
ReplyDelete