Frozen by Melissa de la Cruz and Michael Johnston

by:  Melissa de la Cruz  and Michael Johnston
published by:  Putnam Juvenile
publish date:  September 17, 2013

Welcome to New Vegas, a city once covered in bling, now blanketed in ice. Like much of the destroyed planet, the place knows only one temperature—freezing. But some things never change. The diamond in the ice desert is still a 24-hour hedonistic playground and nothing keeps the crowds away from the casino floors, never mind the rumors about sinister sorcery in its shadows.  At the heart of this city is Natasha Kestal, a young blackjack dealer looking for a way out. Like many, she's heard of a mythical land simply called “the Blue.” They say it’s a paradise, where the sun still shines and the waters are turquoise. More importantly, it’s a place where Nat won’t be persecuted, even if her darkest secret comes to light.

This was one of those books that I kept going back and forth about.  For about the first 15-20 mins or so I wasn't too sure I was going to be into this book, but I stuck with it and got into it.  I decided I really like it.  The idea of the whole world being a frozen wasteland was intriguing.  I could get behind all the adjustments everyone had to make to survive the cold.  All those things were pretty cool.  

However, the parts that I didn't like were the magical parts.  Nat herself had magical powers, they encountered magical creatures, "the Blue" was supposed to be a magical place.  I felt like the whole book was on a nice high level, but then when the magical elements were brought in, it plummeted the book down into an amatuerish??/immaturish?? level.   It seemed like there were two different books struggling to be one book.  This might be because there were two authors.  Usually it works, but maybe this time it doesn't.  

It could just be me, I'm not a big fantasy reader.   There wasn't anything racy in this book so it would be safe for all YA readers.