Frost by M.P. Kozlowsky

With Hurricane Irma slowly becoming a memory and life finally returning back to normal, I found myself looking to indulge in some lighter reading. I wanted something easy to get through, something that promised an escape from the unsettling feelings I was still struggling with in the aftermath of the storm. Frost, with it's striking cover and dystopian plot, seemed to be the perfect choice. I picked this young adult novel up at my school's book fair a few years ago and never got around to reading it. Eager to get lost in a science fiction world of evil robots and heroic teenagers, I jumped in.

The plot of the novel follows a sixteen-year-old girl named Frost. At the start of the story, it is revealed that she has spent her entire life living in an abandoned apartment building in the middle of a destroyed city. Society has completely collapsed and the streets are filled with rogue robots and disease-stricken humans, known as Eaters. Both the robots, who have launched an insurrection against humans, and the Eaters, who are similar to zombies, try to kill all humans they see on sight. Frost can't leave her apartment safely, so her robot servant, Bunt, does all the scouting for food while Frost wiles away the time reading old books, playing with her pet Romes, and practicing self defense strategies.

Bunt is a special robot for two reasons: he hasn't rebelled against his human masters, and he contains the consciousness of Frost's father, Alex. Alex installed himself into Bunt as a last resort when he became ill and was on the verge of death. The procedure wasn't completely successful, however. Alex is only able to surface and control the robot's body randomly. Most of the time, Bunt remains in control.

Frost, Bunt/Alex, and Romes live a relatively safe, if lonely and boring, life for many years. Their sheltered world, however, is thrown into chaos when Romes falls ill. Romes is a type of genetically modified super-dog that Frost adopted when he was a puppy. He is the only true living friend she has left in the world, and thus, she feels compelled to do whatever it takes to save his life. Desperate to find medical care for him, she decides to leave the apartment that she's spent her entire life in and head out to the Battery, a supposed safe haven where it is rumored that people live much like they did before society collapsed. With time running out for her beloved pet, Frost, Bunt/Alex, and Romes set out immediately.

As Frost quickly discovers, the outside world is more dangerous than she could have imagined, and the group must defend themselves against robots and Eaters constantly, all the while dragging poor Romes behind them on a makeshift stretcher. Eventually, they meet up with a man named Barrow and his teenage son, Flynn. Barrow and Flynn are living hidden in the city, much like Frost. Inspired by Frost's optimism and determination, they decide to team up together to try and make it to the Battery.

Even as a larger group, however, their way forward is arduous. Political unrest between robots and groups of human survivors is at a boiling point, which complicates their journey. Furthermore, an enigmatic and cruel leader named John Lord has risen to power and he maintains an iron grip on the territory that Frost needs to traverse. Avoiding John Lord and his followers soon becomes impossible, and Frost and her friends are drawn into a war they didn't plan on fighting in. Soon, bigger questions about humanity, relationships, and ethics begin to wrestle for space in Frost's mind alongside her original quest of trying to save Romes. As things go from bad to worse, Frost must keep her hope in the Battery alive and somehow keep moving forward against impossible odds.

I'm not going to pull any punches here - this story was full of clichés and ridiculous plot points. There were a few things that didn't make sense and an ending that left me scratching my head. But here's the thing - it was also really good. Honestly, Frost has no business being as great as it is. I was completely absorbed in the crazy dystopian world from page one, and enjoyed the reading all the way to the end. I really didn't expect it to be so entertaining. It was a pleasant surprise.

This is a pure guilty pleasure novel. It's not high literature, and that's very apparent as you read it, but it is interesting and creative. The world building is pretty good, with details about what happened to civilization slowly uncovered as Frost travels further and further from her home. It doesn't shy away from the violence and bloodshed inherent in a ruined society either. I was a little surprised to see how graphic some sections of it were, for a young adult novel anyway.

Beyond the surface level stuff, it's messages about what makes a human and the powers of hope and friendship feel genuine. I wouldn't go so far as to say that this was especially moving or instructive, but it wasn't as superficial as a lot of young adult science fiction is either. Frost is plucky and tough and you can't help but appreciate her optimism and dedication to her pet. The romantic elements between her and Flynn (because there always has to be a romance, for some reason) are kept mercifully brief too, which is something a lot of other books spend way too much time on. Her development isn't perfect and more time could have been spent fleshing her out before she sets off on her journey, but I found that I came to like her a lot over the course of the story. The same goes for the other supporting characters as well - characterization could have been better in a lot of instances, but I felt like each of them were different and understood their motivations.

Overall, Frost is an incredibly solid read, and young adult science fiction fans will find a lot to like in this novel. This was the right book at the right time for me. I'm glad I gave it a shot.


Challenge Tally

TBR Challenge: (previously owned) 46/60

Total Books Read in 2017: 59