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    Frost
    Frost
    Frost
    Ebook344 pages5 hours

    Frost

    By Marianna Baer

    3/5

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    About this ebook

    Leena Thomas’s senior year at boarding school starts with a cruel shock: Frost House, the cozy Victorian dorm where she and her best friends chose to live, has been assigned an unexpected roommate—confrontational, eccentric Celeste Lazar.

    What Celeste lacks in social grace, however, her brother, David, a recent transfer student, makes up for in good looks and charm. But while he and Leena hit it off immediately, Leena finds herself struggling to balance her growing attraction with her fear of getting hurt.

    As classes get under way, strange happenings begin to bedevil Frost House—frames mys-teriously falling off walls, doors locking by themselves, furniture toppling over. Celeste blames the housemates, convinced they want to scare her into leaving. And while Leena tries to play peacekeeper between her best friends and new roommate, soon the mysterious happenings in the dorm, an intense triangle between Leena, Celeste, and David, and the reawakening of childhood fears all push Leena to take increasingly desperate measures to feel safe. But does the threat lie with her new roommate, within Leena’s own mind . . . or in Frost House itself?

    Frost is a stunning and surprising tale of suspense from debut author Marianna Baer.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateSep 13, 2011
    ISBN9780062093318
    Frost
    Author

    Marianna Baer

    Marianna Baer received an MFA in writing for children and young adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts and a BA in art from Oberlin College. She also attended boarding school, where she lived in a tiny dorm called Frost House, which was subsequently torn down. She currently lives in Brooklyn, New York. Frost is her first novel.

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    Reviews for Frost

    3/5

    67 ratings14 reviews

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    • 5/5
      From the creepy, ominous opening through the very last lines of the book, Frost is a haunting, thought-provoking read. Author Marianna Baer did a magnificent job of setting the tone. Frost is the perfect "mood book"; obviously can be read anytime, but perfect for a gloomy, rainy day. The way Frost is told, with Leena looking back at the events that occured at Frost House, the sense of impending doom is palpable. When Frost opens, main character Leena seems like a girl who has her life in order. Determined to make her senior year a success, Leena seems unstoppable. But as the story unfolds, Leena reveals little pieces of her inner self, the broken girl on the inside. Haunted by her roommate, her personal demons or the house itself, Leena is a girl who is slowly unraveling. She becomes isolated from the outside world, taking refuge in Frost House. Leena's new roommate Celeste is quirky and exceedingly fragile. But strangely enough, I found Celeste likeable in her genuine nature. Although she may seem odd, her eccentricites made her endearing. The wild card, for me, was David, Celeste's brother and Leena's love interest. He's smart, sweet, handsome and has a deep, abiding love for his family, especially Celeste. But... his attentiveness to his family seemingly goes to unhealthy extremes. David and Leena's preoccupation with each other continually veers towards troubling, leaving their motives in question. Could David be behind the scary goings-on at Frost House? Is he trying to terrify Celeste, Leena or both? Or are he and Celeste acting together to "gaslight" Leena. And why? The most looming, troubling question of all: Are all of the dramatic happenings a result of Leena's increasingly fragile mental state? The possibilites left me racking my brain, mulling all the theories behind the mystery of Frost. In truth, maybe Frost House is the star of the book. With her words, Baer literally filled each nook and cranny of the home with a spooky quality. The slants of light through a window, the creak of the floor boards, they all served to increase the dread within Leena, and the reader. And the closet. Oh, wow. The closet is best left to be discovered by the reader. Frost chilled me to the core. Never overtly scary, this story managed to dig itself into the little (or big) paranoid, panicky part of my brain, leaving me antsy and unsettled. Frost proves that the scariest scenarios are the mind games we play on ourselves. Favorite Quotes:"We held eyes for a minute. Something had shifted; the connection between us had changed.We had stripped something away, like when you strip away layers of lumpy paint and get down to the smooth, original wood.""His smell of coffee and warm boy skin filled my lungs and melted through my limbs." * I received Frost from the publisher, Harper Teen, in exchange for an honest review. *
    • 3/5
      Love the cover of this! Certainly has an appeal to it and is eye catching. This book had all the potential to be a suspenseful creepy novel. It certainly had it’s moments because it kept you guessing, was this something supernatural? Or something else entirely? So it had that going for the novel, but it falls pretty short. The plot itself just seemed long winded and long. A little too long to get the ball rolling. As a result, it got boring and anticlimactic. By the time you got to the ending you were barely interested in the book and just wanted it to end. Which is unfortunate considering the book had some potential. The character themselves were alright but had nothing special going. Celeste really bothered me as a character. She was pushy, erratic, and a complete drama queen. Overall annoying in the novel. Leena herself wasn’t so bad to read although she’s a people pleaser, yet at the same time alienates them and in the end, well, she sort of had it coming didn’t she? I wasn’t too happy with the way Abby and Viv treated Leena but you did have to understand where they were coming from. So in a way, their behavior towards Leena made sense. I wish this book was much better. It had all the characteristics of a good novel but fell really short. I don’t regret giving it a try but it’s just not what I hoped for. Not really worth the read.
    • 4/5
      When I read the synopsis on the back cover of the book, Frost, by Marianna Baer sounded like a pretty good read. I had gotten away from reading suspense/thriller type books awhile ago, but lately have found that I am wanting to read them again, so this book seemed like it would have just enough of a creepy factor to be interesting.In the first chapter or so of the book, we learn a little about the main character, Leena, who is in her last year at boarding school. She has three really close friends that have become almost like family to her, and she also is close to the Dean of Students whom she sometimes babysits for. Life seems to be going pretty great for all of them as they get ready to enter Senior year. One day Leena chases a field hockey ball through some brush and ends up in the backyard of some old Victorian house. She finds it captivating, almost like it is whispering to her, inviting her to "Come In". She discovers the house is an old dorm, and before you know it, she and her friends are moving in.As Leena begins moving her stuff in, she hears loud music and sees boxes already piled in her room. She figures that one of her friends has accidentally picked the wrong room, so she goes in and decides to scare her friend, only to freak out a boy she has never seen before. This is her first meeting with David.After meeting David, she finds out from him that his sister Celeste will be sharing Leena's room for a semester. The friends all know Celeste and are not particularly fond of her, and don't really want her there. Leena goes to talk to the Dean about moving her, but of course gets stuck agreeing that the girl could stay for only one semester until her other friend would be taking her place when she returns from being out of the country. Also, Celeste is in a whole-leg cast from a recent accident. This is where the story starts to build up.Things start going on in the house, and they all seem to be happening to Celeste. She hates the room she shares with Leena, and states that she feels like she is being watched all the time. Later, she is so freaked out she moves completely out of the room, and into a small room where desks are kept instead. But, the doesn't stop the things from happening.Leena has her own issues as well. She keeps a stash of anti-anxiety pills that she has started to take on a regular basis. What had started out as a prescription, has become a habit of "borrowing" from wherever she can get them. And her room has become her haven, she doesn't want to leave it, and discovers that the closet has become her "safe place", where she goes and sits underneath the clothes to find some calm. Several other things happen as well as the story progresses, and none of them are good.During this time, Leena becomes smitten with David, who, like I mentioned earlier, turns out to be Celeste's brother. It seems that Celeste and David's father has been diagnosed with a schizoaffective disorder in which he suffers from psychosis and has to go live in a institution of sorts. Because of all this, Celeste and David are very touchy about talking about anything to do with mental illness, since this condition can be hereditary and they are afraid that they will start showing signs of the disorder. David is also super-obsessed with taking care of Celeste, and his attention towards her almost seemed like that of a boyfriend instead of a brother. Their whole relationship seemed disturbing to me, and I did not find David's character comforting or even likable in any way.I found myself sitting up until the early hours of the morning to finish this book, but found the ending to be pretty disappointing. The story had been built up to this huge climactic point, only to have this weird let-down. There were so many avenues the ending could have taken, and I felt that instead it ended like air being let out of a balloon. After reading the last page I was sitting there with that "what just happened?" kind of feeling.But, like I said, I DID enjoy the book. I thought it had some really great suspenseful moments and I liked the whole vibe of it. I just thought the ending was going to be so much more. I would definitely recommend the read, but would warn about the weird ending.
    • 2/5
      Very disappointing! The author can't decide what kind of book this is ghost story, incest, drug abuse, possesion, incest, poisoning? What exactly is going on here? Well after reading, I am still not sure exactly what was going on?! The ghost story aspect of the book had some potential, but it never lived up to it. I know everyone loves this book, but I didn't like it and wouldn't recommend it. There are much better stories to devote your time to. Not sure if I will try this author again!
    • 2/5
      Review Courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales Quick & Dirty: This book has a lot of the aspects of a psychological thriller, but it failed to deliver on a lot of counts. Opening Sentence: Before I lived there, before any of this happened, I imagined Frost House as a sanctuary. The Review: One day Leena ends up in the backyard of Frost House and everything about it pulls her in. The shabby chic house used to be a dorm for boys, but Leena is something of a goody-two-shoes and a good friend of the Dean of Students. Shamelessly pulling some strings, for their senior year Leena and her three best friends will be living there. Except Green Beret Celeste breaks her leg the summer before school and ruins their perfect plans. Since there’s no way for her to live in her third floor dorm, the Dean moves her in with the ever-biddable Leena, little knowing how poorly things could go. Leena reads too-good-to-be-true in many ways, she’s incredibly smart, has great social skills, is best friends with Deans and teachers, and runs peer counseling. Along side her need to make everyone around her happy, there were times when her narration grated on me. Especially when she was thinking about Celeste and David’s situation. Talk about sticking your nose where it doesn’t belong. And with the arrival of Celeste and her whirlwind drama, Leena basically ends up ignoring her two best friends upstairs. Abandoning them for the enemy, if you will. Celeste is not only a drama queen–even without all the crazy stuff going on–but acts bipolar throughout the book. One moment she’s ready to be Leena’s best friend, then she’s says something deliberately cruel. It’s hard to tell if Celeste is blowing everything out of proportion, or if the roommates is really out to get her. But Celeste knows something’s wrong with the house. Even with blinds, she feels as if someone’s watching her. And then there’s David, the love interest. He got kicked out of Pembroke for cheating, took a year off of school to take care of some family issues, and is now back for his senior year. He’s super overprotective of Celeste to the point of it being creepy, even though I’m pretty sure what Baer was going for was just a caring older brother. Some of it has to do with Celeste having him wrapped around her finger, but a lot of it is his inability to leave his sister alone. He ends up using Leena as a go-between a lot, getting her to tell him what Celeste is up to. Not exactly the greatest basis for a relationship. Then there’s the ghost story Whip tells the girls about the house, stirring up Celeste’s imaginings and bringing even more drama to the table. Did a woman really die here after losing her child? Was the house haunted? Except Leena’s never felt more at home than she has at Frost House. While all these events are pushing Celeste away, everything inside is inviting Leena to stay forever. This book has a great style and strong writing voice, but there was no tension for me. I couldn’t get into the story because I couldn’t bring myself to connect to characters I didn’t believe in. It’s not your typical haunted house book. There are a lot of questions you ask yourself throughout the book–the biggest of which is which characters can you trust? I can see some aspects of a great thriller here, but I never really felt like anything was at stake. And, unfortunately, the ending was completely unsatisfying for me. Compared to everything the characters go through leading up to it, the end came as a total letdown. Notable Scene: “What happened?” I asked. “I…I was sitting here while the water was running,” she said. “And I guess…I guess I bumped against the faucet. I don’t remember. It happened so quickly, and then it hurt so much.” “That’s from the faucet?” I said. “The water must have been so hot.” She shook her head. “I was trying to cool the bath down. Only the cold water was on.” “You must have turned the wrong handle.” “I didn’t.” Then she said it again, louder. “I didn’t. I know which handle I turne. This wasn’t my fault.” FTC Advisory: Harper Teen provided me with a copy of Frost. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review.
    • 4/5
      Frost is an exceptionally well written gripping novel that tells the story of a "haunting." The question of whether it's of a demonic nature or more of a psychological one, is what the reader's are faced with. It's a bit of a mystery, as the audience is plunged deeper into the depths, with each turn of the page. Baer has created a unique way of exploring the paranormal, with Frost. Right away, the cover of this debut novel itself, tells the reader that it's going to be a story that possesses a creepy vibe. First you notice the model's face, then in the distant background you start to see what appears to be an old house that looks as if it might possess some secets and mystery of its own, and then finally you notice that it's shrouded in fog and the tree's are pretty barren of leaves - void of life. That was all I needed to capture my attention, enough to know that Frost was a novel that I would not only enjoy, but would want to read in attempt to solve the mysteries contained within.Everyone has their own personal demons that they live with, ones that they wrestle with constantly and try to overcome at some point. It's when those personal demons start taking on certain paranormal elements, the whole story starts to change and somehow shift into something else entirely. It almost reminds me of those old gothic classics, in a way. That's what Frost is, that's the story that this novel has to tell and Bare does a marvelous job at telling it.I wouldn't say that Frost is your average paranormal haunting, but I will say that it's one of the most different and unqiue, of all the paranormal novels that I've read before dealing with hauntings. This one felt a bit more personal, a bit more real and close to home. I'm not exactly sure that it had to do with the psychological aspect of it, but it was surely enough to keep me up at night for a good while, wondering what was going to happen next and jumping at every little sound I heard. Baer does a fantastic job of giving the reader's characters that are not only unique, but are interesting as well. Leena, the main protagonist, seems to be wrestling with her own set of demons holding her back. It seems like this is the affect Frost House appears to have on some, while Celeste comes off as a bit neurotic or paranoid to a degree , in accusinng everyone else of vandalising her stuff, while carrying on an almost "too close" tumultuous relationship with her brother David (who has developed a growing attraction to Lena). Trying to keep up with Leena's confused mind-set is a little hard at certain points, but Baer tackles it head on and manages to do a wonderful job delving into it and pulling it apart unraveling certain pieces along the way throughout Frost.I found it a bit weird or almost awkward, in a way, to see how attached Leena was to Frost House when it seemed like it was doing more harm than good (as far as all of the incidents, the creepy noises, and the strange happenings) that were going on. There was just so much confusion going on with this novel, that sometimes it was hard to tell what was really happening. This can be both a good and a bad thing, in this case I think it's a little bit of both. Almost all of the characters were relatable and likeable (give or take a couple of them), which is something that doesn't always happen. I found myself enjoying the many different quirks that they possessed.Another thing that I found myself enjoying as far as characters go, is the fact that Frost House was just as much a key character in the novel, as the rest of the physical characters were. In a way, it was the equivalent of a supportive character, and yet so much of the novel surrounded it. It gave it an intensely eerie feeling to the book. Perhaps, you could go so far as to say that Frost House was the main character in a way, and Leena was the supporting protagonist. Baer's attention to detail, the plot itself, and all of the explanations for the strange things that take place in Frost House, is flawless. She gives enough to keep the audience hooked, as well as to interpret the ending as they felt it was. Sometimes, there just simply aren't resonable enough explanations for why certain things happen or when they do. It's not always that black and white, a fact that I'm personally glad to see Baer unaffraid to tackle and do so in such a successful way. She writes with a style that is all her own, setting the tone of Frost almost immediately, drawing the reader in and dazzling them with her turn of phrase and psychological bordering on paranormal attributes, as subtle as they may have been.Frost is a beautifully written novel, that is fast paced, leaves the audience to ponder a few things on their own, that will not disappoint. This isn't your typical R.L. Stine or Christopher Pike, in YA literature. Although the paranormal aspect of it, may have been a bit subtle the fact that it plays on one's psychological nature makes it even better in my opinion, which is why I have no qualms about giving it four stars. The lack of the fifth one that I would have possibly given, lends itself in part to the confusion I felt while trying to figure out and understand Leena's mind and the rationale behind some of her actions. I realize that this may have been Baer's intention all along, but it was a small bone of contention for me personally. In short, this is a lovely blend of creepy, that as a reader you will not want to miss out on. Think The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer or perhaps Imaginary Girls, fans of those novels and other's similar to them will not be disappointed.
    • 2/5
      I had such high hopes for this book. I was expecting it to really mess with my mind and creep me out, but it didn't. For the most part, I was very disappointed with the story. First of all, the characters didn't sit well with me from the beginning. Leena claimed to be this great student who babysat the Dean's children and even started a peer counseling program at the school. But I was never shown that Leena was this great person. I was told, but we never see this side of her. I was turned off by Leena's two best friends Abby and Viv from the beginning. I can't pin point what really bothered me about them, but I just couldn't get myself to really care for them. Maybe it was the tattoo on the butt cheek. I don't know. Viv does kind of redeem herself in the end, but not to the point that I could get myself to like her. David and Celeste were just different. They had such a strong bond with each other it was almost borderline creepy. Leena even goes back and forth with herself about how odd David and Celeste's relationship was. And the relationship between Leena and David did not seem real to me. I couldn't get into their relationship enough to care, especially when Leena had doubts herself. I was so turned off by all the characters that I almost didn't finish the book quite a few times. The only reason I kept reading was because I was intrigued by the actual story and wanted to know why these things were happening, but even the story ended up fading away in the end. I was not creeped out at all with what was happening in the house and the ending didn't fully explain all the happenings that went on.In the end, the characters were the big thing that turned me off from the story.
    • 5/5
      Fall and Winter of 2011 seem to be chocked full of eery ghost stories, and Frost by Marianna Baer is definitely one of my favorites. Baer starts off the book by introducing you to Leena's rambunctious group of friends and one very attractive David Lazar. Towards the beginning, I thought it was going to be your typical ghost story with a little romance thrown in, but it was so much more. As the characters deal with the stress of (possibly) having an angry ghost in their house, Marianna Baer introduces sensitive topics such as substance abuse, family relationships, and self-abuse (is that what it's called?)Baer does a wonderful job of creating some complicated and interesting character relationships. Not only does she write a budding romance between Leena and David, but she also creates some interesting family and friend relationships. I really enjoyed the complicated brother-sister relationship between David and Celeste. It kind of felt like a scaled down version of the brother-sister relationship in Her and Me and You by Lauren Strasnick.Along with character building, Marianna Baer also did a wonderful job of world building. I could see why Leena was so drawn to Frost House and had such strong feelings towards her school because Baer's writing made it feel comforting and homey. Her combination of interesting characters, a likable setting, and complicated plot twists made for an interesting new take on a ghost story and a book that is soon to become one of your new favorites. Marianna Baer has definitely got me interested in ghost stories and I can't wait to read more from her.
    • 2/5
      Frost by Marianna Baer has an extremely intriguing synopsis. Take a boarding school, add in a mixture of haunting and psychological thriller, and you’ve got me hooked! Unfortunately – once the story got going, it became way too overpoweringly bizarre and weird for me…to the point that I stopped even being interested. Still, that being said, it had things going for it that might make others like it more than I did.Leena becomes entranced by the Frost House boarding home on her high school campus – it is an old Victorian house that only holds four students so she thinks it’ll be the perfect retreat for her and her friends. Unfortunately, at the last minute, they get roped into hosting an extra roommate. Celeste, known school-wide for being weird and extremely difficult to deal with, has a broken leg so special accommodations had to be made. This does turn out something positive for Leena at least – Celeste’s brother David, who she quickly develops a relationship with.There wasn’t a ton of development, but Leena and David didn’t have insta-love either. I thought it was a pretty typical high school relationship, so I was satisfied there. What really freaked me out was that, once Leena started suffering from the weirds, she kept making all these references to some kind of incestuous thing between David and Celeste. And truth be told, he was a little too into taking care of Celeste. The whole thing was just bizarre though, because it didn’t really go anywhere. Leena kept turning it over in her mind and noticing what she felt were weird interactions between the siblings but nothing came of it. So what was the point? It didn’t really add anything to the story except turning me off of the characters BIG TIME.Also, Leena ends up alienating her friends and making everyone (except David) basically hate her. That was never really resolved that well either. In fact – absolutely nothing was resolved. The mystery of whether there was some kind of weird haunting or if Leena had a legit mental problem was never fully answered – but I actually did like that being left sorta up in the air. I don’t think the plot as a whole was developed that well though – it all remained more odd and confusing than anything else.So, even though I thought the book sounded awesome, I ended up pretty disappointed. Neither the characterization or the plot were handled with much skill – I feel mean saying it, but I kinda wish a different author had handled it. I think someone else might have been able to immerse the story in an atmospheric haunting vibe better.
    • 4/5
      I just love it when books mess with my head. Not only does it leave me with wanting more but I am so into the book I can not put it down. I love the idea of a boarding school far away with strange and mysterious things happening! Exciting!One thing I enjoyed about this book is the great plot line. It is very filling and very exciting, With every turn of the page, I wanted more. I love that Ms. Baer made it easy for the reader to fall into the book. Her writing is smooth and not confusing at all. I like how easily the reader is able to fall into the book. The way Ms. Baer wrote the book is making you think something else really left me reeling. I love the feeling of being amused by the writer.The characters in the book were great as well. Ms. Baer did a great job in capturing the voices of very different teenagers. I like how they didn't sounds the same but each had their own unique stamp. Nothing is repeated so it won't confuse the reader. The love interest in this book is different, yet I still like it. I love the loyalty they had.Frost is a great book that messes with your mind. I liked that the writer engulfs the reader in her writing, as well as in the story. It makes you feel the Frost house, the coldness of the room, and the raising of the hair on the back of your neck. Read it!
    • 5/5
      Eerie and mysterious, Frost is a story of uncertainty. Marianna Baer builds confusion in the reader, leading us to believe that Frost House is a living breathing building, but later dashing all presumptions. Frost is one of those books where you’re never sure what’s real and what’s not, but that’s all part of the thrill. Baer’s storytelling is superb, and it’s easy to lose yourself in the book, trying to sort through the various occurrences in Frost House right along with Leena.Leena is a perfect unreliable narrator. Because of her tendency to pop pills, we’re never sure that we’re getting the whole story. As a character, though, Leena is complex: she has a strong sense of right and wrong, but she’s also deeply conflicted due to various anxieties and her family situation. She’s easy to sympathize with, but she’s also very easy to doubt. Still, Leena’s oddities make her an all the more memorable leading lady. Celeste, the other female in the spotlight, is perhaps even more mysterious. She has an incredibly inconsistent personality, but she’s quirky and can be a lot of fun. Celeste’s character makes Leena’s seem more grounded; because of Celeste’s family history with psychosis, Leena is able to rationalize the things happening in Frost House. Needless to say, Marianna Baer’s skill at crafting fascinating and complex characters is impressive.Frost will be enjoyed by all readers; it’s creepy, but not so scary that you’ll have nightmares. Marianna Baer’s writing is simple yet effective, and the way she builds suspense and foreboding feelings is fantastic. Fans of YA looking for something along the lines of a psychological thriller will LOVE Frost. I personally enjoy anything that examines the unpredictability and dubious nature of the mind, so Frost was especially entertaining for me.
    • 3/5
      I was really excited that I got a copy of Frost for review, because I knew it was a psychological thriller that included a possible haunted house. I love suspenseful stories like these. Unfortunately Frost was lacking a bit in suspense and that thrill a reader should get! I think I’ll call this book a ‘halfway page-turner’…just a 50/50 for me.Leena Thomas is just a regular girl, who attends a boarding school and is starting anew with her two best friends and one unexpected roommate. Leena was a dynamic character, whose changing wasn’t always necessarily for the better. She struck me as so normal, but as the story continued things got a little crazy.The other characters compared to Leena didn’t stand out to me. The only other character I enjoyed learning more about was Celeste and I believe this is, because she’s the one we’re supposed to be figuring out.I was also disappointed to find that the ending was lacking something. I’m not sure what, but I just didn’t feel anything at the end. Guaranteed it was interesting, but there were no ‘OOOHS’, ‘AAAHS’ or anything! I think it could have had a better affect if suspense had been intensified.Although the characters and conclusion fell a little flat, Marianna Baer’s writing is so true to a teenage girl. Its simple but includes enough emotion and heart that it was easy to connect to each character on individual levels. I have to say one of the best parts of Frost was the writing. Definitely enjoyed it and I’m going to keep my eyes open for more writing from Baer.I think the majority of readers will enjoy Frost. It may or may not be on your top list, but I definitely think it is a book most of you should try to pick up!Review based on ARC
    • 4/5
      First, I'd like to point out the incredible cover. Wow. Just Wow. It practically screams, "read me on a dark and stormy night". Which I did. I read it during the approach of Hurricane Irene, praying that the lights didn't go out. Of course now that I think about it, reading by candlelight might have added to the atmosphere.Okay, moving on. So, how did I feel about this one? I liked it. I really liked it. It's incredibly well written, with moments that will make your skin crawl or have you eyeing your closet with suspicion. Will I read it again? Probably not. Why not? Well, for one it was long. Really long. With not enough chills to get me from one point to another without noticing how many pages were in between.That's not to say that it's not an excellent book. Because it is. It's a dark, creepy ghost story, more psychological than horrifying or paranormal. In fact, I spent a good portion of the book wondering if the haunting was all in their heads. The characters were interesting. I liked Leena, Celeste, and especially David. He's a little overbearing, but definitely adorable. And super protective of both his sister and Leena. Leena and Celeste get creepier as the story progresses, each affected by the house in a different way. I did have an issue with her two roommates, Abby & Viv, about halfway through the book. I just didn't like their reaction to a particular situation, but given that they are teenagers, I suppose it would have seemed like a huge deal to them. The end was a wee bit iffy for me. I liked it, but I'd spent so much time while reading the book imagining what could have been going on that by the time the truth was revealed it was a little bit of a letdown. Overall I would definitely recommend giving it a read. Especially if you're in to ghost stories.
    • 3/5
      Frost House. Leena thinks that it's going to be her salvation. As a senior at a boarding school, Leena has more say about what dorm she and her friends live in for the year, and from the moment she first saw it, she knew that Frost House was the right place for them. She even went so far as to petition the administration to switch it from an all-boys dorm to an all-girls dorm for a year. She expects that she's have the bottom floor room to herself for a semester while her friend is studying abroad, but when an eccentric classmate ends up as Leena's roommate, things aren't so wonderful in Frost House.The interesting thing about Frost to me is that paranormal element. It seemed to me like this book is being heavily marketed as a YA paranormal novel, especially with some romance thrown in. However, the paranormal aspect of the story is incredibly subtle, and it's even hinted to be purely in the main character's mind. I found it to be too subtle for my tastes, which really hindered my enjoyment of the novel. While the subtly of the Frost House haunting is at time beautiful and well-written, it took such a long time to get to it that it almost felt like some kind of afterthought thrown in to keep the story from getting boring. In fact, I think of Frost as more of a contemporary YA romance than a paranormal novel. And, sadly the romance, and much of the plot, was incredibly predictable and, frankly, just not that much fun for me. I could see it all coming from chapter 1.While Baer does an excellent job of creating an eerie tone and an honest environment for teens, I just had trouble getting into it fully, mostly due to the overly predictable plot and the somewhat stereotypical characters. This novel may be enjoyable to teens who enjoy more contemporary romance high school-ish novels, but it just doesn't quite fit with the paranormal crowd I was hoping for. Baer does show incredible promise with her style and tone, however, and could deliver stronger books later in her career.

    Book preview

    Frost - Marianna Baer

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