In 2017 the first and second books, “Frostblood” and “Fireblood,” of the Frostblood Trilogy by Elly Blake came out. The next year, the third book, “Nightblood,” was released.

While there are reviews out there that say the book was just another ‘cliché’ story with no surprises, others said it was a refreshing new storyline in a world of books that just change the main characters’ names. I am inclined to agree with the latter opinion.

In the past year alone I have lost count of the books I’ve read and can’t even remember the title unless it was extraordinary. This trilogy is not one I’ll soon forget. Though I certainly haven’t read every book in the world, I don’t think this is a repeat storyline. This is a clean book, which is hard to find in the Young Adult (YA) genres, and a quick, fun read.

The main character Ruby is a Fireblood, meaning she has the power of fire and heat, and unfortunately lives in the Frostblood, people that have the power of ice and cold, ruled land of Tempesia. When she was younger, her grandmother used to tell her stories of when the Frostblood and Fireblood worked together, but since the Frostblood king is murdering all known Fireblood, Ruby’s mother tells her she must hide her power. However, what seventeen-year-old girl listens to her mother?

While her mother visits the village they live outside of, Ruby goes to the forest behind their house and practices with her gift. Until one day the king’s soldiers come marching down the road and take Ruby away to prison. In the process, her mother is killed, and now all Ruby wants is revenge against the Frostblood king for killing her mother. After months in prison two men, Frostblood Brother Thistle and Arcus, approach Ruby and convince her to come with them, promising the revenge she wants on the king. Their goal is to get rid of the bloodthirsty king sitting on the throne.

They free her from prison and take her to the monastery to help her learn to control her power to complete ‘her task.’ ‘The task’ is kept a secret from Ruby until they know for sure that she can accomplish it. According to legend, the Frostblood’s throne gives whatever king that sits on it more power, her task is to melt the throne and, hopefully, release the hold the ‘dark power’ has on the king.

Girl meets boy, he saves her, they fall in love and live happily ever after. A stereotypical story that occurs in many YA books, vaguely occurs in this trilogy. However, it’s not the main focus of the story, it is more of a secondary plot-line and doesn’t throw the romance in your face. After having that occur in numerous books as the primary plot, it’s nice for it not to be the main focus of the story.

What makes the story unique is the characters develop at a good speed. They don’t change every time a page gets turned, but they definitely are not the same character throughout the entire book like in some books, such as “Hunger Games.” The storyline and characters develop at a speed that is easy to follow and enjoy.

While not all reviews are positive, calling the trilogy boring and repetitive, I loved it and thought it was an amazing and really fun book. It is a book that I would recommend for all fantasy loving students, or even adults, to read because it will not be regretted.