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Ice Maiden

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The queen of fairies took me
To yon green hill to dwell ...

No one believes in fairies any more. No one goes up to the common. Except Franz. Something is there, watching him. Something cold and wild. And pleasant is the fairy land But an eerie tale to tell. Edrin is no longer safe. Her tribe is plotting against her, with hatred in their eyes. Why is she so drawn to the human boy? Can he save her from the cold - and from the tribe?

195 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2011

41 people want to read

About the author

Sally Prue

74 books8 followers

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5 stars
8 (13%)
4 stars
7 (11%)
3 stars
22 (37%)
2 stars
13 (22%)
1 star
9 (15%)
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
Profile Image for Cynka .
220 reviews25 followers
June 25, 2020
Czyta się szybko, całkiem przyjemnie. Całość jest bardzo przewidywalna, a ja jestem zawiedziona, że ten "plot twist" nie został w żaden sposób wyjaśniony w sumie.
Nie związałam się emocjonalnie w bohaterami, ale też się nie dziwię ani nie ubolewam bardzo. Może jakbym przeczytała, jak byłam młodsza, to podobałoby mi się bardziej.
Nie rozumiem niektórych wyborów, jeśli chodzi o formę i podział rozdziałów, ale być może to tylko kwestia wydawnictwa.
Profile Image for Equiv0cal.
77 reviews
February 23, 2023
3,75* kupiłam na dworcu wschodnim w warszawie i przeczytałam pierwszy raz jak miałam 12 lat i BARDZO mi się podobała. Po latach wracam i stwierdzam że dzikie elfy i motyw drugiej wojny światowej to serio niezłe połączenie👍👍
Profile Image for Samantha (A Dream of Books).
1,267 reviews118 followers
January 14, 2011
This was a really interesting little book combining faeries with a lonely young boy and interweaving themes of survival, war, isolation and what it means to be an outsider.

The story takes places in England, 1939, shortly after the events of Kristallnacht (Crystal Night) in Germany when the Nazis attacked the Jews. Franz and his parents are now living in England after leaving their home in Berlin behind. Franz feels alone and estranged from his parents, who he believes to be loyal Nazis, capable of turning their backs on those in need. He nicknames them The Wolf and The Squirrel and carefully guards his feelings from them but there are some surprising revelations in store for him regarding his family.

Franz's story is mirrored with that of Edrin, an ice maiden who lives on the common and who feels set apart from the rest of her tribe. She's not your usual happy and carefree faery. She's actually far from the stereotypical image and along with the rest of her tribe, is vicious and ruthless and intent on murdering her rivals before they can put an end to her. When she and Franz come together there's a surprising conclusion to their story, as they come to help each other when they both need it most.

This book was very different from anything else I've read lately and actually has a serious message to convey about the morals of right and wrong and good and evil. It teaches about aspects of German history and the persecution of the Jews but in a careful and thoughtful way.

'Ice Maiden' is the Prequel to 'Cold Tom' by Sally Prue, so I'm hoping that it explains more about the history of the Tribe and possible provides more of the back story of Edrin.
Profile Image for Sboshie Kay.
20 reviews3 followers
July 19, 2019
i still don't know if the tribe are real creatures or humans but id like to believe they are cvreatures..and Sia what happened with her?
Profile Image for Anna.
141 reviews
April 11, 2023
Chyba mi sie nie podobala tak twierdze, pisze to 11/04/2023 i juz praktycznie nic z niej nie pamietam, co zle swiadczy...

No nie, chyba nie polecam
Profile Image for Emma (BelleBooks).
271 reviews96 followers
June 10, 2011
I only gave this book 3 out of 5 stars. It took me ages to get into the book and I thought it was pretty strange!

The story is set in a village in England during the second world war and follows Franz who has moved to the village from Berlin with his parents, as well as Edrin who can only be described as a fairy.
Through from the story we are never really told what she is! Edrin lives in the common...which I have gathered to be the woods beside the village with her tribe.

The story flips between both Franz and Edrin's point of view, which was maybe the only thing I really liked about the book to be honest.
The whole telling of the tribe just seemed really strange to me, as you read on you do discover more about them but no where near enough information is given as to what exactly they are, or what they are doing there.

About 3/4's of the way into the book I actually started to enjoy it, but I can see why a lot of people would give up on it completely after one or two chapters. It is pretty difficult to get into and to actually enjoy because nothing actually gets answered in the book!

For being such a short book, it took me a while to read because I had to keep putting it down. I could not read it in one sitting like I normally do with books of this size.

I did enjoy the ending of it however, so it also picked up few marks there for me. The last 50 pages of the book was pretty much the only bits I enjoyed.
Overall - A disappointing read, I had higher hopes for this one.
Profile Image for Sally.
Author 23 books141 followers
February 6, 2011
Well, I must say I really enjoyed this! Franz was a very interesting and likable main character. He's a German boy living in England just prior to WWII, who feels very much an outsider and is bullied for being a "Nazi". He slowly comes to learn what it actually is the Nazis stand for and is horrified to think that this is how his parents think... or is it? I won't spoil here, but there was a very neat little outcome!

And at the same time as his story we have Edrin's. Edrin is the Ice Maiden, or at least called this. I'm not sure exactly what she was but I can tell you very clearly that I did not like her, or the idea of her Tribe, at all. However, with my dislike there was still fascination so this is not entirely a bad thing! I found Edrin to be horribly ignorant amongst other things, and she was far too blood-thirsty for my liking, but I was still interested in her.

I LOVED the latter part of the book, after Franz' dunking in the river - it was indeed a good outcome for the tale of Edrin, I thought.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews

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