Below you will find reviews provided for Blizzard!
May 10, 2018 Carrie Torres rated it it was amazing
I loved how this book is not for just mature readers. i also enjoyed that it was not a totally sappy book. It was a refreshing take on the vampire genre. I really enjoyed the wonderful world and its characters that the author has created. Can not wait to read more from this author.
May 22, 2018 Kaitlin Underwood rated it it was amazing
Ms. Elliot, I am even more impressed with this second book than I was with the first in the Black Ice Series!
- This is SUCH an original world and story in general. I said this in my review of the first book and I’ll say it again here: the vampire genre is so overdone and many of the stories seem to have been built off one another. Not so with this series! It is completely original and I LOVE IT because I totally cannot predict anything that happens.
- THIS IS A CLEAN READ! Somewhere between Tw Ms. Elliot, I am even more impressed with this second book than I was with the first in the Black Ice Series!
- This is SUCH an original world and story in general. I said this in my review of the first book and I’ll say it again here: the vampire genre is so overdone and many of the stories seem to have been built off one another. Not so with this series! It is completely original and I LOVE IT because I totally cannot predict anything that happens.
- THIS IS A CLEAN READ! Somewhere between Twilight and now, paranormal/fantasy books (ESPECIALLY VAMPIRES) are like reading soft porn. That’s the status quo. It is refreshing to read something that still has enough in the romance department to satisfy that part of a reader’s curiosity, but keeps it clean enough that I can share this series with my niece and know that it’s appropriate for her as well.
- Neva is a total rogue. I love that the heroine is not always all-knowing or instinctively, magically right about every decision she makes. There is a learning curve for her as she navigates new powers with old memories and attempts to put them all to good use.
Those items being addressed, there is a new element in this book that I can’t wait to see play out….HELSING. There are a couple clues dropped that make me think the dynamic between Thedryk and Neva as star-crossed lovers may be changing to include a love triangle. And who doesn’t love those?!? Will they or won’t they? Hmmm…
Well done once again Ms. Eliot! Thank you for sharing your talents with us!
**I received a free copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review**
May 12, 2018 Christina rated it really liked it
The writing is much stronger in this book. I was skeptical of how the first half of the book was written pertaining to the past but it actually worked really well. It was so enjoyable I didn’t notice just how long the book was this time around. So perfectly dark and atmospheric.👹👌🏻 I can’t wait to see what happens next.
May 04, 2018Francais Parker rated it it was amazing
World Building: A+
Mythology: A++
Plot-Twists: A+
Villains: A
Girl Power: A+
Guy-Hero: A
Love-Interests: A+
Suspense: A+
Feels: A++For you clean-readers: this book does not have mature content.
Apr 24, 2018 Shay rated it it was amazing
What a rush! I had the pleasure of Beta Reading this novel and I cannot praise it enough! I am so in love with the world that Mikayla has built to encompass her characters. As this tale delves deeper into the mysteries of the vampires, it captures attention by being adventurous and addicting. I had such a hard time putting it down. Enjoy a rich world fraught with secrets and incredible twists! I was in awe.
What would you do to save your niece? What demons would you be willing to encounter? Neva What a rush! I had the pleasure of Beta Reading this novel and I cannot praise it enough! I am so in love with the world that Mikayla has built to encompass her characters. As this tale delves deeper into the mysteries of the vampires, it captures attention by being adventurous and addicting. I had such a hard time putting it down. Enjoy a rich world fraught with secrets and incredible twists! I was in awe.
What would you do to save your niece? What demons would you be willing to encounter? Neva is facing this dilemma and it’s a race against the clock to learn all she needs to become the force she was meant to be! But to move forward, one must learn to understand the past.
One amazing things that was accomplished in this book is the fact that it’s 2 complete stories in one. I remember reading through and being almost caught off guard at the continuation of the original story only because I was so immersed in the world of the past! Oh, to be so drawn in was such a delight!
The maps were an excellent touch. 😉
*I received a Beta copy from Mikayla and have voluntarily left this review.*
Review of Blizzard (Book 2 of the Black Ice Trilogy) by Mikayla Elliot
Desperate to find her niece Neva is willing to do anything to get her back, but the path she follows unveils a dark past with volatile truths, and a present intertwined with unforgiving consequences. In a race against time and dire odds, Neva embarks on a journey that will forever change the lives of those she knows and loves, as well as her own
Blizzard by Mikayla Elliot is another fantastic display of Elliot’s talent and an absolutely awesome roller coaster of evolution. The way she weaves all of these various stories, main character Neva’s as well as all of the support characters and the history of all of the major supernatural species that exist in Auria, is an art form that is often lost in this genre. Maps at the start of the book show the transformation of Auria over centuries. Starkness and beauty, horror and romance all coalesce into a strikingly beautiful and tangible new world while the reader’s view of all of the characters from Book One, Snow, is transformed through the story. As Neva comes to know herself as Kareese, the characters from Snow begin an astonishing metamorphosis. Through visions of the past, the reader is completely reintroduced to characters from the first installment of The Black Ice Trilogy, and Zachariah, Eliza, and Xavier develop whole new emotional attachments to the reader’s heart strings. Zachariah’s is of most interest, but that secret will stay, tucked away from this review, safe in the bindings of Mikayla’s work.
Throughout the book, Neva relinquishes her timid, grief stricken life as a baker and widow to become a strong willed, combat ready female heroine. The tumultuous romantic relationship between Neva and Thedryk is a staunch contrast against the gruesome battle being waged on Reegan’s demonic forces, and it’s deliciously horrifying. The writing in Book Two mirrors the graceful writing in Book One that reminded me so much of Anne Rice – the riveting details, the sensory immersion, the vivid imagery. In Blizzard, the battle scenes played through my head like a scene from The Underworld intermingled with the garb and castles from classics like Dracula or Nosferatu. Although I’m still not completely certain what the titles are building into, why they are associated with snow aside from the series being titled The Black Ice Trilogy, I am absolutely thirsty for more, and this book receives a full five stars. *****
blizzard / Katrina / mikayla elliot / Reviews
Emris Lindsay rated it it was amazing
I must say this vampire tale enthralled me, it totally engrossed and captivated my attention, it is indeed like a boiling pot filled with steaming rage, deceit, steeped deep in treachery and betrayal. Imagine selling your twelve-year-old daughter into marriage on a guise of this joining would provide a means of protection and preserving you and your people way of life, only to be threatened by the very evil you sacrifice her to. Life is a bitch indeed sometimes karma is well deserving. A terrible ordeal for any child to endure, and mature real quick too. In my opinion, this twelve-year-old is our young heroine. Eliza is the heroine of this book to me she had no one she could trust or rely on except herself and Zachariah. Petty jealousy and envy caused a deep gulch and doubt in our young heroine’s mind now at the tender age of fourteen and forcibly impregnated by her monster of her husband all seem lost, but alas out of the ashes comes a tiny spark that ignited the flame of hope illuminating her way forward. A truly masterful storyline and an awesome crew of characters to back it, well written and induced with a lot of intrigues, a vampire tale that rivals others.
The first half of the book is a bit like a prologue, it’s no longer in first person, and instead follows Eliza and how Neva and the vampires originally came to be, and sets up their ongoing conflict with Reegan and his demons. While I really enjoyed this section and learning more about this world—and filling in those gaps I had from the first novel—I do have to give a trigger warning for rape. It’s not graphic, but it is not subtle. While it is central to the story arc, just be forewarned that it is present, but thankfully the author moves on and doesn’t linger longer than necessary. While I enjoyed this section and getting to meet Neva and Thedryck when they were just “kids”, this was the first half of a very long book, so I was starting to forget what the main plot was that had been carried over from the books predecessor: finding Lucy and saving her from an evil entity.
The back story IS necessary though, because without it, there is too much left unanswered from the first book, and there would be no sense of urgency leading into the last book of the trilogy. So while it does feel a bit like a separate book, especially with the shift in POV, it was thoroughly enjoyable and, once again, Elliot’s writing is absolutely lovely. She really does have a great talent for prose, so even though it’s not an easy read, it’s a great one.
I will say that Eliza and Neva tended to have a similar voice, so at times they didn’t feel as distinct as they otherwise could have been. There are also a lot of new creatures and characters that get introduced—some pretty late in the novel. It can be a bit challenging at times to keep track of who is who and what they are, or their abilities. Hopefully there won’t be so many unnecessary characters in the next book (think Star Trek redshirts, they are just there to die) so the reader can better focus on those who matter. Zachariah still confuses me as a character and just what his motivations were, but that could be because of the break I took between reading the first and second book and I simply don’t remember what happened on that front. There were times when Neva’s stubbornness and her impulsive nature really bugged me, but at the same time, that also made her a well-rounded character, so I’m letting that go. The romance in this book, much like the vampires, does not follow the well-used tropes of the genre, either. That may be frustrating to some people, but I kind of liked that Neva and Thedryck weren’t completely besotted with each other, they frustrate each other and have to work on things, you know, like real people do. And, one of my biggest quips from the first book was that Thedryck never answered any of Neva’s questions. That’s not the case in this book! Which makes me a very happy camper.
All in all, I thought this book was a huge improvement from the first book, and I liked that book a lot! This book answered so many lingering questions I had from the first book, while simultaneously creating new tensions and problems—both big and small between Felicity, Reegan, Helsing and Neva and Eliza. I like the “powers” that each vampire has and how they are not only unique to the individual, but make sense with their personality and greatest desires. I love the added complexity to the characters and their relationships with each other. Also, and it can’t be stated enough, Elliot is an extremely talented writer with a clear vision for her characters and where they are going in the trilogy. Despite my minor qualms with the characters and my small issues with the first half of the book feeling like a separate prequel, this book and series has come so far that I would be remiss to give it anything less than 5 stars, I can’t wait for Neva and Reegan’s rematch! And thanks to the author for providing me a copy for review.
Mikayla Elliot 