Frozen Beauty
Author: Lexa Hillyer
Genre: Young Adult Mystery
Publisher: HarperTeen
Published: March 17th, 2020
My Rating: ★★★★
Everyone in Devil’s Lake knows the three golden Malloy sisters—but one of them is keeping a secret that will turn their little world inside out…. No one knows exactly what happened to Kit in the woods that night—all they have are a constellation of facts: icy blue lips and fingers cold to the touch, a lacy bra, an abandoned pick-up truck with keys still in the ignition. Still, Tessa, even in her fog of grief, is certain that her sister’s killer wasn’t Boyd, the boy next door whom they’ve all loved in their own way. There are too many details that don’t add up, too many secrets still tucked away. But no matter how fiercely she searches for answers, at the core of that complicated night is a truth that’s heartbreakingly simple. Told in lush, haunting prose, Frozen Beauty is a story of the intoxicating power of first love, the deep bonds of sisterhood, and a shocking death that will forever change the living.
A young girl's sister is murdered one night and she wants to find out who killed her.
I love books centered around family. The entire time while reading Frozen Beauty, I wish I had my own sister. I loved the closeness of the family in this book. Each sister had their unique charm. It was very easy to become captivated by this family. The side characters were very likable too. Instantly I was drawn into the mystery of the story trying to figure out who killed the oldest sister Kit. The book has an ending that I did not expect. Very few young adult thrillers have captivated me this much. The imagery in the novel is stunning. Many times, I felt like I was watching a movie with everything being played out right before me.

Very few times did the characters annoy me. The characters were supposed to be a little whiny/juvenile so I do not fault the author at this. Only a few times did the story drag on a little too much. For the most part, the book kept a solid pace. True competitiveness between girls and sisters was shown so accurately that it made my heart race. I have never had a sister but I could identify with the competitive nature between girls or so-called "girl code". 

I loved the character's many flaws and secrets that each of them held. Frozen Beauty shows that no one is perfect despite what it may look like from the outside. I do not want to go too much into the story because I do not want to spoil it for future readers. It is best to go into the book with as little information as possible. I am quite surprised at how much I enjoyed this book.

Flipping back and forth from the present to the past was very interesting to read. I loved the alternating timelines. The suspense was killing me all the way until the end. If you like thrillers or mysteries I am sure you will enjoy Frozen Beauty. The book is very atmospheric drawing on nature's elements which I thought was very unique. Do yourself a favor and pick up this beautiful sisterly story!
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Lexa Hillyer is the Founder and President of Publishing at Glasstown Entertainment, an all-womxn creative development and production company located in New York and Los Angeles. She is also the author of Frozen Beauty, Spindle Fire, Winter Glass, and Proof of Forever, all young adult novels published by HarperCollins, as well as the poetry collection Acquainted with the Cold from Bona Fide Books. Acquainted with the Cold was the 2012 gold prize winner of the Foreword Book of the Year Award for Poetry and received the Melissa Lanitis Gregory Poetry Prize. Her work has been featured in a variety of journals and collections including Best New Poets 2012, and she has received several honors for poetry. Lexa earned her BA in English from Vassar College and her MFA in Poetry from Stonecoast at the University of Southern Maine. She worked as an editor at both HarperCollins and Penguin, before founding Glasstown Entertainment along with New York Times Bestselling author Lauren Oliver. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband and daughter and their very skinny orange tree.