También en: El Extraño Gato del Cuento

Es bueno variar de género en libros, así te mantienes fresco, hay muy pocas probabilidades que entres en un bloqueo porque cada libro es diferente. El problema viene cuando eres un gato cobarde y empiezas a leer un libro de terror en medio de la noche.

Toda mi vida le he tenido terror a las muñecas, TODA mi vida. Tanto así que cuando tenía seis años y mis tíos me regalaron una para navidad, no hubo forma que yo la sacara de su caja y cuando tuve que llevarla conmigo a mi cuarto (porque al parecer es de mala educación hacer explotar una muñeca que te acaban de regalar), su caja miraba a la pared. No tengo idea que fue de esa muñeca, creo que la regalé o simplemente desapareció…

Lo curioso con Frozen Charlotte, si se puede llamar curioso a fantasmas que vienen del más allá y muñecas asesinas, es que empieza siendo un novela de terror y termina en una novela medio policial. Y creo que ese ha sido su error. Lamentablemente todo el libro tiene los clichés de las películas de terror, lo que en una película funciona bastante bien obviamente y en el libro no le estaba yendo tan mal, el problema es que hay demasiados vacíos, nuestra protagonista al principio parece ser que, en busca de justicia, enfrentará todo y no dejará que nada la confunda. El problema es que ella no se da cuenta de la verdad a menos que la golpee contra una pared y trate de matarla. Incluso hay un momento en que en un solo capítulo la mitad de los personajes le dicen de qué tiene que cuidarse, para que en el siguiente capítulo terminé sorprendida de todas maneras.

Quiero que entiendas, kitten, que sí me gustó, lo leí rapidísimo pero no es una lectura que vaya resaltar por su complejidad o gran trama. Puedo recomendar este libro para quienes, como yo, no han leído nada de terror antes y les gustaría investigar el género, porque sí, asusta un poquito pero no demasiado.

Y acabo de enterarme que es parte de una colección de libros: RED EYE, que la editorial Little Tiger Group ha lanzado con libros de terror para niños. O sea que es en cierta forma una serie pero son libros únicos. Si son como Frozen Charlotte estarán bastante buenos :D

Twitter || Blog || Pinterest || Tumblr || Instagram || Facebook ( )

I absolutely loved this creepy little story! A random research tangent on 'Frozen Charlottes' - little china dolls based on a Victorian ballad about a woman who froze to death driving to a ball in winter without a coat - brought up this irresistible title, which I had to read, YA or not. Thank you to the author for such a fast, gripping and darkly entertaining tale, which I raced through in a few hours.

Fifteen year old Sophie goes to stay with her uncle and cousins after the tragic death of her best friend, but finds that the family's isolated old school house on the Isle of Skye is far from the peaceful escape from grief that she was seeking. After losing Rebecca in a clifftop accident seven years earlier, the Craigs are struggling to cope and seem to be cursed by further ordeals - the mother has been hospitalised after a breakdown, son Cameron was badly burned in a fire, and youngest daughter Lillias is terrified of the collection of small dolls kept in her lost sister's room, the 'Frozen Charlottes' found in the basement of the house. Sophie believes that Rebecca is haunting her, but who is the true evil spirit in Dunvegan House?

The writing and the story were both so simple and yet effectively paced that I was drawn straight into Sophie's life - possibly the only detail I would have preferred to skip was the animal cruelty. The ouija board opening was instantly convincing because who hasn't been terrified at school by the combination of trickery and hysterical teenagers? The frozen charlottes and the old schoolhouse might just have scored a first, however - 'horror' novels never scare me, but this one definitely spooked me a little! I also enjoyed the way in which Cameron, Piper and even the ghost of Rebecca are played against each other in the possessed psychopath stakes - who can Sophie trust?

Vastly enjoyable and destined to become a Netflix adaptation. I will definitely try more books from the Red Eye series! ( )

What a deeply dark and twisted little book! ( )

4.5 stars.

This month I joined the Stripes publishing #redeyereadalong and I'm so glad I did! Just finished reading Frozen Charlotte. This novel is very good, definitely one to devour, that's the right word. A fast paced, exciting, and at times gruesome read.

Warning: if you have a fear of needles, dolls, knives, ghosts, freezing, drowning, burning to death, or falling of cliffs, I wouldn't pick this up!

I don't normally read horror, but this month I'm doing a Halloween type theme on my blog, with spooky books, poems, short stories, etc. https://kyrosmagica.wordpress.com.

Sometimes it's good to try new things!! I read Frozen Charlotte during the day, this wasn't bedtime reading for me.... That way I kept the nightmares at bay.

What did I like about it?

Lots and lots of things.

The little creepy poems in italics at the beginning of each chapter are awesome.

Such a clever idea to have a Ouija-board app, and to introduce the ghost of Rebecca that way.

The prologue sets the tone for sinister goings on engaging the reader right from the very start.

Then you have the Frozen Charlotte dolls themselves, there is nothing nice about these dolls and it makes me wonder why anyone in their right mind would have them in their house! Or wear them as a necklace! That's asking for trouble! That's the Scots for you, I'm not slating the Scots, I'm half Scottish, we may be a bit dour at times but we like to live dangerously!!

The characters all so well crafted. The main protagonist, Sophie, I definitely have a soft spot for her. She's so brave, it is almost suicidal! With one scary thing happening after another, she turns out to be quite the heroine. Respect! If it was me I'd be out of there lightning quick! But Sophie thinks of others before herself. Sophie feels particularly protective towards her youngest cousin Lilias, who has a horrendous fear of bones, knives have to be hidden, so she doesn't cut herself, and when I say cut I really mean cut.

Jay sounds such a cute guy, a best friend who could possibly have been a love interest if his young life hadn't been cut down right at the start.

Piper's another favourite of mine! She starts off all sweetness, preparing food and seeming to be the perfect hostess welcoming her cousin to Scotland. But is Piper as sweet as she seems or is this all an act? You'll have to read Frozen Charlotte to find out!

And Cameron appears to be a bit distant, and unwelcoming to Sophie when she arrives, intriguing the reader some more.

In my opinion Frozen Charlotte starts of well but becomes more and more engaging, spooky and gruesome with each passing page...

The book ends with an epilogue, a final tease. This is one of the main strengths of this novel it teases and plays with the reader's emotions offering apparent sweetness on one hand, and dire creepiness on the other.


My recommendation: Go read this!!! Highly recommended. ( )

This was surprisingly enjoyable!! It's like a better-written Fear Street book and it took me back to reading all those scary paperbacks when I was a kid. It didn't skimp on the evil or the gore, the ghost story was actually more layered than I expected and the writing was fluid and engaging. It was fast-paced but that lent itself to the story and the MC/narrator was likable and surprisingly logical for a teen in a horror story. Definitely recommend for people who like quick, good scary reads. ( )