Book Review: Ice Children by M.G. Leonard

From the publisher: At the stroke of midnight on the dawn of December, five-year-old Finn Albedo is found frozen in the city park standing on a pedestal of ice. His heart is beating, he is smiling serenely, but no one can wake him. Finn’s big sister, Bianca, suspects that the beautiful sparkling book Finn got from the library has something to do with it, but the book has vanished. Does the tall mysterious stranger who first discovered Finn know more than they will admit?

Each day, more children are found frozen and Bianca realizes she’s running out of time. Her quest to discover the truth and rescue her little brother hurls her into a fantastical winter wonderland, full of beauty and danger, where all is not as it seems. Can Bianca save her brother and the other Ice Children before they are forever lost?

My Review: I have mixed feelings about this book, as the story’s very poor ending destroyed my enjoyment of the earlier part.

The story opens with a strong hook. At midnight, Bianca’s little brother Finn is found frozen in the park on a pedestal of ice, alive but unable to be woken. On medical advice, he is left there while his family keep watch. Bianca however is determined to rescue him. I loved how she went about the task, following the mysterious and slightly odd stranger, and discovering the ice books and the existence of a sinister plan. As more children appear in the park, frozen like Finn, Bianca finds a way to enter the Winter Wonderland, where the souls of the children are imprisoned, with Finn being the favourite child of the evil Snow Queen.

Up to this point, the plot is really exciting, the setting is beautifully depicted, the prose is engaging and Bianca a strong heroine. Unfortunately the final quarter of the story takes an unexpected turn (SPOILER ALERT – SKIP THE REST OF THIS PARAGRAPH to avoid it). Instead of overcoming the villains, Bianca colludes with them, persuades the other children to do so as well, and the children return home sworn into the service of the Snow Queen in exchange for their lives. Personally I found this quite disturbing, switching from an exciting opening to flagrant propaganda and didacticism. Considering that issues like coercion, kidnapping and brainwashing of young children under pain of death are major plot points, it left me with a bad taste.

I am sure most if not all people reading this post agree that the message should never be the story, regardless of how much you agree with it, although it can certainly be part of the story. However I’ve noticed a certain amount of didacticism creeping into children’s literature in recent years. Is this something that anyone has observed? Has anyone else read The Ice Children, and if so, what do you think of the ending? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments.

Thanks to Netgalley and MacMillan’s Children’s books for the eARC. The Ice Children will be published on 2nd November.

Valinora Troy

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23 responses to “Book Review: Ice Children by M.G. Leonard”

  1. I noticed didacticism in my own childhood books, especially the stories we had to write in school. “Okay, class, what is the moral of the story?” But now, progressive themes occupy center stage, which I don’t get. If you have to go to a subsection in children’s books to find patriotic books or Christian fiction books, why don’t you have to go to a lgbtqui-plus or a socialist subsection to find those books?

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    • We always hated the moralistic tales when I was young, but it seems they are still with us, it’s just the morals that have changed! 🙂 My problem with The Ice Children is the heavy-handed messaging at the end, Bianca actually thanks the villains for not killing them, and the children bow down in worship to the Snow Queen & make their parents do the same! Part of me wonders if the author was fed up with editorial interference… Re your point, I didn’t realise you had a special ‘patriotic’ or ‘Christian’ section for childrens’ books – I assumed they were mainstream!!!

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  2. Having the climax turn in a direction we don’t like can be so disappointing. Sorry that happened with this book. Thanks for being honest in your review.

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  3. The ending seems so out of place to the direction that the plot initially intended, to rescue the children. I’d be pretty disappointed and frustrated with how things were handled in the end. And confused, like why? Thank you for your honesty. Have a lovely week, Happy MMGM.

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  5. YEah for an honest review! I think I’d really dislike this book. I can’t believe that the protagonist ends up siding with the villain/antagonist. It reminds me of the Snow Queen but that has a beautiful ending.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Snow_Queen. Did you read that as a kid? I know it’s hard to write a review when you don’t like a book. I’m glad you did. And hooray to Vera! I agree!

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    • Thanks Carol! 🙂 Yes, I loved the Snow Queen as a child, my mother even made me a topsy-turvey town of the Snow Queen and Gerda! 🙂 – in this story the Snow Queen wins… Such a shame, the setup was so good! Thanks for reading!

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      • You know, I wonder if this is symptomatic of our times (As we compare these two books). The book you reviewed sounds as if it rejoices in evil and promotes it to young readers, and the older one gives hope for forgiveness/redemption to triumph over evil. This conversation is making me think and worry about what young readers read as models. I hope Vera responds to this too! It’s not even 7 AM in the states and my brain is engaged in a colossal conversation!

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      • The subtext of this story I found quite disturbing, maybe I am reading too much into it, but I can see it being discussed in children’s lit courses in future! I could write an essay on all the concerning things I see in kids’ books (largely end justifying the means) but selflessness, kindness and redemption still are there too 😊

        Best regards

        Valinora Troy

        Children’s Fantasy Writer

        http://www.valinoratroy/com http://www.valinoratroy/com

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  6. I’ve read a few books that take this approach though not to this extent. Can’t come up with the titles off the top of my head since I never reviewed them. Your honest appraisal of this plot is much appreciated. Thanks for featuring your review on MMGM this week.

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  7. I bet you’re not reading too much into this book, Valinora. I was thinking that someone should write a blog about this trend. I’d welcome reading it. But it would be a lot of work to write. GO for it!

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  10. I wonder if didacticism is related to book banning – two sides of the same coin.

    Is there anything in the set-up or Bianca’s character arc that foreshadows the ending? From your review, it sounds as if the last part of the book is totally disengaged from the other parts.

    Too bad, because the premise sounded so promising!

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    • To me it felt like the publishers dictated the ending (which may not be the case, at all) because it was so at odds with most of the book which was really good. The author also mentions that she had much more editorial review than usual, fuelling my suspicions of course! :). Bianca actually thanks the villain for not murdering them, and that was not the character I met at the start of the book, It is a shame, it could have been brilliant. Thank for reading! 🙂

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