I think I'm getting the hang of these Alice Hoffman books. With each book, she takes certain motifs--in the case of THE ICE QUEEN, lightening, chaos theory, fairy tales, ice/fire, death/love, wishes, and the color red--mixes the motifs in a blender, and works her authorial magic to make an bewitching, heartrending tale that'll tattoo itself on readers' hearts.

That being said, THE ICE QUEEN could not have been more different than my previous Hoffman, INCANTATION, and still have been by the same author. The nameless protagonist is mean and cold, and at times, I didn't like her and thought she was being too purple or overdramatic. Her brother Ned is a godsend. In the end, there's a wonderful character reversal on the protag's part and my heart went all wibbly with pride at how far she'd come.

The diversity of Hoffman's skill is pretty fantastic, and as a writer, I'm still digesting and thinking about how she does it. I would recommend THE ICE QUEEN to any adult readers interested in the abovementioned motifs. It's a lovely, short read.