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The Ice Queen
The Ice Queen
Author: Alice Hoffman
From the bestselling author of Practical Magic, a miraculous, enthralling tale of a woman who is struck by lightning, and finds her frozen heart is suddenly burning. Be careful what you wish for. A small town librarian lives a quiet life without much excitement. One day, she mutters an idle wish and, while standing in her house, is struck by lig...  more »
ISBN-13: 9780316058599
ISBN-10: 0316058599
Publication Date: 4/4/2005
Pages: 224
Rating:
  • Currently 3.5/5 Stars.
 135

3.5 stars, based on 135 ratings
Publisher: Little, Brown
Book Type: Hardcover
Other Versions: Paperback, Audio Cassette, Audio CD
Members Wishing: 0
Reviews: Member | Amazon | Write a Review

Top Member Book Reviews

reviewed The Ice Queen on + 140 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 12
A very interesting book! I felt at times that I was reading a true story and at other times a fairy tale. I would definitely recommend it!
Leigh avatar reviewed The Ice Queen on + 378 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 10
As with every Alice Hoffman book, I enjoyed this one. I think primarily this intrigued me so much because of the subject matter and the research she put in that she ends up sharing with the readers. I learned so much about lightning strike survivors that I feel as if I'd read a non-fiction book about them.

The main character is maybe a bit difficult to warm up to (pardon the pun), but the elements of this story - and the writing - save the novel, and turn it into something touching and deep.
CheriePie avatar reviewed The Ice Queen on + 149 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 9
This book wasn't really my cup of tea. It was too abstract and didn't have enough action for my liking. However, I don't think that's a reflection on the book itself, it's simply not the genre I usually like to read from.

The author writes well; her words flow together nicely, and she's able to easily take something ordinary, such as a lightning storm or an orange orchard, or even a dead mole or a pile of flies, and turn it into something extraordinarily beautiful, or sad and repulsive. It was this vivid use of imagery in her words that kept me reading—that and the fact it's a fairly short book at only 211 pages—when I might otherwise have put it aside and went on to something else.

Why did I decide to read this book in the first place then you might wonder. Well, because I've heard this author's name quite a bit and wanted to try out one of her books for myself. I almost hate to give it a numeric rating here though since my rating will be mostly subjective based on how I personally liked the story in relation to the other books I've read. If I look at it objectively though, I'd have to give it kudos for the quality of writing, the wonderful use of imagery, and the fact that underneath it all, there was a poignant and touching story there.
reviewed The Ice Queen on + 109 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 8
AWESOME,AWESOME,AWESOME!!!!!i couldn't put this book down and read it in 3 hours.
reviewed The Ice Queen on + 13 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 7
Story about a woman who gets struck by lightning and how it changes her life. It actually saves her life, in a way, by allowing her to open up to feeling things again.
Read All 72 Book Reviews of "The Ice Queen"

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reviewed The Ice Queen on + 636 more book reviews
This was a very fast read. It was certainly entertaining but for the majority of the book, I did not care for the main character. I thought she was rather childish, which was perhaps, the whole point, but it still did not make me like her. Her being a librarian was nice, and I certainly enjoyed this a lot more than _The Dewey Decimal System of Love_ (the last book that I read where the main character was a librarian). The fairy tale aspect was really the strongest part of the whole book... Some of the other themes, plot lines and characters were much weaker.
wantonvolunteer avatar reviewed The Ice Queen on + 84 more book reviews
The last chapter of this book was nice, even though I didn't much like before it. It was very nice the way everything came together in a fuzzy warm happy ending. But I have to say mid-way through I decided Alice Hoffman writes as though she's not a native English speaker, lots of random phrasing and immediate contradictions, the kind of thing a listener forgives in a toddler or a foreigner. I had no pity or comprehension for the main character who blames herself as a child for causing her mother's death by wishing it in an angry fit, lives a life of self-isolation (as a stereotypical librarian of course), and then brings misery to herself once again when she sarcastically wishes she'd be struck by lightning. There's a scientist brother with a mathematician wife, a support group for fellow lightning struck victims, and an abandoned affair with a police officer who shares her obsession with death. She lets down a bunch of people including her supposed best friend Renny and boss librarian Frances, and some moles in her yard get eaten by her cat; and there's a lot of bust heaving supernaturalesque lightning survivor sex, intrigue involving fairy tales, some suspense, and then there was the very nice ending.
reviewed The Ice Queen on + 7 more book reviews
interesting to read, unique story.
berd avatar reviewed The Ice Queen on + 214 more book reviews
This book was strange to me. I read maybe 1/4 of it until I had to put it down. It pulled me in at first, but then it got a little weird on me. I had high hopes that it would be good, but the characters just seemed very strange and I realized that I didn't even care what happened to any of them so I quit reading. It was very disappointing.
moeshell avatar reviewed The Ice Queen on + 13 more book reviews
Nothing I would call a favorite. At times the language used is beautiful, but the characters are boring to me.
ashultz avatar reviewed The Ice Queen on + 15 more book reviews
Read the whole book on a Saturday. Reads quick and keeps you interested. I loved the story and now want to know more about the affects of lighting strike victims.


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