Who will make it off the ship alive: Freeze by Kate Simants #bookreview #Freeze #NetGalley

Frozen Out will be the TV sensation of the year. In the harshest Arctic conditions, eight contestants will push their bodies and minds to breaking point for a £100,000 prize. And camerawoman Dee will be there to capture every second, all but invisible – just how she likes it.
But as rumours spread of corner-cutting and safety risks, tempers among the cast and crew start to fray. And then one of the contestants is found dead, supposedly of a heart attack. But Dee is not convinced.
With a fierce storm approaching and communication with land cut off, the question now is not who will win the money. It’s who will make it off the ship alive.

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Hi and welcome to my review of Freeze!

I’d had such a great time with Lock Me In and A Ruined Girl that I couldn’t wait to dive into Kate Simants’ new offering! Even more so when I first heard what it was about and where it was set. Even though I’m not a fan of reality TV, I love books about reality TV shows and even though I hate the cold, I love books that are set in freezing, inhospitable environments. Yes, I know I’m weird but still, Freeze and I were a match made in bookish heaven!

Freeze is about a reality show, Frozen Out, that is meant to be the TV sensation of the year. Eight contestants will be flown to Greenland, where they will board an icebreaker and complete challenges, competing against each other in the freezing cold to take home the grand prize of £100,000. 

Freeze is told from the alternating perspectives of Tori and Dee, who have been best friends for years and know everything about each other…  Or do they? Dee will film and edit the show and Tori is the creator and producer, who she has a lot riding on this project: it will either make or break her new production house. 

The group hasn’t even properly left English soil yet, or problems start popping up, and once they reach their destination, it only gets worse. Even though these were all supposed to be strangers, it would seem that some of the group have history, and more than a few have secrets they want to hide at any cost.

I do love me a story with secretive characters and lots of secrets to sink my teeth into, I had so much fun! Although I did figure out a few things, there were always little twists and reveals catching me off guard as well, and I found the whole thing very entertaining. What starts in a rather ominous manner, completely escalates towards the finish line and I never managed to see the whole picture until it was laid out for me. I figured out a culprit but not their motive, I spotted a motive but not the person behind it, Freeze is very cleverly plotted indeed.

The writing is vivid and the icy scene is set immaculately. There I was, on the sofa under a blanket and a cat with a hot coffee in hand, and I just couldn’t get warm! (Bloody hell, there is not enough money in the world to get me to do what these people did!)

Freeze is an addictive, rather fast-paced yet atmospheric locked-room thriller that is chilling in more ways than one. I would definitely recommend it to fans of the genre.

Freeze is out on 2 March in digital formats, audio and hardcover, with the paperback to follow early next year.

Massive thanks to Viper Books and NetGalley for the eARC. All opinions are my own.