"You two will find your way back to each other, I’m sure of it. You are, and always have been, each other’s light in the darkness."
I am,
admittedly, late to the
Frozen party. So late, in fact, that my first viewing of the film took place during
Thanksgiving Week 2022, a full
nine years after its release.
I know, I know...for shame. Regardless of my
late introduction to the phenomena, my love for the film {and the title track
Let It Go} was instantaneous {my mom even used
Frozen decorations for my birthday in December!}, so I immediately began seeking out a
literary offering that would place the tale in my fingertips - precisely how I discovered Jen Calonita's
Frozen: Conceal Don't Feel {A Twisted Tale}. There was a time when
fractured fairytales were a favorite of mine; but the recent additions to the
Disney Princess world have left
much to be desired, so I have overall turned my back on them - until now. Though I can't say this tome changed
much from the original
Frozen; it did
keep my interest from start to finish, and gave me something new to
ponder in the
Frozen-verse...what would things have been like had Anna ceased to exist?
As Arendelle's
future Queen, much of eighteen-year-old
Princess Elsa's life seems
already written -
mapped, so to speak, with the one variable being
her. At what point in time will she be required to select a suitor to stand by her as she rules? And,
for that matter, what type of ruler will she be? But there is one other thing that has
plagued Elsa for what feels like eons...
why does she feel that a core part of her is missing? The former,
only time will tell; the latter, on the other hand, seems open-ended, and something she will need to
identify for herself in time. But time is cut short with the
unexpected death of her beloved parents. Kept within the
palatial palace since her youth; Elsa has had
only her parents to keep her from going mad from loneliness, but with the both of them gone, Elsa begins to question how she'll be able to survive.
Locking herself away until she comes
of age to undergo the
coronation ceremony that will name her the sole ruler of Arendelle, loneliness sets in strongly - only dissipating slightly when she is visited by the charming
Prince Hans {oh yeah, he's courting Elsa in
this version of the story, and
let me tell you, he is
every bit as loathsome on the page as he is on the big screen}. But the longer Elsa stays
behind closed doors the more
strange occurrences begin to take place - incidents that begin to reveal
long dormant mysterious powers involving ice and frost that give way to fragments of Elsa's childhood. Memories that have been forgotten, starring her, a familiar-looking girl in braids, and an enchanting snowman brought to life known as
Olaf {who, it just so happens, she was able to bring to life with said powers}.
Knowing that the end of her loneliness is dependent upon reaching deeper into her memories, and uncovering who this mysterious girl is, Elsa sets her mind on accomplishing just this
prior to her coronation. But when the big day comes, and she is still no closer to
unlocking her past and memories, she
accidentally unleashes a blizzard that halts life for Arendelle as citizens know it. Now, with
Olaf by her side, Elsa escapes the palace and heads to the
North Mountain, hoping to uncover the truth about her past in order to move forward with leading her Kingdom to happiness in the future - undoing a
terrible curse, and locating the missing
Princess of Arendelle.
Meanwhile, in the
nearby town of
Harmon, a fifteen-year-old girl named
Anna, the adopted daughter of the village baker, lives a
restless existence. Energetic, talkative, and determined to someday open up a bakeshop of her own in the heart of
Arendelle where she will whip up daily batches of her specialty: snowman cookies! Anna lives for the occasional visit from
Freya, a friend of her adoptive mother, who loves to share tales of life in Arendelle. When Freya's life is cut short {coincidentally right as the King and Queen are announced dead}, Anna knows that the pull she has always felt towards
Arendelle must finally be fulfilled. Enlisting the help of her crush,
Kristoff, and his carrot-loving reindeer,
Sven, Anna abandons her bakery duties and sets off to Arendelle. But the closer she gets to the palace, the more she is tormented by
nonsensical memories starring her as a child, Princess Elsa, and a talking snowman - echoes of a past long-forgotten that require a key to restore them once and for all.
As you've probably surmised, the storyline within
Frozen: Conceal Don't Feel {A Twisted Tale} is
nearly identical to the one seen in the film itself. That said, it provides
enough twists to keep you on your toes. After all, how many of us expected to see
Prince Hans courting Elsa as opposed to Anna? Twists aside, true
Frozen fans will be quite tickled merely to see a few of their favorite characters highlighted in a
like-new tale. The way that the romance builds between
Kristoff and Anna, though similar to the one from the film, is quite sweet; while the strong bond between
Elsa and Olaf is something that, quite literally, made me feel whole, because I adore the both of them! Fans young and old will find something
special between these pages - even if it's simply an urge to rewatch the film that became a phenomenon!
Star Rating: ****
xx
