Frozen 2: Dangerous Secrets: The Story of Iduna and Agnarr
by Mari Mancusi, Grace LeeAlso by this author: Dragon Ops, New Dragon City
Published by: Disney Press on November 3, 2020
Genres: Young Adult, Fantasy, Romance
Pages: 352
Format: Hardcover
Source: Publisher
Rating:
Sixteen-year-old Iduna harbors a dark secret. On the surface, she is an Arendellian village girl, an aspiring inventor, and the best friend of Prince Agnarr, but she is also secretly Northuldra.
Ever since the day the forest fell, Arendellians have despised and distrusted Northuldra with a vengeance. No matter that the Northuldra-along with some of Arendelle's own-have been trapped in the Enchanted Forest behind an impenetrable wall of mist since the day of the battle.
Iduna doesn't know why the mist refuses to part, or why it descended to begin with. The only clear thing is that she must keep her identity from everyone, even Agnarr. Her life depends on it.
Fortunately for her, Agnarr doesn't know that Iduna is the Northuldra girl he saw seemingly flying on a gust of wind all those years ago, the day of the celebration turned disaster. The day Agnarr lost his father, the king. The day Agnarr himself almost died.
What Agnarr does know is that Iduna is a true ally in the face of his royal responsibilities and the expectations of an overbearing council and a well-meaning regent who will rule in Agnarr's place until he turns twenty-one and assumes the Arendellian throne.
As Iduna and Agnarr grow ever closer, however, friendship is no longer enough. If only falling for each other didn't mean risking their futures: Iduna's as a hidden-in-plain-sight citizen of Arendelle, and Agnarr's as imminent king.
But for a chance at true love, the risk might be worth taking
Content Tags:
Perfect for readers who want:
- More background behind Frozen 2.
- A sweet friends-to-lovers romance.
- Forbidden love.
- Adorable banter and antics.
- Found family and coming of age.
Many thanks to Disney Press and Rockstar Book Tours for a copy in exchange for an honest, unbiased review and for inclusion on this blog tour.
I knew I had to pick this one up for two very simple reasons:
- Frozen. Duh. I love both films, and I especially wanted more background after watching the second movie!
- I read Mari Mancusi’s Dragon Ops earlier this year and really enjoyed it, so when I saw she wrote this? I knew it’d be worth it.
And it definitely was! See? I’m obviously always right.
Frozen 2: Dangerous Secrets will appeal to fans of Frozen 2 who wanted a little more depth about Anna and Elsa’s parents. The book is filled with a sweet friends-to-lovers romance, forbidden love, and the struggle of finding one’s place.
I knew from page one this was going to be a kick in the feels, and it honestly was. In all the best ways. There were moments toward the end where there were some large time jumps, and that felt a little awkward, but also kind of necessary at the same time. Overall, though, it added a wonderful amount of depth to a movie so many of us know and love!
This book provides so much depth and background to the Frozen 2 movie.
So if you enjoyed the movie … you’ll probably like this book. It’s got the same charm and a lot of the same themes of growth, self-acceptance, coming-of-age, and found family. Plus, even better, this focuses on Iduna and Agnarr, Anna and Elsa’s parents, so it’s a bit of the story behind the story.
It’s really nice seeing Arundelle before the movie and seeing how the fear of magic took root and was fostered in the population. It isn’t something that just popped up out of nowhere, and the movies never particularly went into it, so the world-building in this book added a lot of depth and context.
I groaned. “Are you really going to start calling me that?”
“Absolutely,” he declared. “If only to get back at you for all the times you’ve Your Majesty‘d me over the years.”
I sighed in mock dismay. “Great. I’ve created a monster.”
“No.” His eyes grow soft. “You’ve created a king.”
There are a lot of little Easter eggs in this book that fans will recognize and likely appreciate.
I’m a huge fan of Easter eggs, in general. It makes me happy when I stumble across something that I recognize from the movie and go, “Oh, I know that!” There are a lot of these little moments, which really help solidify the world but also act as a neat little nod to what happens in the films.
“Even when I am,” I said, looking at the ground.
“You would be a fool not to be, “Peterssen agreed. “But you must not show that fear to your people. Pull it deep inside you. Conceal it in your heart. Don’t feel it. Don’t let it show.” He rose to his feet. “That is what your father did. And his father before him. That is what kings do to protect their people. And this is what you must do now.”
The romance between Iduna and Agnarr is a super sweet friends-to-lovers story that involves forbidden romance and adorable banter.
If you’ve ever grown up in love with your best friend, you’ll definitely recognize the vibes between these two. Only, they’re still in the stage where they have to come to realize this themselves, even while everything in their lives are currently pushing them apart. If you love sweet romances, this one is definitely for you!
The only pitfall about this is that the reader already knows how it ends, so it kind of drains the tension from the will they/won’t they aspect of it.
I thought that bit was a bummer, because it felt unnecessary. I still enjoyed the romance, though, even if romance isn’t my thing. It’s also a super clean, aspirational romance. Talk about good influences. This is a power couple that has its struggles but stands by each other, and it’s such a sweet message to kids!
I smell that reindeer pee, blowing through the fjord.
Iduna’s ignoring me, so I’m really bored . . .”
Urgh. I shook my head, dropping my book to plug my fingers in my ears. “Seriously?”
“What?” he asked, shooting me an all-too-innocent look. “You don’t like my singing?”
“No one likes your singing, Agnarr. Not even the horses.”
The darkness in this book is nicely offset by the light-heartedness and the humor.
I don’t want to misrepresent this at all. Even though there’s a lot of heavy subject matter in this book, there’s a lot of really light, funny scenes, too! It really reflects the Frozen 2 movie well in that way. There are absolutely moments that will snatch your heart and stomp it into the ground. But then you’ll find yourself laughing the next moment, too. It’s a real roller coaster ride, and in that way, it pulls the reader into the daily lives and moments of the characters as they go through the same emotional ride.
“The bigger question is, how do you never land on yours?” I teased back, dancing over to him. “I mean, it feels like the laws of nature should give you at least a fifty-fifty chance.”
This book hit me in the feels over and over again, and gosh, it hurt, but in a good way.
As a parent, I’ve always wondered how Elsa’s parents could let her sink into the situation she was in during the first movie. Well, this peels back the curtain a little bit and shows some more of the depth between their interactions and their thoughts. This part of the book was a little shorter and involved a lot of time skips, since the focus is on Iduna and Agnarr as children. It did touch on it, though. And since we know what ultimately happens to Iduna and Agnarr, just … ugh. The feels!
I swallow all the words that threaten to jump out of my throat in a hurried rush, throwing myself back on the bed, staring up at the wooden-beamed ceiling. After I breathe calmly, I say, “That might take all night.”
He crawls onto the bed, lying down next to me. He reaches out and curls his hand into mine. “For you, I’ve got forever.”
3 Winners will receive a finished copy of FROZEN 2:DANGEROUS SECRETS: THE STORY OF IDUNA AND AGNARR.
US Only.
Week One:
11/2/2020 | YA Books Central | Excerpt |
11/3/2020 | Kait Plus Books | Excerpt |
11/4/2020 | BookHounds YA | Excerpt |
11/5/2020 | Allie_reads95 | Review |
11/6/2020 | The Momma Spot | Review |
Week Two:
11/9/2020 | Do You Dog-ear? | Review |
11/10/2020 | Thindbooks Blog | Review |
11/11/2020 | Rajiv’s Reviews | Review |
11/12/2020 | The Bookwyrm’s Den | Review |
11/13/2020 | Fire and Ice | Review |
Week Three:
11/16/2020 | Nerdophiles | Review |
11/17/2020 | fictitious.fox | Review |
11/18/2020 | booksaremagictoo | Review |
11/19/2020 | A Dream Within A Dream | Review |
11/20/2020 | PopTheButterfly Reads | Review |
Week Four:
11/23/2020 | Lifestyle of Me | Review |
11/24/2020 | Momfluenster | Review |
11/25/2020 | ChristenKrumm | Review |
11/26/2020 | onemused | Review |
11/27/2020 | Jenguerdy | Review |
Week Five:
11/30/2020 | Emelie’s Books | Review |
I’m crying over how beautiful this post is. I’m very intrigued by the books that DisneyPress has been releasing and this review has piqued my interest even more!
Jenny recently posted…#ReadathinNov20 TBR Announcement
Great review! This sounds adorable 😍
Shan recently posted…{Blog Tour} Master of One by Jaida Jones & Dani Bennett.
Great post Sammie! I still haven’t watched Frozen 2 yet, oops, but it’s on my list as I really liked Frozen, and I had no idea that there was a book with some backstory. I’ll have to watch the movie soon and then pick this one up! 🙂
Ellie recently posted…Down the TBR Hole #36