Upon a Frosted Star

Author: M. A. Kuzniar
Published: 2023
Target audience: Adults (Appropriate ages 15+)

The invitations appear without warning. Scattered throughout the city on scrolls tossed from a tower, stamped on bags of gingerbread, painted on shells floating in fountains, and more. On the first snowfall of every year, everyone lucky enough to find an invitation is invited to a wondrous party at a secluded manor that very same night.

When struggling artist Forster finds an invitation, he is bewitched by the splendour and magic of the evening, swept up in the glamour of the annual party and the intrigue of who is behind them.

Determined to find out more about the mysterious party host, Forster returns to the manor to find it silent and deserted, but not empty. For there are secrets to be discovered and cruelties at work. And at the heart of everything is Detta - a cursed woman desperate to be freed…

Review:

After the success of her spellbinding novel ‘Midnight in Everwood’, M. A. Kuzniar returns with a new novel of fairy tale magic and Jazz Age glamour.‘Upon a Frosted Star’ combines the story from the Russian ballet ‘Swan Lake’ of a woman cursed by an evil sorcerer to become a swan, along with the 1920s era and yearning to be reunited with the one you love from ‘The Great Gatsby.’  While this novel successfully evokes these story beats and setting elements, it unfortunately fails to combine them into an engaging narrative due to poor characterisation, an undeveloped romance, and sluggish pacing.

For a story supposedly about 1) a man struggling to make a living as an artist after being exiled from his family for mysterious reasons, and 2) a woman stripped of her humanity and trapped as a swan except for when it snows, ‘Upon a Frosted Star’ is a book is determined to deliver its tale in the most boring, directionless manner possible. Forster is a bland protagonist who has no depth or motivations other than wanting to track down his ‘muse’ - a woman he glimpsed once at a party, consequently reigniting his passion for painting. His obsession comes seemingly out of nowhere. After suffering from artist block and fearing he would never make his mark on the world, Forster’s imagination comes alive again after attending one of Detta’s annual parties and witnessing the spectacle of the event. He asserts that he “had been sleepwalking through his own life, a life that was a canvas devoid of colour, and at last, he had awoken to a dazzling reality.” Such lines imply that it’s the party’s extravaganza that reinvigorates Forster. Therefore, readers will be justifiably confused when chapters later Forster is fixated that “he’d spent nearly a year dreaming of a face he couldn’t quite remember” and “perhaps in one of those dreams, he would remember her face.”

…who??? None of Forster’s interactions with anyone at the party were framed as important. The only notable person was an unnamed woman he teams up with for a few paragraphs during a treasure hunt - a woman whose “warm brown face and honeyed eyes disguised a fierce competitive streak.” As this is the only standout interaction, it becomes doubly confusing when Forster attends his second party the next year and sees a completely different woman, Detta, who he has apparently been dreaming of, with her “pair of blue-grey eyes, watching him from across the great hall.” The only reference to Detta at the first party was the line “Spinning down from the ceiling in a costume that glittered brighter than the sun he glimpsed a fallen star, landing on the helm of the Jolly Roger as fireworks exploded behind her.” Due to this being written so obscurely and inconsequentially, Forster’s first sight of Detta will likely be missed by most readers. This is a weak basis for his preoccupation with Detta, and fails to give any reason why readers should become invested in Forster’s search for her or their later romance.

In comparison, Detta is a quintessential manic pixie dream girl who exists only to be alluring and cryptic and inspire Forster. She is a passive character, resigned to her cursed situation, and has no discernible personality other than being coy, hosting a party for strangers once a year, and doling out tidbits of her past when the narrative gets stale. Scattered throughout the book, the story shifts from Forster’s perspective to Detta’s as she retells how she joined Rothbart’s Theatre of Enchantments, noticed other performers occasionally went missing, and finally became cursed herself. Detta’s recollections do not reveal anything new about her character or circumstances, and could have been conveyed in a single conversation with Forster instead of multiple chapters. The writing is also melodramatic with unnatural narration and dialogue, such as when she begins her retelling with“It was on a summer’s day that I sought to change my life. I set off on a rambling cross-country train, licking the jam out of the tarts Mrs Fischer had baked for me.” This only reinforces the notion that Detta is an alluring aesthetic rather than an actual attempt at creating an interesting character.

‘Upon a Frosted Star’ also suffers from a plodding plot and slow pacing. Detta’s flashback chapters do not add anything to the story that the reader does not already know, and instead give the impression that the author had a page count she needed to hit, but only had enough material for a much shorter novel. The pacing would be improved by cutting 30%-40% of the book, but that still wouldn’t save it from its underdeveloped characters and directionless plot. The romance between Detta and Forster is vapid and dull, and only occurs because the story says it should, rather than there being any meaningful connection between the two. There is a lack of chemistry or motivation to Forster and Detta as individuals and as a couple, and will leave many readers wondering why they should care.

Despite the fairy tale intrigue and glittering Jazz Age backdrop, ‘Upon a Frosted Star’ is unfortunately a novel that prioritises aesthetic over substance. My favourite part of this story was a reference to ‘Midnight in Everwood’ which offered a tantalising glimpse into the character’s life after the events of that book, and hints at a potential sequel. While appreciated, this easter egg only served to remind me of a book I enjoyed far more, and reinforced the disappointing shortcomings of ‘Upon a Frosted Star.’ Perhaps M. A. Kuzniar’s next book will be stronger.

Excerpt:

They parted as suddenly as they had come together, as if they did not, they might have lost an eternity in a single kiss. It stirred something within Forster, urged him to breathlessly confess, ‘I wish this night would never end.’

Candlelight flickered over Detta’s face. ‘I am cursed, Forster. Chances are, I shall not be here in the morning.’ They both glanced at the snow, icing the garden like a Christmas cake.

Forster shook his head. ‘I don’t understand. What are you saying?’

‘It is the snow,’ Detta said simply. ‘I am only human in the snow. When it melts away, so too do I, for then I am cursed to be a swan.’

Forster staggered back, the cruel twist of fate resounding through his bones, his heart. ‘No,’ he whispered in disbelief. Most of her days were stolen away as she swam through one season to the next. He struggled to comprehend it. Searched for the right words but there weren’t any.