Customer Reviews

Freeze Frame

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This book will stay with you for a long time. It truly captures the internal struggles of someone in conflict and the resilience of the human spirit.

The main character, Kyle must deal with the death of his best friend and tries to replay the scene from the point of view of different directors.

I would highly recommend this book to mature teenagers who no doubt will be able to relate to the main character, Kyle and the day to day life he experiences.

This is a really AMAZING story and I HIGHLY recommend it! (And I'm actually pretty picky about what I read and what I like. Usually it's either fantasy or true life stories.)

In this case, it's neither. It's a YA (Young Adult) book about a boy who kills his best friend but suffers from post traumatic stress syndrome and can't remember how it happened, so he spends his time trying to remember the scene by writing in the styles of his favorite movie directors (i.e. there's Tarantino, Hitchcock). Kyle, the main character, is a real movie buff, so there are a lot of movie references in this book which I think really add to the story. (I love how everything ties in.)

When I was reading this book, I felt a real connection to Kyle's situation. Everyone has done something major in their lives that they wish they could "freeze frame" and "redirect" and "cut" and "delete" and just DO OVER! Because of this, despite being a "Young Adult" novel, I believe that the theme of this beautifully written story can touch anyone.

The last line of the book even made my eyes wet. (Which is not common for me.)

So if anyone's looking for a stunning book, please check it out. It's very soul probing.

~Camille May~

Ellen Hopkins is right - this book will stay with you for a long while.
I couldn't put the book down once I started- WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

No matter how hard he tries, Kyle just can't figure out that one scene that completes the movie he feels like he's in.

He has the beginning scenes. The first scene where Kyle and his best friend, Jason, are eating pancakes. As always, Jason uses up all of the syrup, making Kyle's dad go out and buy some more. After a little quarrel between the two, followed by an insult to his sister, Kyle and Jason run outside into the freezing cold. Not wanting to go back in, Kyle suggests the shed.

Once inside the shed everything goes blank - from here Kyle just cannot figure out the scene, the most important scene.

After the blackout, it's complete chaos - there's blood, calling 911, an ambulance, a trip to the hospital, and then off to a holding cell. Questioned, confused, Kyle just doesn't understand what has happened, or how it happened.

How he killed his best friend.

No matter how hard he tries, Kyle just cannot figure out the one scene that explains it all, the scene that decides whether he is innocent or not, the scene that ended with his best friend dead. Yet, if he can figure it all out, is it the end of the world for him, can he live with knowing the truth, or will it be too much for him to handle?

With brief interruptions of past events that Kyle and Jason shared, Heidi Ayarbe takes us on a breathtaking and thrilling journey of a boy trying to solve a mystery that leaves even the reader at the edge of their seats. Ayarbe creates a work of art using realistic thoughts and images that helps in developing a novel that will be gripped in the reader's hands until the very last page.

FREEZE FRAME is a great debut from a talented new author.

Reviewed by: Randstostipher "tallnlankyrn" Nguyen

At the risk of somehow offending someone who seems to write reviews other than read books I'm giving this book five stars.

This is an incredible book and even more amazing given that it is from a first time novelist. However, I'm not exactly sure what the young adult genre is as this book seemed very appropriate for those of us who have already "survived" high school.

Ms. Ayarbe has taken a story of tragedy and framed it in high school angst. Her grasp of the school environment was almost uncomfortable at times.

An unbelievable book that I will be likely giving to some teacher friends (and non-teacher friends too I guess) for Christmas while I eagerly await for more from the author.

I had a little trouble getting into this book but after the first couple chapters I was hooked and literally could not put it down. It is a book I would highly recommend to both young adults and their parents and in fact anyone. I loved the message that someone can be different from the norm and still be ok - something that often troubles teenagers in their never ending attempts to "fit in". The writing style reminded me a bit of Maggie O'Farrell in her book "The Vanishing of EsmeLennox". In both books the ending is somewhat of a surprise. I look forward to reading Ms. Ayarbe's next book as I'm sure she is on her way to become a best selling author!

This was the first book in a long while that kept me up reading well past midnight. When I was younger, I would always seek out books with female characters, but this one has a guy, Kyle, and it was really easy to get into his world. He felt real. I felt like I was holding my breath from the end of the first chapter on--and I cared more and more as it went along. Freeze Frame is intense, funny, sad, and thought-provoking. I think it would be amazing for a teen reading group or in class because of the issues it brings up and the memorable characters.
I don't really get how someone can leave a one star review without even talking about the book itself. Freeze Frame is worth reading--and I'd definitely give it five stars for the great voice and great story.

I was concerned that Heidi's use of a movie approach would be off putting. I am not a movie buff. However, she did such a great job that I was hooked at the very beginning and could not put the book down. I stayed up way too late to finish it and cried at the end. This is a powerful book. Things can and do happen in life and "life as we know it" can alter in a second. Then we have to deal with it. This is about how Kyle did deal with his post-Jason life. Great read for teens and adults.

Not only did I cry from beginning to end, I couldn't put it down so I looked horrific the next morning! Mark my words, this is going to be made into a movie.

For days after I finished reading FREEZE FRAME, I kept thinking about Heidi Ayarbe's characters. Everyone in this book is so very *real,* which just makes the story more harrowing. (I don't want to give anything away!)The writing is so crisp and original!

This is a wonderful book for teens and adults alike - anyone looking for a really well-written story that will absolutely stick with them long after they've finished the book should read this!