ARC Review: A Tragic Love Story

A Fate So Cold by Amanda Foody and C.L. Herman

Publication Date: November 4, 2025

Summary from NetGalley:

For most of the year, Summer reigns peacefully over Alderland. Then, for six brutal weeks, Winter rages, obliterating towns and wreaking casualties. Magicians bond with powerful wands of Summer to defend the nation, a duty that costs many their lives.

Domenic Barrow never wanted such responsibility—but destiny hasn’t granted him a choice. The greatest Summer wand has awakened for the first time in a century, warning that an icy cataclysm looms on the horizon. And despite his reputation as the least suited of his classmates, the wand Chooses Domenic to wield it.

Ellery Caldwell spent years striving to be a perfect Summer magician—and burying her fears of her own power. But her worst suspicions are proven true when she accidentally creates the first ever Winter wand.

Now, as the unprecedented Chosen Two, Domenic and Ellery must thwart the oncoming cataclysm together. And in trying to fulfill their destinies, they wonder if they were brought together for a second fate: to fall in love.

Until they discover the unthinkable truth. The Chosen Two aren’t fated allies, but eternal rivals, and the only way to save their home is for one of them to slay the other.

This is no love story. It’s a tragedy.

ARC provided by Tor Publishing via Netgalley for an honest review.

Confession:

This was a wonderful story with a very interesting magical system and two heros whose connection to the magic is destined to end in tragedy. This is a great start to what I hope will be a wonderful duology, although I have no idea where the story will go next.

The story is told from two perspectives, Ellery and Dominic. They are both well crafted, likable characters with well fleshed out backgrounds. I really felt sorry for both of them and even though I knew early on how this story was going to end, I was rooting for them both. Ellery is a bit harder to like. She tries to be perfect all of the time and always do what is right. This is mostly due to her being afraid or of not trusting her own magic. Domenic is a haunted young man who doesn’t believe in himself. But he is very charming even when he is running from responsibility. From the start you can tell that there is a connection between these two that actually balances out their destinies nicely.

The world building is pretty well done, although I am not entirely sure how the wands work or why it is summer most of the year. I might have missed something at the start of the book, but not having a total grasp of the magic was not a hindrance to the overall enjoyment of the story. The plot moves along at a pretty good pace, with some lagging in the middle. The romance might have been rushed a bit, but given the circumstances of how they come together it is understandable. The ending was as expected but I’m not sure where the story will be going in the next book.

A well written YA story about star crossed lovers who are both chosen ones. Highly recommend if you are fans of either author. Also if you enjoy high fantasy with an interesting magical system, great characters and a story with lots of action.