Jack Frost: The End Becomes the Beginning

The Guardians #5

by William Joyce

The Guardians' powers are given the ultimate test as they journey to the moon itself in this fifth and final chapter book adventure of an epic series from William Joyce.

The Guardians came together to protect the childhoods of all who dream, and they are a formidable team: Nicholas St. North, E. Aster Bunnymund, Toothiana, the Sandman, Nightlight, and Katherine have thus far prevented Pitch from fulfilling his nightmarish plans.

But Pitch and his nightmare men lurk on the fringes, gathering strength, stewing in hate, and the Guardians know their guard needs one more member if they are going to vanquish Pitch for all eternity. And once they find the last in their band, they'll travel to the secret realm of the Man in the Moon, encounter armies of Moonbots, and face the greatest battle since the Golden Age; and that is just the beginning of this grand conclusion to a series most grand.

Genres: Fantasy, Middle Grade, Childrens, Fiction, Adventure, Magic, Young Adult

368 pages, Hardcover

First published November 20, 2018

About the author

William Joyce does a lot of stuff—films, apps, Olympic curling—but children’s books are his true bailiwick (The Numberlys, The Man in the Moon, Nicholas St. North and the Battle of the Nightmare King, Toothiana, and the #1 New York Times bestselling The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore, which is also an Academy Award–winning short film, to name a few). He lives with his family in Shreveport, Louisiana.

Reviews

[Carina · Rating 4 out of 5]

The final book of the Guardians series was a great conclusion to the story. In the beginning it was a bit confusing because there was quite a big time leap between book 4 and 5 and so we start the story by retelling what we missed, jumping back and forth in time. But all is resolved really well, the pieces fit together nicely and Jack Frost is an amazing character. Illustrations are as great as always.

Ps:it is from a storyline perspective completely different than the movie, but they work both and I loved them both.

[Debbie · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you're a fan of the movie, this book is likely going to be your least favorite. Although Jack Frost is the focus of it, he is not exactly the Jack Frost of the movie. For me, this is fine - I've read all five books now and I'm on board with Jack's transformation and how his story in the movie and the books can be wedged together.

But this volume is about 45-50% flashback, as told through a story that Katherine tells from Mr. Qwerty, and therefore, it seems like a slog. These things already happened, and Katherine's story (and to a lesser extent, Jack's continuation of Katherine's story) fill in gaps in the timeline that are useful to know, yes. But these flashbacks, especially in such concentrated amounts, slow the plot down so much that it's not really fun reading the book. There's no forward motion. No new developments.

Plus, one of the things I love about the movie plotline is Jack finding his purpose, his "thing," and that whole discussion is really absent in this story of Jack. Actually, the Jack of the book seems considerably less "fun" than the Jack of the movie, although he is still thoughtful and clever and quick and brave.

Now that I've read all five books in this series, plus the other supporting picture books, I have to say that I see where all the different parts of each book got pulled into the movie plot. I originally thought the movie covered the first book or two, but no - it really covered all five books, but in a unique way, with some of the threads being pulled out of each book to make a new cohesive (and shorter) story of the Guardians. I wish I'd read the whole series before seeing (and loving) the movie - I wonder how it would color my feelings about these books, especially the last two. But I can't change time. This is my least favorite book in the series.

[Bradley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have to say that I think I like this final book of the Guardians better than all the rest.

I'll be honest. I didn't think I'd like all of these as much as I did. The introductions of each Guardian were charming and friendly and Pitch was an increasingly more tragic figure. It got really bad in the last book.

This one, however, anchored all of us in the myths and stories we now know each of the guardians by, including Jack Frost, himself. And this one is more than just an introduction. It's more of a vindication and a love story and an epic end for all of it.

My girl and I read them all together but she said of this one: "It's so emotional and sweet!"

I have to agree. I'm very pleased with the myth, mythos, and Mythosphere. I believe, I believe, I believe.

[Sara · Rating 3 out of 5]

For the final book in this series, I find myself disappointed. I feel that Joyce felt obligated to tie in to the movie adaption and was forced to create Jack Frost. Reflecting on the previous four stories, this one does not give the same emotions and feelings and it doesn’t seem like Joyce stayed true to the story he wanted to tell.
But, despite my disappointment with the story I applaud Joyce’s story telling and creative imagination. The themes, ideas, and beliefs he incorporated into this series stayed true in this final book, albeit not as masterfully described as in the previous ones. I appreciate his ability to lock onto the importance of childhood and how we should hold onto that even when we grow up.
Also, a special mention for the illustrations. They are always a highlight.
Despite a disappointing end for me, I still find this series to be one of my favorites and recommend them to anyone who wants to experience the innocence of childhood again.

[Chelsea · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm in the minority but I was so disappointed with the wrap up of this series. This series felt unique and magical and then this book was a rush job and a hot mess in the end. Like I remember this one came out after the movie and there was a significant amount of time between this and the previous book, but there was so much set up that was ignored. Jack Frost, formerly Nightlight, had no personality, he was just bopping around. Due to the giant time skip in this (over 100 years!!) the meat of the book was told reminiscing on the "lost years". The time skip could have been a book with the final book being the battle. Mother Nature was so bitter last we saw her and she is mentioned only in passing here. Pitch's ending was satisfying but could have been better if fleshed out.

[Kristel (hungryandhappy) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lovely conclusion of an overall lovely series. Magical and intriguing! Loved the characters, how they evolved, fought, cared, and loved. Will miss them for sure!

Loved Jack, how he was born and how he became the Jack Frost we all love. The movie is amazing, one of my very favourites, and this book was just as amazing: different but wit the same emotions and magic.

Jack has a piece of my heart. Always.

RTC maybe, I'm so late with reviews!!

[Sarah Bruer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Long Awaited Conclusion; 8/10 book

I felt that this book was a good conclusion to this part of the series but it still left me a bit dissatisfied. William Joyce is, as always, inventive in his character designs and the art is beautiful that he makes. I was content with how he united the movie and books, but there are still elements that don't mean well between the books and movie. Overall, if there was anything that made me unhappy with the story it was the pacing. I'd have rather the book was split into two more descriptive stories then just one in which it seemed rushed at places that hooked my interest. The conclusion left me unhappy but it may be because of the fact that we are, for now, biding beloved characters a fair well.

In conclusion, I'd say the book is worth the buy if you are a fan of the series. But if you're more familiar with the movie you may find this book a bit unsatisfying. I'd give the book an 8/10. Characters are well done, the story is gripping, but the pacing of the book left me unhappy.

[Vαl Nάjerα · Rating 4 out of 5]

ES INCREÍBLE. Último libro de la saga y de verdad que disfruté mucho esta entrega. Me siento contenta y triste porque me encariñé bastante con los personajes, extrañaré conectar con ellxs. Tengo que reconocer y agradecer el gran trabajo del autor, sus ilustraciones siempre me tienen maravillada y son un gran apoyo visual.


¡Ya es de mis sagas favoritas! Norte, Bunny, Toothiana, Sandy, Katherine y Jack, los llevaré siempre en mi corazoncito. ✨💕

[Kellen · Rating 5 out of 5]

*sobs at how much I need this book to be out*

I'm usually pretty patient, but this series has changed that.

[Brett · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not gonna lie....I was really nervous with how the author handled Jack Frost in the picture book that came out a while back. He retconned (changed the canon) some of Nightlight's story by changing Nightlight's story post-Golden Age and post-Pitch. In the picture book, Jack Frost did not meet the Guardians as Nightlight before becoming Jack Frost. He was simply by himself, not knowing who he was or where he came from, having completely different powers and appearance from his Nightlight days.

Cut to this final chapter book in the Guardians of Childhood series. There are even more changes from what the picture book made to Jack Frost's origin, and the name "Jackson Overland Frost" is never uttered once. That is once again an idea that William Joyce had come up with years ago but never implemented during his writing of the final book.

The book starts out with the single most confusing 1st chapter to a book of all time. I had just finished re-reading the 4th book, so I knew what had already happened. Then the 5th book starts out, telling me of a huge battle that cost the mortal life of Ombric (kind of), gave Jack a scar mixed with Pitch's blood, and told me that it had been a very long time (100 years or so) since Jack had even seen the Guardians since that battle, and several hundred years had passed since the events of the 4th book.

I was so confused, worried that I had somehow missed a book of some kind. I Googled the series quickly and, sure enough, there was no "other" book that I had missed. So, I had to put faith in the book to quell my worries and confusion. It took a while, but it finally gave me the backstory into that fated battle (if you're curious, it's the entirety of the black pages in the middle of the book).

I have a little bit of a problem with authors who come up with new things later instead of having thought of it early on in the initial introduction and fleshing out of these characters. I hated that there is suddenly a "Brotherhood of Nightlights", though Joyce explained this away by saying that none of the main characters knew about it until the Man in the Moon told us. This was just Joyce's excuse for not having included this fact earlier. The reason why it doesn't work so late in the series is because it gives Nightlight a lot of power, the ability to call down the harnessed star energy from the 6 other Nightlights who had become stars in distant galaxies. So, even if the main characters didn't know about it, how did Nightlight not know about it until a very convenient time? If the answer was already said in the book, I clearly missed it because the absurdity of it all was getting to me a little.

Another I problem I have started out with the very first book: Katherine has no personality. She's brave, smart, and clever, sure. But so are a lot of children her age. Joyce compared her a lot to the other children of Santoff Claussen, but they were younger than her and had not been raised by Ombric himself, so of course she would stand out a bit. Being an orphan, being raised by the magical wizard, it would make any kid wonder about their parents. But other than being just an overall kind and intelligent girl with a sad backstory, Katherine has no personality. Where are her faults? Her flaws? Her insecurities? She seemed to save the day more than once, and was treated like an equal among the Guardians despite the fact that she was like 15 years old without magical powers or weapons. I felt like Katherine was given quite a bit more than she deserved because she's not written to be a human. She's written to be a reflection of goodness, and that became so much more apparent in this book because of the Good-Night Kiss from the 4th book affecting Nightlight and Katherine so much.

But apart from the inconsistencies between the picture book and this book, and despite the fact that Katherine is as flat as a piece of cardboard (though her role in Ganderly is rather interesting), the thing that irked me the most is the fact that Katherine and Nightlight (sorry, Jack Frost) can somehow change their ages, so they can appear more childlike or like a teenager. This showed up way more than it needed to in the book and was an entirely pointless detail, just so the two characters can be the same age at the end. It really distracted me from the dialogue, because sometimes the two of them would grow younger or older (between 11-18 years old) while they're talking to each other. It made me want to roll my eyes. I adored the other books for taking a lot of risks and being extremely interesting. But this book had a lot of random stuff thrown into it, some of it acting like it had been there the whole time, and it started to get a little "busy." I had to decide which details to actually pay attention to, and which ones to disregard entirely. The aging thing I chose to disregard because it's ridiculous.

When we catch up with the Guardians in the beginning of this book (after the hundred year passage of time), we see some changes here and there, like North's and Katherine's appearance being seemingly older (is North immortal now? How does that work?). I liked the Peter Pan idea introduced in the 4th book, that Nightlight being immortal would force him to watch his best friend Katherine grow up while he remained a child. I loved that idea. It's bittersweet, because he could influence other children as they grow older, and cause entire generations to believe in him, to love him, to remember him.

But Joyce didn't want that. He wanted Katherine and Jack together, I guess. Why? How is it realistic to make Jack Frost be with a piece of cardboard? I wished there was a part of her that had to be molded, shaped, much like Toothiana and, more importantly, like Emily Jane. The theme in the 4th book about Katherine "being" Pitch's daughter, or just like her, should have carried over to this book by making Katherine have a similar arc, where Katherine had some sort of anger or impulse that had to come in conflict with Nightlight/Jack Frost, that would force her to make a decision to grow like Emily Jane or go down the path of vengeance and darkness like Pitch. But the comparisons seemed to end abruptly as soon as we as readers actually saw Emily Jane appear at the end of the 4th book. Her presence seemed to say "Actually THIS is Pitch's daughter. You guys don't have to worry about Katherine being his daughter anymore!" We readers knew she wasn't Pitch's real daughter, but the comparisons were still there. That is an interesting theme that Joyce should have introduced earlier on and continued to the very last book. Just one of many things Joyce didn't really unpack more to make his story more interesting.

So, the Peter Pan thing never happened. The Katherine - Emily Jane comparison never happened. A lot of stuff was thrown in while other things were not fleshed out enough. But, in the end, I liked how Jack Frost grew and changed. The book was all about identity, growth, and change. It was much more than a simple coming of age story because Nightlight's need to change came from a fear that Pitch would destroy everyone and everything Nightlight loved. His change came from the understanding that his role as a Nightlight was no longer needed, due to the fact that the baby royal he swore to protect during the Golden Age was already grown up. His powers changed too, being more elemental in nature. Nightlight as Jack Frost became much more mature, even a leader, coming up with plans and hiding secrets from the other Guardians (except Katherine, of course). He had to make difficult choices, ones that would force him to lose himself for the safety of others. It was Jack Frost's story, above all else in this book, that worked absolutely. Because of that, I believe that this book, despite its flaws (it has more flaws than Katherine's personality), is a great end to the Guardians of Childhood series. Not perfect, but pretty good.

Thank you, William Joyce, for giving us Jack Frost! He's great in the movie, but, in my opinion, even better in the book!

[Liz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every so often a series will come along that holds a rare quality that only cherished, spine-broken tales from your childhood hold. This is one of those series. It's pure and spellbinding, with darker, Studio Ghibli-esq flairs to ground it.
Read these books to all the children in your life. Hell, read them to yourself. Something soft, innocent and raw will swell inside your heart if you do, I promise.

[Vinícius Sgorla · Rating 4 out of 5]

3,5/5

Uma conclusão bem fofa pra série, apesar de algumas partes serem arrastadas. Super interessante conhecer a história de origem do Jack Frost, as noções dos Guardiões sobre o nosso mundo nos anos 30 (quando se passa a história), me arrancou algumas risadas até. (:

[Abigail McKenna · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Jack Frost! The fair-weather Guardian!" North would playfully gripe. "Comes and goes when he pleasies!"
"The word, my dear North, is pleases," E. Aster Bunnymund would correct.
"Go lay an egg, General Rabbit Bunny," North would retort, and they would begin to amiably argue.

I love this series. I just do. But I have to admit that this was not my favorite of the books. I enjoyed getting more of a look into Nightlight, and subsequently Jack Frost, but I don't know, I just found this one harder to get into? Maybe I should have re-read Sandman before jumping in, but I found myself lost in terms of plot. The weird flashback with Katherine's diary was just... odd.

But that said, I loved Jack telling his story. I loved the relationship between him and Katherine. I loved that Katherine has come into her own, and shows how it's perfectly all right to be grown-up and still keep your child-like wonder. And of course, the rest of the Guardians are perfectly wonderful and seeing MiM again was amazing. The illustrations were adorable. Twiner is my fave.

So overall, I think the other books were better, but this still made my heart happy. Jack is my son. I want to re-read the whole series now.

4 stars from me!

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

A most excellent read. Please read this.

[Carol · Rating 4 out of 5]

Por fin, después de muchos años de espera, el fin de la saga. Me gustó, es una historia linda, llena de hermosos mensajes para los niños, personajes que ya conocemos y algunos nuevos, y un final que nada tiene que ver con la película, así que estuvo maravilloso.
Mi única queja es que comparado con los otros es el doble de grande, y si llegué a sentirlo un poco pesado como a la mitad, y no porque la historia no fuera buena, pero es que de verdad estábamos tardando mucho, considerando que los otros son libros muy rápidos de leer. Así que, para niños, pues igual y también lo sienten un poco largo, no lo sé.
No diré nada de la historia para evitar spoilers, pero ha sido maravilloso acompañar a los Guardianes durante tanto tiempo y conocer a cada uno de ellos de manera más personal y ver cómo se entrelazaron sus historias.

[Diana · Rating 5 out of 5]

I started reading the series after I saw the movie, and I absolutely loved it. I was terrified about how the series was going to end, but it was an amazing ending. I was a bit confused at the beginning, but then it made sense when they filled in all of the gaps that happened between 4 and 5. It was such a relaxing and fun read. In addition, it makes you kind of like the villain because it reminds you that he became a bad person fighting for good. And in the end, he ends up being redeemed and becoming who he used to be, even if he died. Overall, the book was super adorable, I love all of the characters, and it was a satisfying end to the series.

[Daniel Bosé · Rating 4 out of 5]

No sabía que esperar de este libro, y sin duda me encantó!

Jack Frost es un personaje que me robó el corazón en la película de El origen de los guardianes PERO en este libro, en este libro quedé totalmente enamorado de él, tiene una historia bastante linda y un poco triste. Me gustó hasta cierto punto el origen de Jack fuera distinto al de la película pero que hubiera un pequeño guiño a ella.

No sé que decir. Fue muy bonito leer más sobre el misterioso pero amado por todos Jack Frost.

Me quedé con un muy buen sabor de boca del universo que nos muestra William Joyce, sin duda leeré los libros de los demás guardianes.

[Addie_read_this · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sorry but that basically had a whole build up to a whole ass battle only to have no battle. Boring as shit

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was my favorite of the series. Jack's story was quite different from what I expected but it was so good

[Vanessa Paige Israel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This review is not for the Jack Frost book only, but for the entire Guardians series.
Things I didn’t like: The first book, Nicholas St. North was probably my least favorite, not because of the actual story, but because of the writing. I felt that we, as the readers, don’t really know North very much at all, but we’re told many times that he’s a bandit, now a hero. He has a heart for the children of Santoff Claussen, but why?? We’re never told why this is or never see the reason behind the characters change of heart. Several things throughout the series were like this, like the deep connection/friendship between Nightlight and Katherine. We’re told there is one, but we’re not shown how it’s evolved to that point. It wasn’t until about the 2nd or 3rd book that I began to really feel that friendship the narrator was talking about. It was just too fast paced in my opinion, but not in a good way.
Some of the banter between Bunnymund and North is too much. It’s not funny, as I believe it’s meant to be, it’s just annoying and feels extremely immature.
Also, correct me if I’m wrong, but in the final book, we see the compass North made for Katherine and the narrator tells us “she carried it without fail ever since North had given it to her”. If I remember correctly, didn’t she give up hope and bury it in the 4th book?? Seems like a plot hole to me.

Things I loved: I absolutely adore the character Nightlight from his first mention in book 1. The writing around this character, the whimsy and mystery of it, and the simple childlike innocence of the character - it works and it’s fantastic and I wished the rest of the story was like that.
I love any time we hear back story of a time known as The Golden Age. It has a lot of thought put into it, shows us the motivations behind the characters, etc. overall, great world building.
Nightlight and Katherine become favorites, the story of Mother Nature’s past is heart wrenching and fascinating, Nightlights own past is absolutely fantastic. Overall, I really enjoyed this series.

[Crysta · Rating 4 out of 5]

I feel so stupid! Here I am reading a series about mythical figures and I come across a girl who draws, writes stories, and has a giant Himalayan Snow Goose and I didn’t put together the pieces that Katherine is Mother Goose! I’ve read four books about her!

I was wondering how on earth the writer was going to reconcile the movie that came out with his very, very different book series. They have the the characters in common, but almost nothing else. I’m honestly surprised about how well different threads were gathered up without doing any disservice to the book's plot. The flashbacks are good in these books, but Katherine's and Nightlight's were both amazing here.

I feel like the sugary sweetness that I didn’t like about the previous books was somewhat done away with here. Thank goodness! Even under the Guardians-vs-Pitch conflict, the Guardians are worried about the children because it’s currently the Great Depression, and before that the World War. This is only very briefly touched upon, but it gave the whole book a different feel that was much more real to me.

Again, illustrations are amazing! I want more! Unfortunately, I’ve consumed every book about the Guardians save a single picture book. Off to request an inter-library loan!

[Julianne S · Rating 4 out of 5]

A satisfying conclusion. This book has the prettiest writing and illustrations of the series, as well as the most detailed and least linear storyline (and I love a nonlinear story when it’s done well, as it is here). The series as a whole may not be perfect, and it’s not going to replace any entries on my all-time favorites list, but it is very good, I’m glad I got to read it, and I would wholeheartedly recommend it to young readers and adults who appreciate good children’s lit.

“When a tree’s leaves wave slightly or when you hear consistent creaking and groaning of limbs and there is no wind, chances are you are being laughed at by a tree. They may find your clothes ridiculous. Your hiking skills clumsy. Or your yodeling off-key. It is not cruel or teasing laughter. They are simply amused.”

“For the first time, I was cared for, not by friends or colleagues or wizards or kings or ancient stars above. I was cared for by beings more powerful, in their way, than all those others. I was cared for by a mother and a father.”

[Dan · Rating 5 out of 5]

An amazing conclusion to an amazing series! It took me a bit to get into the story because of the big time skip, but the way they tell it through flashbacks and dedicated memories makes it fun to puzzle it out.

Although very different from the movie, I also liked this version of the story. It gave me the same kind of chills reading the last line as hearing the last line of the movie did: a sense of child-like wonder and a nice, happy ending.

Of course, the illustrations were also amazing!

[Diana Cano · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jack me ha encantado, y Siiii tenía razón con respecto a él desde un principio.

De por sí ya lo quería desde que era Luz Nocturna, aquí que podemos ver a Jack en otras circunstancias incluso siendo mayor, no tengo pretextos para decir lo mucho que me gusta.

Cerrando la historia no me gustó que se quedara con Katherine. Y con respecto a los demás guardianes, cada uno tiene su momento en que destaca.

[Mikayla · Rating 3 out of 5]

Want to know something shocking? The movie was better.
While I enjoyed this 5 bookseries, it feels like most of the time was spent building up lore, instead of telling storys. While it was kind of cute to see storys behind characters, there wasn't enough actual story to justify five books.
I did enjoy getting some of my questions from the movie answered though.

[Liinukka · Rating 5 out of 5]

I did not stay up all night reading this book, I did naawt! (okey, I did)
I loved this book just as I have loved the whole series. It was a wonderful conclusion. Definitely going to reread them all now!

[Valerie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m sorry, but I guess I’m in the minority here. Like others have mentioned, most of this book is a rehash of stories, with very little happening. The cover and artwork are amazing. But, for me that’s not enough. It’s a bit confusing at the start with the time jump, and then I found myself skimming through it to get to the end, and the end was good, but not great, in fact it was a bit of a letdown. I’ve never seen the movie, but I do plan on seeing it as soon as I check it out of the library, because so many of the reviewers here mentioned how much they loved it.

[Grant · Rating 5 out of 5]

all that i have to say is that jack frost has to be one of my favourite characters. he is just so pure and beautiful.

[Mel Leigh · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an amazing ending to an amazing series. I absolutely love the books and movie. Definitely in my favorites.

[Amanda Lewis · Rating 4 out of 5]

One chapter is 155 pages and another is one page. Wild