Touch of Frost (Mythos Academy #1) by Jennifer Estep
Publication Date: August 1st 2011
Genre: Young Adult Paranormal
Pages: 350
Format: Paperback
Source: Bought
Read: November 07 to 15, 2014
~Summary~
My name is Gwen Frost, and I go to Mythos Academy; a school of myths, magic and warrior whiz kids, where even the lowliest geek knows how to chop off somebody's head with a sword and Logan Quinn, the hottest Spartan guy in school, also happens to be the deadliest. But lately, things have been weird, even for Mythos. First, mean girl Jasmine Ashton was murdered in the Library of Antiquities. Then, someone stole the Bowl of Tears, a magical artifact that can be used to bring about the second Chaos War. You know, death, destruction and lots of other bad, bad things. Freaky stuff like this goes on all the time at Mythos, but I'm determined to find out who killed Jasmine and why; especially since I should have been the one who died...
~My Thoughts~
I originally picked this up to read earlier this year but it was late at night and the next day I just didn't pick it back up to continue with chapter two (I've started that kind of bad habit, start a book but not continuing with it). But I was looking for a fresh read and looking at my (not) shrinking TBR pile guilt swam in me with all my unread books just sitting there (for years) so I decided to give this bad girl another try.
I honestly don't know why it took me so long to read/pick this one up again! It wasn't perfect by all means but it satisfied me. One of the things that got a little annoying was Gwen constantly running into Logan, typical in young adult paranormals, but it was refreshing when the storyline wasn't surrounded around the romance. It was completely focused on Gwen solving the murder of one of her classmates, Jasmine. Gwen was working late at the library and ended up finding Jasmine dead on the floor. The first thing she does is runs towards her to help her, even though it's clear Jasmine is dead. This is the beginning that'll lead Gwen into finding her purpose in life.
Gwen has a lot of guilt in her, blaming herself for her mothers death. At first I didn't get why she felt all this guilt, not completely even though it's obvious why and it wasn't something she should have blamed herself for, but by the ending I understood. She didn't have to pick up that hairbrush and "see" what was going on in her ex-schoolmates home but she wanted to, she wanted to know the secret behind the girls hesitant eyes and it ended up getting Gwen into trouble. Whenever Gwen starts talking about that day and night, it's intense, especially what she "saw". Though I even got a little uncomfortable myself with it sometimes, it made this storyline unique and it pulled me in. I feel like there was a lot of things that made this read unique, made it feel like the author was pushing a few boundaries and she was, I loved it! She wasn't afraid to shy away from certain things teens do, things that parents want to hide or deny, like sex. Though she doesn't get graphic, she just doesn't sugar coat the action young adults take sometimes either, it was quite refreshing! You don't see that a lot in young adult books.
I honestly feel like this was a refreshing read for me! I liked how Gwen was going to school with a bunch of mythical warriors yet she didn't believe all the stories and what she was learning in this weird private school until she started to truly see it with her own eyes. Truly see that there was an evil out to get them and see that Loki was trying to be set free. I was actually quite surprised that this was about Greek Gods and what not, I didn't see that coming by the summary. It was a nice little twist to this!
Overall Touch of Frost instantly hooked me! All I wanted to do was read this book and nothing else, I just wanted to get lost in the story! I've got to say Gwen's story is unique and refreshing, makes me want to read the rest of my young adult books! Though I know from other reviewers they got annoyed with everyone calling Gwen "The Gypsy Girl" or just the author constantly saying "Gypsy" in reference to her gift (I understand why, because it's a constant thing and I felt we were being constantly reminded about things that was previously said *rolls eyes*) however they think it's the author's way of calling her a Romani girl but in truth it has nothing to do with her heritage, we don't even know if she's Romani. It's just what her family calls these physic gifts that was brought upon them, you'll learn the real reason why as you get deeper into the story, so stick through it, it's absolutely worth the read!
Also, I wasn't real surprised when we found out who was behind all the disturbances at the school but I was still sitting on the edge of my seat, waiting to see where this would go! Even though with everything tying up nicely at the end I'm still looking forward to continuing this series! I'm definitely intrigued of where Mrs. Estep is going to take Gwen next!
Touch of Frost is action packed, full of interesting characters, and one that changes up a little bit in the young adult paranormal formula! It was quite refreshing for me!
Sweet Readings Everybody!
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