Touch of Frost
Touch of Frost by Jennifer Estep
Mythos Academy #1
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. . .
Gwen's life used to be normal. Well as normal as it can be for a touch sensitive gypsy. Then her mom died and she was sent to Mythos Academy. The school is full of students who are descendants of the ancient warriors, and going there can be deadly. When the meanest girl in school, Jasmine, is brutally murdered and a magical artifact was stolen, everyone goes about their business like nothing has happened. However, Gwen is determined to get to the bottom of things, no matter what it takes, because she could have easily been killed right along side Jasmine.
One of the best parts of Touch of Frost was watching Gwen's progression throughout the book. At the start of the book, Gwen is a loner, practically invisible to her classmates. Of course, that could be because she really isn't like the rest of them. There is a little bitterness in her over this, but as time goes on and she opens up to others, this fades. It was pretty obvious that there was a reason for her to be at the school, but it remained a mystery for most of the book. I can honestly say, I wasn't quite expecting the revelation that was made, but I really enjoyed the direction things are taking. In fact, it really opened up a whole slew of possibilities in the future for Gwen, and I can't wait to see more.
I would have to say that the world behind Touch of Frost is the icing on the cake. I simply cannot resist a good story based on mythology, and this one took that love one step further in adding a modern twist. All of the students are direct descendents of the warriors from ancient times. In fact they are just as likely to chop someone's head off as they are to say hello. To be honest, it reminded me just a little of Percy Jackson, (in an older setting), with a little mean girls thrown in, as well as some amateur sleuthing. I realize that there have been a lot of mythology books published lately, but none of them are quite like this. In fact, I think it is set apart from the others, and may just be my favorite one yet.
Touch of Frost has been on my to be read list since long before it was even released. I love Jennifer Estep's Elemental Assassin series, and I am a huge fan of mythology, so naturally I was very excited about this new young adult series. Unfortunately, with all the review books already on my tbr pile, sometimes there are "personal" books that I can't seem to get to. However, when I received the second book in the series, that gave me the perfect excuse to knock this book up to the top of the list, and boy am I glad I did. This book is everything I have come to expect from this fantastic author. Full of suspense, danger, mystery, and even a little romance, Touch of Frost is incredibly entertaining, and I found almost impossible to put down.
(Received a copy from the publisher)
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