Category Archives: Young Adult

Kiss of Frost
(Mythos Academy, #2)
By: Jennifer Estep
Publisher: K-Teen
Published: Nov. 29, 2011
Genre: Fantasy/Mythology YA
Rating:

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I’m Gwen Frost, a second-year warrior-in-training at Mythos Acad­emy, and I have no idea how I’m going to sur­vive the rest of the semes­ter. One day, I’m get­ting schooled in sword­play by the guy who broke my heart—the drop-dead gor­geous Logan who slays me every time. Then, an invis­i­ble archer in the Library of Antiq­ui­ties decides to use me for tar­get prac­tice. And now, I find out that some­one at the acad­emy is really a Reaper bad guy who wants me dead. I’m afraid if I don’t learn how to live by the sword—with Logan’s help—I just might die by the sword…

In the second installment of Mythos Academy we pick up shortly after Touch of Frost left off. The kids are getting ready to go to the yearly winter festival at a ski lodge and Gwen is convinced that there is another Reaper after her. Of course, going to the fesitval doesn’t really help matters. The Reaper has seemed to follow her and has pulled a bunch of tricks in order to kill her. However, Gwen’s learned a trick of her own to help her survive.

I was really hoping that once the the first book was out of the way and the ball was rolling that this one would start off with a bang, but that’s not the case. The author does a lot of reviewing about not only what took place in the last book, but about the characters themselves and the world that she created. I found myself skimming over a bit of the book to get to the story. Maybe if I hadn’t jumped from the first book straight to this one, the reviewing of everything wouldn’t have bothered me as much but I felt like I was reading the first in a series all over again.

I liked that the author added in more characters to the forefront. We get more interaction with Logan’s Spartan friends. They actually start training Gwen with weapons and self-defense. Plus there is a change of scenery since the students go away for the annual Winter Carnival at a ski lodge. And there is a potential new love interest for Gwen, who just might help her get her mind off of Logan and the fact that he’s moving on with another girl.

But… it felt very much like Frostbite to me. I know in my last review I said fans of Vampire Academy would enjoy this and they would. There are similarities between the two books that almost feel like it’s a re-telling of the story with a few variations mixed in.

I really enjoy the mythology in this story. I like the characters and the world that the author has created. I even like that it reminds me of VA since that is my favorite series. I will definitely continue with the series.

“Since coming to Mythos, I’d almost been run through with a sword and mauled to death by a killer kitty cat. Dirty looks didn’t faze me anymore.”

Previous reviews from Mythos Academy
Touch of Frost

Born at Midnight
(Shadow Falls, #1)
By: C.C. Hunter
Publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin
Publisher: March 29, 2011
Genre: Paranormal YA
Rating:

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One night Kylie Galen finds herself at the wrong party, with the wrong people, and it changes her life forever. Her mother ships her off to Shadow Falls—a camp for troubled teens, and within hours of arriving, it becomes painfully clear that her fellow campers aren’t just “troubled.” Here at Shadow Falls, vampires, werewolves, shapeshifters, witches and fairies train side by side—learning to harness their powers, control their magic and live in the normal world.

Kylie’s never felt normal, but surely she doesn’t belong here with a bunch of paranormal freaks either. Or does she? They insist Kylie is one of them, and that she was brought here for a reason. As if life wasn’t complicated enough, enter Derek and Lucas. Derek’s a half-fae who’s determined to be her boyfriend, and Lucas is a smokin’ hot werewolf with whom Kylie shares a secret past. Both Derek and Lucas couldn’t be more different, but they both have a powerful hold on her heart.

Even though Kylie feels deeply uncertain about everything, one thing is becoming painfully clear—Shadow Falls is exactly where she belongs…

Kylie is sent to a summer camp after being arrested. She thinks it’s a camp for troubled teens but it doesn’t take her long to realize that that is not the case at all. This is a summer camp for supernaturals and even though she doesn’t think she belongs there, her night terrors and the “stalker” that no one else sees are proof that she’s right where she needs to be.

I liked that even though this story focuses on Kylie, we get background information on a handful of other characters as well. So I found myself getting attached to more than just the main character. She has two quirky roommates, one is a vampire, and the other is a witch who seems to have a pet toad, but is later revealed as a spell gone wrong on a sleazy man. There’s a cute guy who instantly takes an interest in Kylie and a bad boy who is of course also interested in her. However, I feel like he gets first dibs since he’s a neighbor from her childhood. Yes, this has the makings of your typical eye-rolling love triangle but I really enjoyed it.

I’m a huge fan of the title and series name. Too many times the series is named after the first book. However, the title comes from the fact that all supernaturals are born at midnight and Shadow Falls is the name of the camp where Kylie realizes that she’s not who she thought she was and will ultimately come into the supernatural that she’s meant to be.

And can I just take a second to applaud the author for not turning this book into a clique teen story. There is no “popular girl” who makes Kylie’s life hell. There really aren’t any cliques either. I liked that all the kids were there to not only learn about who they are but to get to know about other supes as well.

I’m most definitely going to be keeping up with this series. We still don’t know what Kylie is but I have a feeling that we will find out in the next book.

“I personally think the downside of being able to change into anything is the fear that you don’t know who you really are.”

Scorch
(Croak, #2)
By: Gina Damico
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Published: Sept. 25, 2012
Genre: Paranormal YA
Rating:

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Sixteen-year-old Lex Bartleby is a teenage grim reaper with the bizarre ability to damn souls. That makes her pretty scary, even to fellow Grims. But after inadvertently transferring her ability to Zara, a murderous outlaw, Lex is a pariah in Croak, the little town she calls home.

To escape the townspeople’s wrath, she and her friends embark on a wild road trip to DeMyse. Though this sparkling desert oasis is full of luxuries and amusements, it feels like a prison to Lex. Her best chance at escape would be to stop Zara once and for all—but how can she do that from DeMyse, where the Grims seem mysteriously oblivious to Zara’s killing spree?

We pick up shortly after Croak left off. Lex is still dealing with the loss that took place in the previous book. She’s not the same old snarky Lex that we’re used to. She’s reserved, quite and a bit sulky. However, it doesn’t take long for her to start to return to her old self, but she will never be the same. Not to mention she still has a killer she has to catch and the townsfolk of Croak have turned not only against her, but her uncle (who’s mayor) as well.

The way the synopsis reads I thought that they would be on an adventure from the get go but that’s not the case. In fact they don’t actually head off to DeMyse until the last quarter of the book. The whole beginning of the book is the fallout of what took place in the last book as well as developing a little bit more of the story and mystery.

Again, Gina is amazing when it comes to creating interesting characters. We get two new characters added to the ranks of reaper, Bang and Pip. Bang doesn’t talk, instead she signs in her own way (not ASL) and Pip… well he’s a motor mouth. He talks a mile a minute and doesn’t have an off switch. The two new characters definitely added a little something to the table. Plus, we get King Tut! I mean… how many books have you read where King Tut is in it? I bet you didn’t know that he could bench press a camel named Lumpy? HAH! See that right there is why you must read the book. Gina is one crazy chick and her awesomeness shows in her writing.

Again, she leaves us with another cliffhanger. However, it works because it ends this chapter in their lives and starts a new journey in the next one. However, there are a lot of questions left unanswered and I for one will be tuning in to Rogue to see what happens next. Gina has skyrocketed to one of my top fave authors with the two books that she’s wrote. I love the way she creates a story, doesn’t get bogged down with mundane details and give her characters so many various personalities that you wish they were real so that you could try to befriend them. Seriously, I want a psychotic Lex as my friend.

There were so many freaking favorites that it was hard to choose just one but alas, I went with a Mort, Lex, Driggs combo. You see, since Lex and Driggs are dating and they are a pair of hormone driven teenagers, Uncle Mort and installed cameras throughout the house so that he can make sure there’s no hanky panky taking place.

“‘Hot today, huh?’ he shouted one evening before dinner, popping his head into the living room as Lex and Driggs dove to opposite ends of the couch. ‘Better cool down soon.’ He grinned and made one of those two-fingered I’m-watching-you gestures.”

Previous reviews from Croak
Croak

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Touch of Frost
(Mythos Academy, #1)
By: Jennifer Estep
Publisher: K-Teen
Published: Aug. 1, 2011
Genre: Fantasy Mythology YA
Rating:

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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 is just a gypsy in a school of Valkyries and Spartans. Whereas some kids can crush diamonds in their hands, Gwen can touch an object and can get flashes of what the person was thinking/feeling at the time. Not such a handy gift when everyone around you can squash you like a bug by just breathing on you. So when she stumbles across a murder while working at the library, she starts to use her power to see if she can figure out who the killer is. The only problem is, that person is gunning for her life, and the only thing standing between her and certain death is a Spartan who always seems to be at the right place at the right time.

“Logan Quinn was the kind of guy who could stab me in the eye with a freaking Twizzler.”

I love stories that revolve around mythology. Any time I see a book like this, I’m always quick to grab it. I liked that Gwen is sort of the underdog in this story but what you come to find out later is the gift that set her apart from everyone is also the gift that will make her even more special that those around her.

However, the story was very slow for me in the first half. Nothing seemed to really go on. Gwen is a loner. She has no friends and she sneaks off campus to go to her grandmother’s house. So nothing really exciting takes place until she starts befriending characters and starts learning that there is more to her power than first assumed. Once the story started to roll, I found myself more interested in Gwen and what was going on. I think a lot of it was just the world building and the author setting stage for the series. I’m sure that now that we know what’s going on, the next book will hit the ground running.

If you’re a fan of Vampire Academy then you should give this a try. It definitely has that feel to it, minus the older guy, younger chick thing going on. I’m definitely going to be picking up the next book to see what happens next.

“Yeah, well this Gypsy girl happens to have a grandma that can curse you so bad that your dick will turn black and fall off, so watch your step, Spartan.”