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