Review "Kiss of Frost" by Jennifer Estep

Kiss of Frost (Mythos Academy #2)

Jennifer Estep

Publication Date: November 29, 2011

Publisher: Kensington

Paperback 354 pgs

Goodreads

Summary:

     In Kiss of Frost we are back with Gwen as she navigates life at the Mythos Academy. After nearly being killed in Touch of Frost, Gwen is forced to take warrior lessons from Logan Quinn and some of his Spartan friends. How will Gwen deal with being so close to the guy that rejected her and cracked her heart? She gets a brief break from all the training and heartache when her best friend Daphne forces her to go to the Winter Carnival which is pretty much a fun filled party with skiing during the day. But someone is after Gwen and trouble follows her all the way to the Winter Carnival. Will Gwen be able to figure out who is after her before it's too late?

Review:

     The main reason I like Gwen as a leading character is because she seems so real. It's the moments that she is unsure of herself that allow me to connect with her. If she were perfect and knew what she was doing all the time the story wouldn't be as fun for me to read. I like watching Gwen slowly start to grown into who she is, as she gets stronger and becomes more secure with her psychometry (touch magic). This is one of my favorite parts of the series that and the mythology. Since Gwen is still young she makes plenty of mistakes. Mistakes that could have been avoided but she doesn't entirely think things through at times. And of course these lapses in judgement end up endangering her life. We also get to see that Gwen's powers are growing as she learns a new skill that could be very useful especially since the Reaper of Chaos want her dead. 

     Logan the super hot Spartan has been tasked with teaching Gwen how to use weapons so that she can defend herself if and when the reapers come after her. We do learn a little more about the mysterious Logan. This information gave me a little insight as to who Logan is but of course I would still like to know more. There wasn't as much Gwen and Logan interaction as I would have liked. but it makes sense that they wouldn't spend a lot of time together after Logan rejected her. But I really like exchanges between them and hopefully there will be more in the next book.

     Daphne and Gwen's friendship continues to develop as the new best friend's spend more time together. She helps Gwen learn the ins and outs of the Academy.  I love that Daphne used to be one of the stuck up popular girls but she has shown that she is much more than that. Plus, I love that she has pink sparks flying out of her fingers because of her Valkyrie magic. Daphne is still with Carson a Celt who is also the leader of the marching band. Carson is super nice, kind of shy and also becoming good friends with Gwen. We meet a few new characters who are friends of Logan's, Oliver and Kenzie. The two guys help Logan as he tries to help Gwen learn to fight. 

     In this installment we learn more about what it means for Gwen to be a champion and how challenging and dangerous that role really is. We also meet another mythological creatures, Fenir Wolves. The mythology aspects of these books are part of the reason the story is so entertaining. I love learning about new pieces of Gwen's mythological world in each book. More insight is given into what the Reaper's of Chaos are up to and why. Though I liked this book and read it in a day I was a little disappointed by it. At times I found the story to be predictable. I would have liked to be a little more surprised when certain plot twists were revealed. But overall Kiss of Frost was a quick, light, fun read that had me smiling. I am eager to see more of these characters, and their world in the next book, Dark Frost.

Cover:

     So far Kiss of Frost is my favorite cover out of the series. I like how the girl has her eyes closed and is covered in snow. It's pretty and makes me want to know what's up with all the snow? 

Review: "Touch of Frost" Jennifer Estep

Touch of Frost (Mythos Academy #1)

Jennifer Estep

Publication Date: July 26, 2011

Publisher: Kensington Publishing Corp.

Paperback 350 pgs

Goodreads

Summary: 

     Touch of Frost is the first book in the Mythos Academy series. Gwen Frost is a student at Mythos Academy a place where myths have literally come to life. Along side Gwen are Spartans, Valkyries, Amazons, Romans, and many more. Each student is deadly in their own way and Gwen is forced to go to school among all these warrior students. Things are not what they seem at the Academy, a student gets murdered and a priceless artifact is stolen from the expansive library. Gwen sets out to figure out who killed the murdered student, Jasmine Aston

Review:
    I really enjoyed this book. It was a quick read that had me captivated. I felt bad for the main character Gwen because she is so isolated from those around her. She doesn't feel as though she belongs since she is so different from the other students. All of the students are warriors and Gwen doesn't even like gym on top of that she isn't remotely good at handling weapons. Along with not being a warrior Gwen has a strange gift that keeps her from getting too close to other people. Her gift comes in handy but it also has a major downside.

     The other characters that were introduced were Logan Quinn a deadly Spartan who could kill with any weapon or whatever happens to be lying around. He is known as a total bad boy with dark hair and icey blue eyes and he plays the part really well. Gwen's gift is first discussed when she corners Daphne a Valkyrie, who shoots pink sparks out of her fingers. Daphne is your typical snotty rich girl who ends up getting more involved in Gwen's life than she ever planned. Lastly, there is Carson who may be a nerd but like everyone else is an amazing warrior.

     The mythology aspects of this book are original and kept me reading as quickly as possible so I could see what happens next. We are introduced to Loki a god who turned evil and tried to take control over the other gods. Then there are the Reapers of Chaos who are the bad guys that follow Loki and are out to kill everyone on the side of The Pantheon the good guys. The students at the Academy are learning to fight the Reapers and never know when a Reaper might appear. Even though the students are protected there are ways to get around that protection.

     My only issue with Touch of Frost was the repeated use of a character's first and last name. Half way through the book i didn't need to be reminded that Quinn was Logan's last name. It got a tiny bit annoying.

All in all I really really liked Touch of Frost. I thought the characters and the story were quite original. I can't wait to see what happens next.

Cover:

     I  think the cover is nice but it just doesn't scream get me, to me.