Touch of Frost (Mythos Academy Novels) [Paperback]

Gwen Frost isn't sure why she had to change school to go to Mythos Academy. Sure she is a Gypsy and whenever she touches an object she sees it's history. But at a school full of rich and glamorous Romans, Amazons, Vikings and Valkiries she is still the weird and geeky new student who's trying to deal with the death of her mom.
When Jasmine Ashton, one of the most popular girls on campus, is murdered and a powerful artifact is stolen, Gwen decides to start her own investigation.
Will Gwen be able to solve the mystery and will she discover why she has to attend Mythos Academy?

Jennifer Estep's Elemental Assassin series is one of my favourite Urban Fantasy series, because the books are very entertaining, the characters are fascinating and the plot is thrilling. So of course I was super excited when I learned that Estep created a new UF series for young adults.

When my preordered (I love preordering books!) copy of "Touch of Frost" arrived I expected an entertaining book that would transport me into a fascinating world full of mythological creatures. And that's exactly what I got once I started with this fantastic book.

As always Jennifer Estep's writing style was very engaging and managed to keep my interest on all pages of the book. In my opinion Estep is a true entertainer, her books always bring me a lot of fun and the time while reading her books is full of wonderful moments, thoughts and feelings.

The urban fantasy world in "Touch of Frost" was mesmerizing and I loved that mythological creatures like Spartans, Valkyries, Amazons and Gods came alive and were even normal. Seeing them as young adults was fun. The author herself names Xena, Veronica Mars and 300 as some of her inspirations for the Mythos Academy series. The combination of these three is so much fun and in my opinion a perfect mix. You get some of the mythology and action as seen in Xena & 300, and you get the amateur sleuth elements as seen in Veronica Mars.

Gwen is a superb heroine. She's a bit geeky (and proud of it), nosy, sceptical of Mythos Academy and the loss of her mom a few months ago hit her hard. I loved that Gwen had such a wonderful relationship with her mom and that she also had a special relationship with her grandma. I'm a sucker for great relationships between children and their parents, so that's one thing I loved in "Touch of Frost". The way Gwen tried to deal with her mother's death was at times heart-breaking. I enjoyed that she put her sorrow into the investigation of Jasmine's death and that she tried to bring her justice.

Gwen special abilities were fascinating, it must be hard to try to always avoid touching something owned by someone else. I enjoyed that Estep showed that having such an ability can be an obligation because you have to decide what to do with your knowledge. I furthermore enjoyed that even though at times dealing with her psychometry was hard, Gwen still liked her ability.

I also liked that Gwen found some new friends at Mythos Academy, even though Daphne was at first not the nicest girl. The way their relationship changed was great and it was nice that both Gwen and Daphne found someone to have fun with and to talk about private things.

Another character I loved reading about is Logan. He's hot, fights like a true Spartan and he definitely cares for Gwen. But he has secrets that he is not willing to share with her right now and I'm excited to learn more about him and his life. And of course I'm hoping that he and Gwen will get a chance to start a relationship.

I don't want to give away any details about the investigation and about the secrets Gwen uncovers, because discovering these things for yourself will be a lot of fun.

cover
I like that the cover has a clean and stylish look, plus I love the sword on it. And I like the colours and the positioning of the title and the author's name.

final appraisal
"Touch of Frost" is an amazingly entertaining book and I had great time while reading it. If you like stories that deal with mythology and the fight of good against evil then you should enjoy this story. The combination of the investigation, the fight scenes, the mythology and the entertaining moments was in my opinion perfect and I'm super excited to read more about Gwen and the others.
Go and read the book if you are looking for a new and fascinating UF young adult series that will transport you in a fascinating world in which mythological creatures are part of the world.

Gwen has been an outcast since she started at the Mythos Academy, with the student's all training to be warriors and claiming to be from families of Spartans, Amazons & Valkyries, Gwen is the uncoordinated one who struggles to make it through weapons training without doing herself an injury. She does have an ability though, she may not be good at fighting but she is able to know the history of every item she touches and feel the emotions of people who touched it before she did. Gwen doesn't really want to be at the Academy though, she doesn't believe in the myths and legends that she is taught and isn't quite sure what to make of the fact that everyone else seems to think they're true. When she discovers the body of another student she becomes determined to find out who was behind the murder, along the way she will also discover just why she was sent to Mythos Academy in the first place.

In a market flooded with vampires and werewolves Touch of Frost stands out for it's use of mythology - Gods & Goddesses, Valkyries, Amazons Spartans, Romans & even Vikings all have their part to play (not a vamp or were in sight!). The world building is strong but not overwhelming and I'm looking forward to finding out more as the series progresses. The story moves along at a good pace and I loved the action and fight scenes.

Gwen is a great character, a self-confessed geek who loves comics and doesn't care about fashion she struggles to fit in at a school where everyone else seems perfect. Gwen comes across as very independent but deep down she is incredible lonely, she is still struggling to cope with her mum's death and doesn't have anyone at school to turn to. I loved the fact that she has a strong relationship with her grandmother though and she does find others she can rely on as the story progresses. Gwen's gift is as much of a curse as it is a blessing, she has seen some terrible things because of it but she copes amazingly well and is determined to use her gift to do something positive. There were a couple of times that I felt Gwen was acting a bit younge than her age (which I think is about 16/17?) but that may just be the fact that I'm getting old and it didn't stop my enjoyment of the story. Gwen is the kind of character that may be shy but she won't let anyone walk all over her and I appreciate someone who can stand up for herself.

The other stand out character for me was Daphne, when we first meet her she is one of the school mean girls and I really didn't like her. She changes a lot throughout the book though and I came to love her by the end, she has such a snarky sense of humor that I really enjoyed. It was nice to see her friendship with Gwen develop and I felt that they were good for each other. Potential love interest Logan is a character I'm looking forward to seeing more of, he is a Spartan and the school bad boy but he is also very protective and has the whole hero thing going for him. He is definitely hiding something though so I'm curious to find out more about that in future books.

Overall Touch of Frost is a great start to a new series, it is the first book I've read by Jennifer Estep but I've been wanting to read her adult series (Elemental Assassins) for a while now and am definitely planning on picking it up soon. I'm looking forward to seeing what happens to Gwen in the next book, Kiss of Frost, which luckily is out in November so I don't have too long to wait!

Lately I've started reading books that have a great deal of mythology, and you know what? I love it. When I was little it was a fascinating subject for me, and I'm glad my passion is returning. And I know I'm just starting to discover all the awesomeness! And as such, Touch of Frost didn't let me down a bit in this. Sometimes it got a little confusing, but it was the way the main character felt, so I can't say much about it. I'm dying to discover more of that world in the next book! Oh, and did I mention it's in a school? That, in my opinion, made it even better.

I had a couple of issues with the main character, Gwen. I liked her concept; kick-ass heroine with her not-so-normal gift called psychometry that enables her to know everything that's happened involving that particular object or person, if it's the case. But, to me, it seemed like she was always scoffing at everybody. Almost to the point of being disrespectful. For example: there was a girl in her school that supposedly slept around a lot. Okay, but calling her "slut" every time? And if two people were kissing, they were "sucking face". I don't know, but for me it seemed too much.

In the midst of it all there is Logan Quinn, a Spartan (the deadliest kind of mythic warrior). I liked reading about him (who wouldn't? A hot guy that knows how to fight!). Sadly, their romance seemed too forced. Gwen hated him at first, and then she suddenly was in love for him. Simply... no. And him? During the book it seemed like he liked her, but in the end, out of the blue, he's cold towards her. Yep, I felt puzzled.

All in all, loved the world and the setting, but the characters and the love story could be better. Nonetheless, I'm curious to know how it will turn out and to know more about their world! So I guess I'll be reading the next one. I hope Gwen won't seem like such a hater and the romance gets better.