Friday, June 29, 2012

Touch of Frost by Jennifer Estep

Release Date: Out now!

Publisher: Kensington Publishing

Pages: 350pgs

The Story

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 . . .

The Review

Jennifer Estep writes books with such an unique voice and I've been a big fan of hers with her adult, urban fantasy Elemental Assassin series for quite some time now. With her new young adult series I was pretty intrigued by it and I've been meaning to pick this book up sooner than I did, but I finally got around to it and I really enjoyed it!

Gwen Frost is a new student at Mythos Academy and often feels like the odd one out because she is the only Gypsy attending the school. With other students being known for their bloodlines of Valkyries, Amazons, Vikings and all sorts of amazing ancient myths that you can possibly think of . . . Gwen believes her own abilities and strength can never really measure up to these students. For you see Gwen's power . . . she can read objects and tell which person they had belonged to originally - like a mini history lesson going through her mind - and she can even touch people and forsee what they're thinking or feeling, and what events had occured during their whole lives. While this ability can come in handy for dangerous situations however for Gwen it leaves her outside the social circle, and most of this is because no one wants her to know their deep and dark hidden secrets.

While the overall storyline was a little sidetracked for me and perhaps there were a lot of things happening all at once that confused me a wee bit, but I really loved Gwen Frost as a main character as she offered up a lot to the storyline which made it stronger and beyond hilarious at certain times in the book. She wasn't the best of heroines but she was the only character I really felt any connection to and in addition to that, she was someone with a badassery side to her which she had eventually grown into . . . so I'm very happy about that factor! But with that being said, while I loved the mythology parts weaved into the storyline and even how the book had that Percy Jackson feel to it, but the only thing I was really disappointed in was the romance.

For the romance section of the book, while it wasn't heavily focussed on - which for me doesn't happen very often in YA books since too much romance can sometimes take away your attention to the actual storyline and blah blah blah - but for this kind of book and the way it was heading towards, I was kind of hoping for a solid romance to be apart of this book and give me a team to start rooting for! But for me the romance fell flat and eventually it fell apart with these two main characters of ours, Gwen and the hot-but-the-also-dangerous Logan Quinn or what as I like to call him 'The Spartan Dude'. For my romantic love interests I want some 'sizzle' and some 'bang' between my characters, but for Gwen and Logan in particular, I just couldn't see the attraction lying between the characters, especially between Gwen and this Spartan Dude. Just couldn't see what drove them together in the first place. I mean, I love Gwen but Logan was the boy I wanted to love but ended up hating him for being so . . . well, being too bad at being Mr. Hottie Mysterious. Not my greatest quotation in reviews but that's how I felt.

On a whole I thought TOUCH OF FROST was a great start for a young adult series and I'm seriously looking forward to seeing what the author writes up next for her main characters, especially since the ending at the end of the book was a bit harsh but it was also probably necessary . . . at least for the time being! While I admit that I prefer Estep's adult series over her new YA series, but I would still highly recommend giving this book a go!

The Rating

3 1/2 / 5 stars

21 comments:

  1. Ive just started reading this book awhile ago but hasnt been able to get back to it, but I will have to agree with you that I loved Gwen's character too. I am not yet to the part where Logan walks in the scene but im looking forward in reading it. I also understand you about the romance part... it could be the only thing that could ruin it, but im still going to finish it hopefully soon. Great review Erin. x
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    1. Thanks! Gwen is definitely a great character. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts about this book!

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  2. I keep meaning to buy this series. Fab review.

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  3. I've been meaning to read this. I have the second book sitting on my shelf. Great review :)

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  4. I LOVE books about schools for mythical beings so this was piqued my interest. I've heard mixed things about this book but I need to give this book a shot myself. Sorry the romance wasn't great but I'm glad it works for you overall!

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    1. There are some mixed things about this book but definitely give it a shot.

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  5. I agree about the romance, I wasn't really sold either. Also felt this book dragged on at parts, but I liked it over all! I think the second book is slightly better, so hope you like that one a bit more. Great review :).

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    1. It did drag along but I hope the second book is much better. Anyway thanks, Liz.

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  6. Nice review, hun! I know Jennifer's name, but I've never read anything by her but I trust your opinion so I'm going to add both series to my list!

    I like the sound of Gwen and I think her powers sound awesome!

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    1. Thank you. Gwen is a fantastic character to have, so definitely put this book on your list! It's worth a read.

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  7. Bah, sucks to hear there's no ZING between Logan and 'The Spartan Dude'! Romance isn't the be-all and end-all for me, but if it's present, I NEED to feel the chemistry between the characters.

    Aside from it's flaws, I'm still happy to hear you were a fan of this! I read so much praise for Jennifer Estep's books, I REALLY need to give them a go someday! Awesome review!

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    1. Damn the Spartan Dude!!! haha. Romance is the end all for me either, but I don't know . . . I just don't like romances there are there and yet are not there if you know what I mean. I hope the second book is better for me. Anyway thanks, Brodie!

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  8. Yay! Greek mythology + boarding school = super duper awesome! I looooove the Percy Jackson (movie, haven't read the books) and the similarities are definitely selling! Everything but the romance sounds really awesome -- although every time you said "The Spartan Dude", I giggled like crazy, so maybe imagining that while I read this may give it a bit more spark LOL! x)

    Awesome honest review, Erin! :) <3

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    1. I got this because I love the author and because of the Percy Jackson feel to it . . . but yeah, I giggled everytime I mentioned 'The Spartan Dude' too. But that's what he actually IS so it's fitting. haha.

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  9. I love greek mythology so thanks for bringing this book to my attention, sounds like just my kind of thing! Great review!

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    1. Thank you. If you love greek mythology, you'll love this.

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  10. Aw, bah! I actually liked this more than the Elemental series (Estep has this tendency to repeat herself in them which frives me NUTS), but I'm sorry you didn't love-love it! SO glad you still liked it. I kind of want all the books that all my friends to read to be fives, because I want them to enjoy EVERYTHING... does that make any sense? I mean, I can SEE you still liked this... but... err... *shuts up* ^__^

    So agree with your gripes, and I'm still really keen to keep reading the series!

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    1. LOL. Funny how we're opposites on certain books. I prefer the Elemental series over this one, just enjoyed it more. But yes, you make total sense. haha.

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  11. I've had this book for well over six months and it just kinda sits there. I'm looking forward to reading it as it does sound good but I'm dissapointed you found that the romance fell flat. I want that spark and electricty when I read a boook.

    Oh well. Great review Erin---you make me eager to me The Spartan Dude. Haha <3

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    1. Thanks Rachel. Can't wait til I hear your thoughts on The Spartan Dude. He's . . . interesting. haha.

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