Touch Of Frost

I had heard good thing sabout Jennifer's YA series Mythos Academy, and it sounded like something I would typically enjoy; a story inspired by mythology with a misfit heroine trying to figure out her role in a new chapter in her life. Most readers who have read a good amount of YA can name a handful of series that follow this formula; but there's something about this familiarity of a story that works in Mythos Academy's favour, something that makes it as charming and enjoyable as its predeccesors.

Reasons to Read:

1.A new spin on an old tale:

There's no shortage of books involving extraordinary teenagers in boarding school, where they need to learn to defend themselves and ultimately defeat their mortal enemies. But I think part of the reason there are so many books like this is because they're read often and sell well. The plot relies on a number of archetypes, but what I particularly enjoyed about Jennifer Estep's version in Touch of Frost is that she does not heavily rely upon any one kind of mythology, the way that Percy Jackson does for example. Mythology clearly influences the story and plays an important role, but the story stands on its own very well. The mythology, in this case, almost seems to take a backseat to the rest of the story rather than being the driving force for it. That's something truly remarkable and rather unheard of in these types of books.

2.A heroine with her head on straight:

'Kay, this was easily my favourite thing about Gwen, but I LOVED how level-headed she was! She'd get sidetracked by the cute boy in front of her for about a minute, then go right back to whatever it was she was doing. She's incredibly focused, and I liked that instead of moping around about how life isn't fair and she's drawn a poor hand (which I truly wouldn't judge her for, because it's true) she focuses her energy into her own projects. I also found Jennifer's writing to be enjoyable, and rather clever in dry-wit, punny kind of way which clearly came through as Gwen's voice. But that's exactly the kind of humour I appreciate, so I thought it was great!

3.Super-sleuth girl:

I have a weakness for books that follow a "whodunnit" mystery storyline! I love trying to piece together all the pieces of the puzzle, to see if I can guess who the bad guy is. I tried really hard this time, honest. But even then, my guess was just a tad off. I WAS able to figure out the first half of it, and I even figured out the right person... I just had the wrong plan entirely. Bonus points for Touch of Frost since it DIDN'T end up being totally predictable and surprised me.

4.Some unexpected secondary characters:

I also liked getting to see some unexpected sides of characers I initially thought would remain rather two dimensional through the series; to be fair, I did find the villain in this first book to be rather bland but I think the secondary characters that we got to know better as the story progressed made up for it. Gwen makes some surprising friends, and it's a relief to see an author willing to break some stereotypes.

Touch of Frost easily incorporates anything and everything one would expect from a paranormal romance YA read; it's fun, exciting, with a healthy dose of mystery and romance.

There are a number of elements found in Touch of Frost that readers will be familiar with; it's fairly predictable, and similar to any Harry Potter or Percy Jackson book, there's plenty of foreshadowing in the information provided at the beginning of the book for what is to come by the end of it. So don't expect anything earth shattering or incredibly creative; it's a fault I also find in the aforementioned series as well. This is still a fast-paced read that's well worth reading, and one that had me going to the bookstore to buy the sequel as soon as I finished this one.

Paperback copy received as gift.

The Good Stuff

As usual Jennifer writes a fantastic story that has you hooked from the very first paragraph and doesn't let you go until the very last sentence
Tons of Estep's trademark quirky humour laced with fun pop culture references (Bonus points for mentions of Buffy, Xena and Karma Girl)
Intriguing storyline with plenty of twists and turns
Love Gwen and her Grandmother - Estep always writes kick ass heroines
Logan is hot - he's up there with Finn in my bad boy book boyfriends
Yummy sounding food - had to make the Pumpkin Cream Cheese Roll she mentions, drooled every-time she mentioned it
Great dialogue with tons of witty and snarky comments
SPOILER - Love the developing relationship between Gwen and Daphne
Dying to read the next book in the series coming out at the end of November
Need to get a job at the Library - what a creative and funky sounding library (but the Librarian is a jerk -- how about a hip fun Librarian named maybe either Rayment or Porter who has some kick ass skills & snappy comebacks)

The Not So Good Stuff

I totally took off points for the character of Nickamedes the Librarian since he is an uptight jerk Librarian (and we know how I feel about negative librarian references LOL)
Some repetitive mentions of plot points - Estep is definitely doing less of this, but I do still notice (I think its because I am sensitive to this - I get the point don't knock me over the head with it) This actually might be helpful to more reluctant readers - just a heads up

Favorite Quotes/Passages

"So far, Professor Metis had been pretty vague about what exactly the chaos was, and I hadn't exactly been paying rapt attention to all the mumbo-jumbo magic stuff. But I was guessing it involved death, destruction and blah, blah, blah. I'd much rather read the comic books that I had stashed in the bottom of my messenger bag. At least they had some basis in reality. Genetic mutations could totally happen."

"At least, that's what Nickamedes, the head librarian, claimed. I just thought he liked the free slave labor and bossing me around."

"I wouldn't say hate, exactly. You're kind of like fungus, Gwen. After a while, you just start growing on people."
"So I'm mold. Wonderful. So why don't you just scrub me off and go sit with your Valkyrie friends like usual?"


4.5 Dewey's (Only cuz I'm picky about stereotypical Library characters)

I borrowed this from Natasha, since I haven't yet recieved the copy that I pre-ordered (must get off my butt and rectify that)

Jennifer's books always make me hungry, usually for something Pumpkin related - so in honor I have made a Pumpkin Cheesecake Roll - hopefully yours tastes as good as Grandma's


Grandma's Pumpkin Cream Cheese Roll (From Grandma's Desserts)

Cake

3/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
1/4 tsp. salt
3 eggs
1 cup sugar
2/3 cup pumpkin
Filling
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
6 tbsp butter, softened
1 tsp. vanilla

Preheat oven to 375. Using a jelly roll pan, line with parchment paper. Get a clean kitchen towel and sprinkle liberally with powdered sugar.Beat eggs and sugar in large mixer until thick. Add flour, soda, powder, cinnamon, cloves and salt. Continue mixing until all ingredients are combined. Pour evenly into pan. It will be very thin.
Bake for 13 to 15 minutes, use a toothpick to make sure it is done.

Turn cake onto powdered sugar towel. Carefully peel off paper. Roll up cake in towel, starting with the narrow end. Cool on wire rack. For best results, cool for at least 3 hours.

Beat cream cheese, butter, powdered sugar and vanilla until smooth.Carefully unroll the cake and remove the towel. Take spoonfuls of the cream cheese mixture and place them on the cake.It makes it easier to spread, and doesn't tear the cake. Spread evenly across the cake, making sure to get to the edge. Roll cake back up the way it was originally rolled. Sprinkle with powdered sugar. Place in fridge for at least one hour.

First off - awesome title.

Now let's talk about the book. Touch of Frost is the first book in Jennifer Estep's new Young Adult (YA) Mythos Academy series. It centers on Gwen Frost, a new student at the school and a Gypsy who is gifted with psychometry - the ability to see an object's history when she touches it. (Yes, it even works on people. Spooky right? That someone can know your deepest darkest secrets just by touching your sweater or your hand?!) That is why I really dig the title - because Gwen Frost can see things when she touches things…get it? Yeah…Cool title. :)

This story is very high school with a paranormal twist. I don't usually enjoy books that are too teen-esque, but I really enjoyed Touch of Frost. Now I don't read much YA anymore so what I'm about to say may not be exactly true, but I hadn't heard of a YA story revolving around a boarding school for descendants of mythological warriors such as Valkyries, Spartans, Amazons and Vikings. It is such a neat concept. They still all go to class and have lunch together and hang out and go to homecoming dances…but they also learn to fight with neat weapons and learn mythological history and such. And their library has these crazy cool antique artefacts in it! All in all, I just found this world to be really interesting. But it wasn't so far off that real-life teens won't be able to really relate to it.

Gwen is a good solid character. She has recently lost her mother, is attending a new school and doesn't have any friends. She has trouble with friendships and relationships because of her Gypsy gift. Gypsy in this series doesn't mean 'roaming herd of people'. It means someone who has been gifted with magic. Throughout the book, we see her come into herself and gain an idea of what she is capable of and it has left me wondering what else there is to know about her.

The love interest in this book is Logan. He is yummy - for a teenager. He's a contradiction, a bad-ass, a clever dude…you know, all the things that make a great hero in a YA tale. I not only enjoyed Logan, I also liked the few other supporting characters. Gwen's grandmother, Daphne and Carson were solid too.

The only thing that I found irksome is actually the same thing I don't quite click with in the author's UF series. I find that there is too much repetition in her style. There are details and explanations that are repeated over and over (sometimes right after the event just happened) that are unnecessary.

There is no mistaking that this is a Young Adult book. But even so, I found the story to be very entertaining, the pace to be good and the characters to be interesting. I am definitely going to be picking up Kiss of Frost when it comes out November 29 2011.