Review: Touch of Frost by Jennifer Estep

Touch of Frost by Jennifer Estep
Genre: Young Adult, Urban Fantasy
Series: Mythos Academy #1

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. . .

I actually didn't want to start a YA novel because I've been on a PNR/UF roll. I didn't want to pick up a new genre and run into a story that's too cheesy or childish compared to my more adult books. I do like a lot of YA plot lines; they have these great ideas and stories, but it just bothers me when it's limited to something so PG13ish. That's just me; I like lots of bookie nookie and I hate the whole teen angst deal. With all that said, I really enjoyed this book. It did remind me of Percy Jackson & The Olympians. It was a different touch because not many books are about mythology whether it be Roman, Greek, or what have you and I like that. It's not just vampires and werewolves and all the other more "common" supernaturals this time. I like that the female character is not weak nor stupid! I can't stand it when there's a great story line and the female character lacks intelligence and/or strength. She has her insecurities just like most teen girls would, but she has valid reasons. Valid, not vapid. She's modest and real, really easy to relate to and makes you just want to root for her. When she does something extraordinaire, it's believable and not total bullshit like some of the books I've read where I proceed to have a seizure from all the eye rolls I'm doing. The character development is great; I loved the pacing of the book. I always wish things were a little longer because I fly through books so easily, but this is a good length. It's the 1st of the Mythos Academy series. As far as I know through Goodreads, it is meant to be a trilogy.

I've read her other series: Elemental Assassins. From the author, I should've guessed that her female character wouldn't be so weak. I love Estep's work and I love her Elemental Assassins series. But when I found out this was a young adult vs. an adult PNR/UF book, I started out with good hopes for the book and not high hopes. That's due to my preferences for more adult books/topics/content/what have you. But all in all, I really did enjoy this book. It tied up some ends, but left some major ones open, of course, due to it being a trilogy and the 1st in a series. You can expect more to come. The teaser at the end of the book was very enticing. It made me want to read it asap! I will finish with the fact that the rest of this series will be added to my To Be Read list. I am definitely continuing with the series because I do believe it's worth my time. I liked it, but not more than that.