Touch of Frost (Mythos Academy, #1)

by Jennifer Estep

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 . . .

"Touch of Frost is an intriguing start to an exciting new series!" --Award-winning author Jeri Smith-Ready

". . .surviving high school means staying alive!" --New York Times bestselling author Kerrelyn Sparks

• ISBN10: 0758266928
• ISBN13: 9780758266927
• Publish Date: 1 August 2011 (first published 1 January 2011)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Kensington Publishing
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 384
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/isbn/9780758266927

Reviews

[melanchalina]

Отзыв в моем блоге: http://beautiful-whim.blogspot.ru/2016/05/blog-post_14.html

Дженнифер Эстеп "Прикосновение Холода" (Мифическая Академия 1/6)

5,5 из 10

Экранизация: нет
Жанр: YA, фэнтези, городское фэнтези
POV: от первого лица
Любовная линия: дуэт (парень-девушка)
Отличительные черты: мешанина мифологии, Боги разных Пантеонов, магическая школа, Избранный и прочие шаблоны
Рекомендовано к прочтению, если вам нравятся: Райчел Мид "Академия вампиров", Рик Риордан "Перси Джексон", Минди Арнетт "Расследование Ночного Кошмара", Дженнифер Арментроут "Полукровка"

РЕЦЕНЗИЯ:
«Прикосновение Холода» не оригинальная книга. В ней нет ничего нового или особенного, она полна штампов и клише, а еще при прочтении постоянно возникает мысль «Где-то я уже это видела». И это так дамы и господа, потому что таких книг действительно много – «Академия вампиров», «Перси Джексон», «Расследование Ночного кошмара», «Полукровка» и т.д.

Рецепт таких книг прост. Одна порция магической школы + главный герой (в данном случае юная Гвен Фрост), который не вписывается в социум выше указанной школы. Герой должен быть особенным, чаще всего с редким даром и ПРЕДНАЗНАЧЕНИЕМ, именно вот так, с большой буквы. По ходу книг серии герой сталкивается с плохими ребятами, надирает им зад. В каждой книге герой находится на грани жизни и смерти, ведь зад то он плохишам надирает, но и сам при этом постоянно избит. Ну, и, куда же без банды верных друзей? Естественно есть подруга/друг и ОН (она, оно – подчеркните необходимое) и еще парочка не особо важных и нужных друзей. А еще есть герла (иногда парень, если главный герой у нас мужского пола), которая вроде как играет за хороших, но при этом bitch редкостная (Мия, Катарина, Морган). О и да, последний ингредиент – предатель в рядах добряков.

Знакомый рецепт? Уверена, что вы с ходу назовете книги со схожим сюжетом. И это вроде как неплохо, в конце концов, главное подача. У Дженнифер Эстеп в подаче нет ничего сложного, мир у нее проще, чем у той же «Академии вампиров», язык тоже незамысловатый. Но вот что-то, а читать приятно. Да косяки тут и там, да шаблонность и примитивность, зато расслабляет на ура, да так, что на все закрываешь глаза и просто плывешь по течению.

Из очевидных минусов, которые можно было бы исправить – вечные попытки героини вызвать к себе жалость. «Я белая ворона, мне здесь не место, ай-ай» порядком надоедает на протяжении всей первой книги. Гвен милая, забавная и не дура (не гений, но и нередкостная тупица), но, увы, нытик. Вместо того чтобы постоянно страдать из-за отсутствия друзей, она могла бы хоть раз попытаться их завести, вместо того, чтобы постоянно твердить (нужное подчеркнуть):
- У меня нет бабла, как у остальных;
- У меня нет супер сил, как у остальных;
- Я НЕ такая;
- Я такааааая несчастная, маму убили, папы нет, пожалейте меня;
- Мой дар – мое проклятье.

Но так как, я на таких книгах «собаку съела», то уже закрываю на все эти супергеройские страдания глаза. К тому же, я понимаю, что страдающий герой – это интересно и вызывает больше сочувствия, чем вечно счастливый, но вот хочется хоть немного оригинальности или свежей подачи. Ну да ладно, переживем.

Кстати, в каждой книге серии автор напоминает нам, что идет война Жнецов Хаоса против Пантеона Великих Войнов, злой Бог Локи заточен в волшебной тюрьме, его последователи спешат его освободить. Героиня - чемпион Ники, она победить зло, оставить освобождение злобного Бога и ваще самая крутая деваха на районе. Иногда возникает ощущение, что автор считает, будто у читателей проблемы с памятью, поэтому повторяет весь этот поток информации по два, а порой и три раза.

Но не думайте, что у «Мифической Академии» нет плюсов. Во-первых, как я уже говорила, книги очень легкие, заглатываются на ура. Во-вторых, если у вас ломка по магическим школам, избранным и приключениям, то Гвен Фрост ждет вас. В-третьих, герои хоть и немного шаблонные, но все-таки приятные и не вызывают раздражения. А еще здесь есть Боги! Правда не конкретного Пантеона, а целая мешанина из греческой, римской, норвежской, русской (славные батьки богатыри имеются) мифологии, но я после аниме ко всему привыкла.

Моя оценка: 5,5/10

PS: Оценка низкая, но мне понравилось, просто я объективна

[Angie]

I was super excited to finally read Touch of Frost, but sadly, it just did not work for me. I love "special" school settings, so I was eager to learn about Mythos Academy. I had thought it was for the children of the gods, but it's really for all kinds of supposedly myth based races: Spartans, Amazon, Valkyrie, Ninjas, etc. That was pretty awesome. Of course, our narrator, Gwen, is special among the special, as she's a Gypsy. She can touch objects and people and see memories and feel emotions attached to them. It's this ability that helps her figure out what happened when one of her classmates turns up dead in the library and an ancient relic is stolen.

Touch of Frost and I didn't really get off to the best start. The opening chapter is really silly and totally high school drama. It did serve its purpose of introducing us to Gwen's power, since we get to see her in action. And we learn her place in the social heirarchy: she's at the bottom. No surprise there. But it's not the kind of first impression that bodes well for the rest of the book.

There is one issue I had that isn't specific to Touch of Frost, but is something I've noted about the author's other series as well. There is a lot of repetition, and I actually think it's worse than it was in her Elemental Assassin series. Gwen reminds us that she's a Gypsy, and that she has a Gypsy power, and that the Gypsy power is called psychometry. She tells us at least once per chapter. It's not really something readers are likely to forget, but thanks for the reminder. Gwen also constantly mentions that she's a nobody and has no friends. All the time. We get it, you're a loser! It started to seem more like a self-fulfilling prophecy than anything else with the way she obsessed over her lack of friends.

Another problem that I had with Gwen was her absolutely hate of rich people. Of course, she goes to an elite boarding school, and all of the kids come from wealthy families. Except for Gwen, obviously. In the first chapter, she talks about Daphne's Dooney & Burke purse like it was made from elephant tusks and panda fur. It's a D&B, it's not that expensive, especially since the way Gwen talks about these kids, she can certainly afford a $2,000 bag rather than a $200 one. Even I have a couple, and I'm not rich. At all. Basically, anything the rich kids do or own is stupid, because she can't afford it. Jealous much? Just be happy with what you do have! She's much better off than a lot of people, but she's so bitter about having to work in the library to offset her tuition costs, while the other kids can match their cellphones and backpacks to their outfits.

Gwen also has some preoccupation with sluts and whores. Everyone who is having more sex than her (she's a virgin, obviously) is a slut (girls) or a whore (guys). Much like with her reminder about being a Gypsy and having no friends, at least once a chapter she's calling one girl a slut or saying she's slutty. Yes, this girl is promiscuous, and yes she is doing something horrible to her supposed best friend, but it's really none of Gwen's business. I really should have counted how many times Gwen used slut/slutty/whore, because it's a ridiculous amount. Twice, she also uses the same line about how if they stuck their tongue further into their partners mouth it would come out the back of their head. Nice visual.

My final problem with Gwen was that she doesn't believe in myths and magic. Just let that sink in for a moment. She goes to a school full of the children of myths and they all have magic. Heck, she has magic! But she doesn't believe in it? That seemed like a failed attempt to make Gwen even more special and thinking for herself or whatever. I mean, really?! You can know everything about an object from touching it, and yet you don't believe in magic?

The plot of Touch of Frost was pretty good in the beginning. No one seems to be concerned about the death of Jasmine or the disappearance of an important artifact, but Gwen has a bad feeling (Gypsy power! psychometry! no friends!), so she investigates for herself. Of course, there's a twist at the end. I did not see it coming, and thought it was pretty good, at least until the villain started talking. Yes, there's a huge monologue where they spill all of their secrets (and then tells Gwen not to tell anyone, what?!). Their motivation was so stupid. Like, I cannot even believe this all happened at all. Seriously?! Like, really?! You went through all of that because of that!? Yes, it sucked, but come on! You're nuts.

Clearly, Touch of Frost was not the book for me. I wanted to love it, I really did, and thought I would. But Gwen is not someone I particularly want to read about. Maybe I'll read the next book to see if she's learn anything, but it won't be anytime soon. If ever.

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.

[Sam@WLABB]

"Touch of Frost" is the first book that introduces us to Gwen Frost. After a tragic accident takes her mother's life, Gwen is sent to attend the Mythos Academy, a school of magic, myth and warriors. She is confused as to why she is there at all. She is not as "special" as the other students. Sure, she is Gypsy and has a "gift", but nothing close to the magic, strength and gifts of the other students. While at the academy, she discovers many things: about Mythos, the Chaos War, her family and herself.

This is a great fantasy, action, mystery type book. We have all the mythology to satisfy our need for fantasy. We have lots of fighting and blood to satisfy our need for action and we have a whodunit to satisfy our thirst for mystery. The book has a little of everything. In addition, our main character is a sassy girl with a lot of heart. Upon reading the first chapter, I immediately thought of VMars or Buffy, she just had that vibe.

Sooo I don't know how I had never heard of this before. A Touch of Frost was pretty entertaining!

This book was interesting to read, one thing I loved about it was that it set up the romance without there actually being a full on romance. There was no instalove which was amazing because a lot of these books tend to have instalove while trying desperately for there not to be instalove. The plot and story were interesting and I liked Gwen. I hope Gwen does some ass kicking in the next book!

This is the first book in the start of a great series. I love Mythology books and this series is one of the best in it's Genre. I love Gwen and Grandma Frost and the introduction of characters that you will learn to love as the Series continues.

I would recommend this book and series to anybody.

[nitzan_schwarz]

You know. it's not often that I re-read a book and decided to raise its star rating, but Touch of Frost kind of deserves it, if only on account of the fact I enjoyed it FAR more on the second read.

So, I'm going to go through things in the order I originally listed them, just to see the full picture of how the re-read felt vs the original read:

* The book is still fast-paced and interesting enough to finish in a day. It really did feel like it flew by, which is always a really good indicator with a book.

* I still really like Gwen as a character. My impression of her was a lot better the second time around. I didn't feel like she was indecisive, and I wasn't frustrated with the way she always put herself down. I wonder if I originally felt aggravated by it because I used to do it to myself ALL THE TIME, and maybe I felt more angry at myself than at her. Or maybe I'm overly psychoanalyzing my seven years old thoughts on a book.

* I was, however, still as baffled by Gwen's insistence to disbelieve the stories about the gods and the war as I had been the first time. I mean, the girl is literally in a magic school a-la-Hogwarts, and she has had magic abilities all her life. How can she literally stand there and rant about how idiotic the idea of gods and the likes existing is? It makes no sense to me whatsoever.

* Maybe it's because I remembered who the Bad Guy is, so I didn't "figure it out" like I did the first time around, but I really didn't feel like Gwen was "dumb" in my re-read. (Although, can I get a round of applause for remembering the villain seven years later?? I feel like I should get a medal). I mean, yes, she was really close to a breakthrough, like, three times, but it felt natural that she didn't get it? So I don't know what I was so mad that she didn't figure it out at the beginning as I did...

* In general, I feel like I was really hard on the girl the first time around. Was I in a bad mood while reading it? Maybe the read before was a five star and this paled in comparison? Who knows. All I do know is that Gwen is funny and snarky and sometimes mean in a good way.

* And sometimes, mean and shallow in a bad way. First of all, "slut shaming" is really unflattering and I don't get it, but at least she wasn't a hypocrite about it and used it freely for men and women alike. Still one of the things I really disliked about this one, tho. And I really wish she'd stop judging people so much on the surface; like the clothes they wear defines them. But I also felt like part of the whole point was to teach her a lesson about it, which she got... a little bit. I mean, she still kind of a dumb teenager ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

* As for Logan, I also had a pretty much opposite reaction to this guy the second time around?? I kind of like him. Yes, we don't see enough of him, but the fact I kept thinking "where's Logan?' because I low-key loved their interactions kind of prove Estep did something right with the guy, at least on the second time reading it. I'm really excited to see where it goes with him and how Estep fleshes out his character, and also I can't wait for the time he becomes a devoted boyfriend! *snicker*

*Okay, here's the biggie - the repetition. I remembered this bugging the hell out of me the first time around without re-reading my review. And I've got to say... didn't really bother me this time? lol Like, yes. Gwen mentions she feels sad and guilty about her mom a lot, but it felt pretty natural to me in this read. The repetition on all the designer bullshit and stuff was kind of annoying, but not glaring, so I don't know what I was going on and on about before.

* This is a pretty good segway to the things that still really bother me in this book - the setting. The whole school is so freaking stereotypical (and pretty 2012, if I'm honest, which does make sense). Like, this school for uber-rich kids who look like they just stepped out of GQ Magazine and the poor heroine who doesn't really fit in. They drink and smoke and have sex every freaking second pretty much and are so shallow and what not. It still feels pretty unrealistic to me.

* I wonder if I read the same book the second time around because literally, 90% of the things that bothered me 7 years ago didn't this time and usually it's the other way with me lol

Old thoughts
To read the organized version of this review and more, go to my blog; Drugs Called Books!

3.5 stars
I’ll start this review by saying this: I liked this book. It’s fast paced, interesting, set in a curious world with a good voice and a nice cast of heroes. It was good enough for me to steal pages while in class, when the teacher didn’t see or know. I wanted to know what happened next, but I also found myself frustrated by this book many times. In fact, I have a lot of complaints about it, which is why I couldn’t give it more than 3 and a half stars.
First, there were the repetitions. God help me – how many times can you tell us Gwen felt guilty over her mother’s death? How many times can you mention her hurt over the loss? I mean, I get it – her mother died. Can’t imagine how horrible that is. It is a part of her, and that’s important, but for me – less in this case is more. One detailed time about her gut wrenching feeling would’ve been enough, with little reminders. Instead, every chapter or so we get a long paragraph or three about it. It was like the author feared we’ll forget or something, like she wasn’t sure she asserted Gwen’s character enough for us to take that as a memorable and important part of her, even though it was.
so instead of making me feel Gwen’s hurt and take it as something that was part of her, I got annoyed with her.
Then there were the damn designer clothes. I mean, I get it – school for the rich equals really expensive clothing. Great. But why did Gwen have to mention their clothing so many freaking times? It was like she was the most obsessed with the clothes from them all, not to mention how she knew to distinguish and name each brand name.
And the whole “I obviously don’t fit in” deal. First of all, I felt like she totally made herself not fit in, with all of her saying it. I also though she pretty obviously did fit. I mean, right – you’re not the best in gym (join the club, we’ve got books and computer games to share with the world), you’re not filthy rich (or are you?) and you don’t consider yourself a warrior, but you are magical, and you’ve never doubted that, so I think you pretty much do fit. But say I didn’t mind that I thought that saying was completely her doing and untrue – which I did, but never mind for the moment – why did she have to say it like every freaking chapter? Sometimes as the punch line of the chapter, too. Talk about annoying.
And the fixation with sex was a bit bothersome. I don’t know about you, but there weren’t many hookups in my school. And if they were, they were behind close quarters. The fact that every chapter mentioned sex in one way or another, was a bit odd to me. I mean, okay – kids there hookup. Is it really that important to be mentioned so many times?
So, point is: too many repetitions in this book. Needs to be toned down. So you’ll have fewer pages—but I, for one, will find much less faults in this book. I could actually like and enjoy some of these stuff if they didn’t appear so much my ears began to bleed.
Now, Gwen herself annoyed me due to those—as she was bounded to, seeing this story is told from her POV. I liked her enough as a character, though I didn’t like her indecisiveness at times, or her lack of self confidence about things or how she pretty much put herself in the bottom of the food pyramid.
I was also very frustrated that she didn’t believe in all the gods and mythical wars, when mythical creatures existed all around her, walked by her and, gasp, she’s one of them! I mean, how can you not believe that those things were true when you see magic every day and practice it? Were you a normal person, suddenly thrown into this – okay, I can see why you’d be skeptic. But the only thing you’ve been thrown into was the school; you always had you magic and always used it, so how can you ignore it’s existence and pretend those other things don’t exist?...
Then there was the whole glove thing. Just when I was wondering why the hell she didn’t wear gloves, I got an explanation. One that were weak at best and made me want to rip my eyes out; because she didn’t want to be labeled as That Gypsy Girl Who Can See things and has a Glove Fetish. I mean – WTF? If she truly suffered from those flashes so much, as she says she does, she’d wear the damn gloves no matter what people thought of her.
One of the moments that bothered me most in this book was the one where Gwen answers Logan’s question about her comic books. I found it completely unnatural when she explained she does it because she hoped to find one day that her mother wasn’t dead, just like it happens in the comics. I mean, she doesn’t really know the guy, and suddenly she pours her guts to him about such a privet things without him having to even to coax her to explain it, not to mention the phrasing of that entire monologue that sounds so unnatural. The entire thing felt forced, unnatural and fake.
(And, FYI – that is no longer true about comic books because Spiderman died in one of the universes).
This brings me to Logan and Gwen’s possibly-maybe-pending relationship. I felt like it wasn’t based at all. The author does not make me able to believe those two belong together. We see almost none of Logan’s personality, and I can’t even figure out why she likes Logan so much, what with their minimal meetings, aside for the whole; “he saved my life and he's uber sexy”. Her crush on him just felt like something the author threw in to please the girls reading the book, so there will be love. I am hoping to be convinced of this couple in the next book, which should include more contact with Logan now that he’s her tutor.

Now, because this might contain a bit of spoilers I put this here after all the other rant – Gwen took way too much time to figure things out. In a way, I felt she was slightly stupid not to figure it out; I understood who killed Jasmine—or rather, who didn’t—a little bit after Gwen felt nothing of Jasmine’s body and found the ripped photo.
Now, that would be fine, because sometimes the reader is meant to understand more, sometimes authors let us feel smarter, for our own good of course.
But here… here we found her about three times on the verge of figuring things out. Saying something nagged at her, like a memory or a thought she couldn’t quite reach yet. And I was like; dude, in that sentence describing what that memory/thought seemed to be related to you just put all the information you needed, and you still don’t get it? What’s more, you drop the whole thing just because you know those kind of nagging feelings always make themselves clear at a point? Great detective you are (though, in all fairness, she does admit she’s not much of an investigator when faced of with Jasmine).
For a smart girl, she’s a bit dumb. Especially after that panther attack.

Another thing that bothered me was the freaking name of the book. About three quarters into the book I began to wonder what the hell the title referred to. I mean, Gwen’s got a touch alright – but nothing related to frost about it. Aside for her last name, which I hope is not the reason this book is named so, because that's just stupid - it's like saying Touch of Gwen only in a cooler way? I like my titles with more meaning.
Though I'm starting to fear I won't get what I like, because the most I can figure out is that the name relates to that single moment, close to the end, when Nike kisses Gwen’s cheek and Gwen suddenly feels a coldness, but why is that so important the entire book is named after it? And even if it is that important, we don’t get an explanation to why that is in this book, so why did it get to be the name of it? I mean, I feel like there should be a different title to this book—as pretty as this title might be—one that corresponds with the plot better (if it's not the first option, which is think is not a bad name for the book – just silly). But that’s just me.

One thing I want to point out is that this book, it it’s idea and elements, kind of reminds me of Harry Potter (though this may be just because I’ve lately read HP related forum threads, who knows). This is not to say Touch of Frost compares in my eyes to HP—not to mention there are a few vast differences between the two—but there were similarities: The most obvious one; a school for magic. A different kind of magic, perhaps, but magic nonetheless. Then there’s the whole chaos vs. order, good vs. evil. We have a person that thinks himself relatively ordinary and average, that ends up having to fight against evil. The Repears are this book’s version of Death Eaters, and Jasmine and her family reminded me of the Malfoy’s, a family who served chaos forever. Then, the artifact. Like Horcruxes and the Deathly Hollows. And the special, privet lessons from received to prepare the chosen one for battle.
In short, there were many elements of this book that reminded me of Harry Potter, though Harry Potter is far better in my opinion.

To read the organized version of this review and more, go to my blog; Drugs Called Books!

Review originally posted on Oh, For the Love of Books!

I’d heard some pretty fantastic things about this book so I just had to dive into it. Funny and engaging with a nerdy and sarcastic yet endearing outcast for an MC that’s actually logical. Yes please.

Gwen, how awesome you are! I’d totally be your friend! A nerdy outcast that likes all things superheroes? Add in an awesome power of her own and what’s not to love? Her power makes her like the human equivalent of a blood hound. Sarcastic, funny, quirky, odd and best of all: intelligent. This girl actually made smart decisions and came to logical conclusions. I put so much emphasis on this because this is so hard to find in YA heroines these days. I don’t think there was ever really an incident where I wanted to smack some sense into her. The light bulb didn’t even go off in my head until it went off in hers. I literally found out the culprit right before Gwen did.

Which brings me to the awesomeness of the plot. The plot was done incredibly well and I never guessed who it was until right before it was revealed. That takes talent. I’m not one to normally dwell on it and try and figure it out, but more often than not it’s obvious early on. Not this time! If you want a good mystery, definitely check this out!

I actually ended up liking the secondary characters. Daphne could definitely be a B, but she had a good side to her and I like her growth and snarkiness. And Logan….Oh, Logan. We don’t really get to know too much about him but he’s a Spartan. Which is sexy by default. Anyone ever seen 300? Yeah. Men running around in skirts never looked so good ;) But I like that maybe he’s not the playboy everyone thinks he is. Can’t wait to learn more about this sexy fella in the upcoming books.

I have to say that even though this book had great characters and plot, the repetition bugged me. A lot. I get it that her mom died and she’s sad and what not and I’m not trying to be heartless but quit saying it! And she would pretty much say the same thing every time she talked about her. Many paragraphs could’ve been taken out. Also, I do wish that we’d gotten to learn more about the other magical beings there. The same ones are repeated, but even then you don’t learn much about. I really hope to explore more of the world in the next books.

Overall:

Awesome MC? Check. Engaging and thick plot? Check. Sexy men? Check. Really, what more could you want?