Touch of Frost, by Jennifer Estep | Book Review #154

“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’ve been wanting to read Touch of Frost for a while now since I accidentally borrowed the second book “Kiss of Frost” from the library. I really think that libraries should start putting “Book One” or “Book Two” on their books when they get a series. It’d make borrowing books way easier!

Since I really like mythology, Touch of Frost was a perfect fit for me. I loved the action that was involved, and the growth that the main character, Gwen, goes through is awesome.

There are some triggers for this book, as there seems to be with every book I’ve been reading lately..

Trigger Warnings: Blood, Abuse, Car Accident Resulting in Death, Murder, & Attempted Murder.

I didn’t know what to expect with Touch of Frost. I ended up reading this book in one sitting and ended up not writing down any notes. I guess that this just proves how much I actually liked the book, ahaha.

I didn’t expect that Gwen would play that much of a major role in the series. I was totally thrown off guard. And the fact that Gwen has violet eyes? Awesome! I don’t know how this will come into play in the future though; since all books that have characters who have violet eyes tend to be more than meets the eye. Eh? Get it?

I appreciate how brave Gwen is. I love the fact that Gwen doesn’t give a damn if someone were to lets say, bully her. Gwen just doesn’t care. She knows that the only opinions that matters is her own. I also like how human Gwen is. I know that may sound odd reading me saying that in a review, but it’s true. Gwen doesn’t feel like an Olympian or something. She complains about things like normal humans do. And I like how geeky Gwen is with her room.

I like now that by the time the book ends, Gwen feels comfortable (as she can be) in her school. I really appreciate that Gwen has made a few friends now as well. I feel like a parent saying that.. I couldn’t say that I was expecting that with the way that a certain person had previously treated Gwen.

The fact that Gwen went from being practically invisible and a fly on the wall, to being someone whose supposed to play an ultimately important role within this world? Wow. I can say that I didn’t see that coming. I kinda felt like it would turn out this way, but I was too absorbed into the world that is Mythos Academy to notice.

I appreciate how Gwen went from being a student who stared out the window more often than not, to being the kid who pretty much caught up in all her classes. I like that she’s taken an interest to her studies; even if they were a little misguided. However, I sincerely hope that she’s more of a “normal” student in the next book.

All I can see when I think back on Touch of Frost is this one incredibly important scene. The particular scene sticks out to me because of the fact that these two characters can’t be together. Which in my opinion, is so typically YA, that I both love and hate the fact that it’s there in the first place.

I don’t like the fact that I can already tell that the love interest is the bad guy!!! and I hurt for Gwen!! Like, noooo!!!!! Forbidden love at its finest!And I can already tell why exactly they can’t be together. It bothers me that Gwen doesn’t realize that fact to be honest. She’s smart. She’ll get it one day.

I really like the imagination surrounding the school, and frankly, this world. Like, wow, if I went to school where there were gargoyles and whatnot all around I’d be amazed and weirded out as much as Gwen was. Her reaction to everything that has happened so far is pretty normal actually.

There’s a great deal of action that goes on in this book once the ball gets rolling, and I found that the ball gets rolling pretty quickly. I realized quickly within starting reading Touch of Frost that Gwen thinks a lot. 

All in all, Touch of Frost was a great way to start of a series! I’ll most definitely will be reading the second book, Kiss of Frost.

That’s all for now! Thank you for reading my review of Touch of Frost. Have you read the book at all? If you have, what did you think? If you haven’t read the book yet, do you think you’re going to?

Happy Reading!
Adele