Touch of Frost

Publisher: Kensington

Publish Date: already out

Series: Mythos Academy

Other books in series: First Frost (e-book), Kiss of Frost, Dark Frost (29 May 2012)

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. . .

Gwendolyn aka Frost, aka Gwen, has experienced some hardships in her life.  The hardest being the death of her mom, who was hit by a drunk driver.  After that, everything changed:  Her school, friends…  Her grandmother decided that it was time she went to Mythos Academy.  Mythos Academy and it’s students are described in Kiss of Frost as “the descendants of ancient warriors, and they are at the academy to learn how to fight and use weapons, along with whatever magic or other skills they might have.”  These students include the following: Amazons, Valkyries, Romans, Vikings, Spartans and Gypsies.  Gwen currently doesn’t have any friends at the Academy.  All the students who go there are rich and spoiled.

                                                            

Gwen is a gypsie.   More specifically, she has the gift of psychometry, meaning she can touch objects and see things about them.  This comes in handy when she is trying to find things for others students.  That is what she mainly uses it for at the beginning of the book.  Also works well for finding out secrets.  She is a second year student at Mythos.  She not only has her studies, she also works at the Library of Antiquities.   Even for this “strange” school, abnormal things start to happen.  First, one of popular girls, Jasmine Ashton, is murdered in the Library.  What is even stranger is the fact that it doesn’t seem to affect anyone.  Gwen is determined to figure out what happened to Jasmine because secrets are her thing. 

During that time, however, she keeps bumping into the Spartan, Logan Quinn.  He is the labeled as the deadliest guy in the school.  Spartans can kill you with anything.  That is their gift.  He has the reputation of signing mattresses of girls that he has slept with.  Why is she running into him (literally)?  What is happening at the academy?  Is Gwen really safe there and does she belong?  

I had read the synopsis of this book a while ago and wanted to read it.  The opportunity just never presented itself until now and I’m glad it did.  I like the whole mythology angle of this book.  It not only covers the usual Greek and Roman mythology, but there are others as well.  It seems as though Loki has been brought up a lot in recent books/movies.  Overall, it is a really good book with an interesting plot.  

The cover features Gwen Frost.  You can see her signature purple eyes.  You also see part of the architecture and what looks to be gargoyle.  I like how the “t” in Frost is made up of the sword instead of the font for the rest of the word.

•Gwen Frost.  She is the main character.  After going through her mother’s death, she is sent to Mythos Academy and feels as though she doesn’t belong.  She has no friends.  She is not über strong or super-fast like the other students.  She definitely doesn’t have a weapon or know how to use one.  Even still, she sticks to what she knows, psychometry, to solve mysteries.  Even though Jasmine wasn’t very nice to anyone, she still tries to find out who murdered her in the library and cares when nobody else does.

•Daphne Cruz.  The book starts out with Gwen and Daphne in the bathroom where Gwen is talking to Daphne about a missing bracelet.  Daphne is part of the popular crowd.  Even though she doesn’t really acknowledge Gwen, I still like her character.  She is there for Gwen when she needs her, even though it is against her will.  (She is a Valkyrie, so it isn’t TOO much against her will.)

•All the different students.   Amazons, Valkyries, Romans, Vikings, Spartans and Gypsies…Oh my.   They make for a stimulating book.  There are some others mentioned in the book, but those are the main ones.

•“Logan freaking Quinn.”    He is a Spartan that keeps running into Gwen or vice versa.  He doesn’t have a good reputation at Mythos, but he is one of the cutest.  The relationship between Logan and Gwen is hot and cold.  

•Jasmine Ashley.  She is the resident bad/evil person.  She is the girl who is the most popular in the school and because of that, she treats everyone else poorly.  No wonder people didn’t care that she was brutally murdered on the academy campus.

•Morgan McDougall.  She is one of Jasmine’s best friends and takes up her position after Jasmine is murdered.  She (and Jasmine) are Valkyries.