Romance Lovers for the Challenge-Impaired discussion

Touch of Frost 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...

❄Note: There is a prequel available, if you read it you are welcome to post about it here too. Just be sure to specify that your comment is about the prequel and not book 1.

Reserved.

I'm in, I'll be reading the prequel first...

I'm in

I'm in and I'll also read the prequel. I got the bundle when it was on sale a while back and the prequel was included.

I started reading #0.5
So far it's bern unexpcted, eeeep!

I liked the prequel overall. I had read it previously, but re-read it at the end of last month in preparation for our group read. I thought it was a rather unique situation, and loved that it seemed to be set in Ashland, home of the Gin Blanco/Elemental Assassin universe. I also loved the Bigtime series Easter Egg in this novella! Bigtime was my introduction to the author, and I keep hoping for new books in that series.

I only read a few pages it was disturbing!

ShoSho wrote: "I only read a few pages it was disturbing!"

Yeah, the hairbrush situation was a bit disturbing, but I hope the first book will be different than that.

We were going out last night and unlike every other couple, I'm the one who gets ready first and tell my husband to hurry up or we'll be late! Anyway I was ready and didn't have anything to do, I picked up First Frost and started reading. He got ready when (view spoiler)[ she was in hospital explaining to her mother what had happened (hide spoiler)] so that disturbing thing stayed on mind the whole time we were out!!!
Back to reading now

ShoSho wrote: "We were going out last night and unlike every other couple, I'm the one who gets ready first and tell my husband to hurry up or we'll be late! Anyway I was ready and didn't have anything to do, I p..."

I hate when things like that happen to me too! Makes me eager to get back to the book and I get snappish when it doesn't happen fast enough!

I finished

(view spoiler)[
What happened to her mom was really sad. I don't think she died in the accident as they said.
The way her grandmother sprang the academy on her was weird. They only have each other, I'd expected her to talk her privately before introducing her to the professor and telling her that she was already enrolled.
Is Logan the love interest? I hope not!

BTW harry potter and Hogwarts vibe anyone? (hide spoiler)]

I'll start

ShoSho wrote: "I finished


[spoilers removed]..."

I agree with your points about the mom and grandmother, and yeah, feeling the vibes you mentioned as well. Add in Percy Jackson for good measure too, from when I wrote my review on that one.

Not sure if Logan is the interest or not, will have to see later on in the series.

⚜Trea⚜ wrote: "ShoSho wrote: "I finished


[spoilers removed]..."

I agree with your points about the mom and grandmother, and yeah, feeling the vibes you mentioned as well. Add i..."

Oh yes Percy Jackson too.

I'm starting now.

I want to scream too.

chapter 2
(view spoiler)[
Her retelling of what happened in First Frost is slightly different!
She didn't just pick up the brush, she picked it up so she'd know what was going on with Paige.

Carson doesn't want to give the bracelet to Leta. It's either important and we should know whom soon or it wasn't important and it was just a filler, if it's the second then I'm going to be annoyed! (hide spoiler)]

I'm done with , nice prequel even if I think the whole orphan thing is a bit cliché. I also got the Percy Jackson and Hogwarts vibes.

300 the movie is my most hated movie of all time! It's a hateful fake movie! I hate it with a vengeance !

Ch. 1 Why is Gwen the only Gypsy in the school?

Ch. 3 Anyone else annoyed with the portrayal of all the other girls?

Gisela wrote: "Ch. 1 Why is Gwen the only Gypsy in the school?"

It seems like it and also she's the only "poor" girl in the school.

Gisela wrote: "Ch. 3 Anyone else annoyed with the portrayal of all the other girls?"

I thought about it and I think it's okay because it's through Gwen's eyes. Keeping in mind she's a new sad student without any friend, I'd say it makes sense that she judges everyone very harshly.

Gwen is sooo judgemental!

⚜Trea⚜ wrote: "..."and I get snappish when it doesn't happen fast enough!

Nice to know I'm not the only one who does that. LOL! Too caught up in books.

I'm on chapter 7(view spoiler)[
People's reactions to the murder was unexpected.

She forgot to tell them about the knife that didn't have blood on it.

Do you have any suspect? I hope this librarian person doesn't end being "Snape"!

I like that she goes to see her grandma everyday after school. (hide spoiler)]

I'm a little behind, but starting now...

ShoSho wrote: "I'm on ch.7..."
(view spoiler)[I was a bit surprised too but I guess that they know and expect to die young. I notice that there are a lot of things she doesn't say, she holds everyone in contempt. She's also a snob... At least she's nice to her Grandma.
ETA: I'm giving her a lot of slack because I know she's grieving. One of my brothers was 17 when my mother passed away so I recognize her attitude as a grief coping mechanism. I just hope she grows throighout the series. (hide spoiler)]

I just finished it. I enjoyed it overall, and I think her attitude is (view spoiler)[partly because she doesn't believe in the whole magic situation, and partly because she's lonely. I don't like how she keeps glossing over certain parts of what happens, that's an easy way to get in over your head! (hide spoiler)] I'm interested in seeing where things go from here.

OMG you are a fast reader! I'm still in the middle of chapter 7. I'm hoping to go back to it on my lunch break.

Ch.16 (view spoiler)[ Gwen wants to know about her ability but it hasn't occurred to her to do any research?! She works in the darned library! (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 9
(view spoiler)[
Hhhuh! If the cops hadn't caught the drunk driver, how did they know the driver was drunk????????????????? (hide spoiler)]

ShoSho wrote: "Chapter 9"

LOL! Good question, I hadn't caught that. I think (view spoiler)[ it was Reapers that did it. Btw, every time Reapers are mentioned I think of this series ... (hide spoiler)]

ShoSho wrote: "OMG you are a fast reader! I'm still in the middle of chapter 7. I'm hoping to go back to it on my lunch break."

Yeah, when I have a good couple of hours without interruptions, I can usually finish a book. Since my husband is out of the house all day, we've agreed that after dinner is "Daddy and Boyo Time" and they get to do whatever they want together, since I'm with our son all day. I go into another room of the house to give them time alone, and I just read.

Gisela wrote: "Ch.16 [spoilers removed]"

I agree! How silly can she be?!

ShoSho wrote: "Chapter 9 [spoilers removed]"

Assumptions maybe? Trajectories and things like that leaving evidence?

Gisela wrote: "ShoSho wrote: "Chapter 9"

LOL! Good question, I hadn't caught that. I think [spoilers removed]"

I agree with you, especially in light of the revelations that come at the end of the book! (And I'm in the same boat you are when the Reapers are mentioned, but I get a second series that pops into my head: )

Chapter 15 (view spoiler)[
I think I just figured out what's going on.
The body was an illusion like the panther thing. Jasmin is doing that to get revenge and kill Samson and what's her name. (hide spoiler)]

ShoSho wrote: "Chapter 15 [spoilers removed]."

(view spoiler)[You got it! (hide spoiler)]

Do you know anyone who include their eye color in the sentences?

I looked at it with my brown eyes?!

This book needs editing! Lots and lots of editing! It's like nobody has read the book before publishing it.
It's just thing that's really obvious, like this:
Chapter 4:
What I could see were all the gods and goddesses. They ringed the second floor of the library like sentinels watching over the students studying below. The statues stood at the edge of the curved balcony, separated by slender, fluted columns. There were Greek gods like Nike, Athena, and Zeus. Norse gods like Odin and Thor. Native American deities like the Coyote Trickster and Rabbit. All thirty feet tall and carved out of thick white marble. If you climbed up the stairs to the second floor, you could walk in a circle past them all, something that I'd never wanted to do. Like the gryphons outside, the statues seemed a little too lifelike to me

Chapter 23
Nike looked the same as she had when I'd seen her. A long, loose gown flowing around her body, wings arching up over her back, a cold, terrible sort of beauty filling her face. I don't know why I'd never noticed her standing up there before. Maybe because I hadn't been looking.

And then there is the 120 times that Paige and her hair brush are mentioned. It should have been 2-3 times tops!
And there is Logan's character which is so inconsistent.
And last but not least her "magic" , how it works changes from page to page. The author should have made her magic something that manifested only when she had become a teenager. The author could have solved the problem she obviously had with it by saying that Gwen wasn't really familiar with her magic.

Anyway I'm on chapter 24 and I believe if it wasn't for the inconsistencies I would have given it 5 stars.

I'm done and it was a 3.5-star read for me.

I liked the idea behind it I only wish the execution was a bit better.

Do you guys have book #1.5? not on store websites or libraries. It's nowhere to be found!

found it on Kobo and Amazon! I was looking for the whole anthology but it's all by itself
https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/hall...
I'll read it before #2 next month.

I was disappointed at not seeing other groups other than the 4 she mentioned, those obviously descended from the Greek and Norse pantheons. She mentioned other deities, where were the Native American kids? Is there an Academy for Egyptian myths? Or from other cultures? I agree with the editing, some sentences and descriptions were repeated word for word.

Gisela wrote: "I was disappointed at not seeing other groups other than the 4 she mentioned, those obviously descended from the Greek and Norse pantheons. She mentioned other deities, where were the Native Americ..."

Me too.
I was wondering if there were other Academies in the world

I have the anthology, and will read Halloween Frost before next month's read of Kiss of Frost.

I do agree with the complaints about it being repetitive, but I wasn't that annoyed by it, as I seem to recall her doing the same in the Elemental Assassin series, and the Bigtime series as well. I think it's just her writing style.

I'd like to think that there might be other academies in the world, but she did do a second YA series, so maybe the Native American and Egyptian kids are in that one?