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Mythos Academy #0.5
First Frost
I am Gwen Frost, and I have a Gypsy gift. It’s called psychometry – that's a fancy way of saying that I see images in my head and get flashes of other people’s memories off almost everything I touch, even guys.
My gift makes me kind of nosy. Okay, okay, maybe a lot nosy--to the point of obsession sometimes. I want to know everything about everyone around me. But even I don't want to know the secrets my friend Paige is hiding or the terrible loss that will send me to a new school – Mythos Academy, where the teachers aren't preparing us for the SATs, but to battle Reapers of Chaos. Now I have no friends and no idea how my gift fits in with all these warrior whiz kids. The only thing I do know is that my life is never, ever going to be the same. . .
My gift makes me kind of nosy. Okay, okay, maybe a lot nosy--to the point of obsession sometimes. I want to know everything about everyone around me. But even I don't want to know the secrets my friend Paige is hiding or the terrible loss that will send me to a new school – Mythos Academy, where the teachers aren't preparing us for the SATs, but to battle Reapers of Chaos. Now I have no friends and no idea how my gift fits in with all these warrior whiz kids. The only thing I do know is that my life is never, ever going to be the same. . .
33 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 1, 2011
93 people are currently reading
4111 people want to read
About the author
Jennifer Estep
96 books11.9k followersJennifer Estep is a New York Times, USA Today, and internationally bestselling author who prowls the streets of her imagination in search of her next fantasy idea.
Jennifer is the author of the Elemental Assassin, Section 47, Galactic Bonds, Crown of Shards, Gargoyle Queen, and other fantasy series. She has written more than 40 books, along with numerous novellas and stories.
In her spare time, Jennifer enjoys hanging out with friends and family, doing yoga, and reading fantasy and romance books. She also watches way too much TV and loves all things related to superheroes.
For more information on Jennifer and her books, visit her website at www.JenniferEstep.com or sign up for her newsletter: http://www.jenniferestep.com/contact-....
FOLLOW JENNIFER ONLINE:
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Amazon: https://amzn.to/39lCyX6
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Jennifer's blog: https://tinyurl.com/2dj4afb
Jennifer's newsletter: http://www.jenniferestep.com/contact-...
Happy reading, everyone! 😎
Jennifer is the author of the Elemental Assassin, Section 47, Galactic Bonds, Crown of Shards, Gargoyle Queen, and other fantasy series. She has written more than 40 books, along with numerous novellas and stories.
In her spare time, Jennifer enjoys hanging out with friends and family, doing yoga, and reading fantasy and romance books. She also watches way too much TV and loves all things related to superheroes.
For more information on Jennifer and her books, visit her website at www.JenniferEstep.com or sign up for her newsletter: http://www.jenniferestep.com/contact-....
FOLLOW JENNIFER ONLINE:
Facebook: https://tinyurl.com/yyj59omw
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jennifer_es...
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Jennifer_Estep
Amazon: https://amzn.to/39lCyX6
BookBub: https://tinyurl.com/y4dm3zso
Goodreads: https://tinyurl.com/y638q98k
Jennifer's blog: https://tinyurl.com/2dj4afb
Jennifer's newsletter: http://www.jenniferestep.com/contact-...
Happy reading, everyone! 😎
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 404 reviews
June 18, 2018
So many screwups in so few pages.
ALERT: I'm in a ranting mode, and so I'm going to rant. A lot.
And that is the first major mistake: hindsights. Too many of them (read: more than zero).
Hindsights are not allowed.
And here we go with the second huge mistake:
Oh no, you didn't. Tell me you just didn't.
That's a SELF-QUOTE. What were you thinking when you wrote this!? Self-quotation is the lamest of all the lame things an author can do to sneakily force a good opinion of himself/herself on the reader. And it's one of the things that get me majorly mad. If you want your readers to have a good opinion of your work, just do a good work. Having one of your characters praise you (even in an underhanded way) is just... well, lame.
Is it just me or the scene with a teacher coming to your house and announcing your imminent subscription to a new special school sounds a little Harry Potter-like?
That's the third mistake, by the way.
There could be hundreds of other ways to introduce the protagonist to his/her new school. That one is just unoriginal.
Crap, crap, crap.
If that didn't sound like a Potter replica, I'm a pink fuzzy kitten.
Let me rephrase that:
“Zebras are striped and ducks walk on two legs.”
As obviousnesses go, these are better. Much better.
Yes. And in case you were wondering, that's Godric Gryffindor's sword.
And here's Severus Snape.
For God's sake, author!
The liquid noise you're hearing is my brain spilling out from my ears and dripping to the floor.
I'm trying to imagine how does a "confused violet" look like. I must be short on imagination, because I just can't.
Let's not point out that the two kids stay at about 20 meters from each other, so how she could distinguish his eye color is anyone's guess.
I have to throw something. Unfortunately, I can't trow this book because I paid nice money for my ebook reader and I'm not particularly fond of the idea of smashing it against a wall (that's the downside of ebooks, you can't really let out your violence on them).
I liked the Elemental Assassin series. I've never read the Bigtime series, and due to screwup #2 mentioned above, now I never will.
Well, bottom-line time.
If you like Harry Potter, just read Harry Potter. And if you've already read it, just read it again. It was good the first time and it's going to remain good the next ones.
If you want to read a good series about a school of "gifted" kids, try the Dark Elite series by Chloe Neill.
If you think badly of Jennifer Estep, try her Elemental Assassin series, maybe you will change your mind (or maybe not, at this point I'm not sure of anything).
This is going straight to my blacklist of bad books.
ALERT: I'm in a ranting mode, and so I'm going to rant. A lot.
My mom sounded tired, so I decided not to bother her tonight.
“Love you, too,” I said, and hung up.
I didn’t know then that this would be the last time I ever talked to her.
And that is the first major mistake: hindsights. Too many of them (read: more than zero).
Hindsights are not allowed.
And here we go with the second huge mistake:
I’d already swapped my gym clothes for my usual sneakers and jeans. I’d also unzipped my purple hoodie and put it on over my T-shirt of Karma Girl, one of my favorite superheroines.
Oh no, you didn't. Tell me you just didn't.
That's a SELF-QUOTE. What were you thinking when you wrote this!? Self-quotation is the lamest of all the lame things an author can do to sneakily force a good opinion of himself/herself on the reader. And it's one of the things that get me majorly mad. If you want your readers to have a good opinion of your work, just do a good work. Having one of your characters praise you (even in an underhanded way) is just... well, lame.
To my surprise, two people sat at the kitchen table—Grandma Frost and the woman she was drinking tea with. [...]
“Hello, Gwen,” she said. “I’m Professor Metis.”
[...]
“Professor Metis is here to tell you about your new school, pumpkin.”
Is it just me or the scene with a teacher coming to your house and announcing your imminent subscription to a new special school sounds a little Harry Potter-like?
That's the third mistake, by the way.
There could be hundreds of other ways to introduce the protagonist to his/her new school. That one is just unoriginal.
“Because Mythos isn’t just any school, Gwen,” Metis said. “It’s for kids like you. Kids with magic.”
Crap, crap, crap.
If that didn't sound like a Potter replica, I'm a pink fuzzy kitten.
“What kinds of kids go there?” I asked. “What kind of magic do they have? Are they Gypsies like me?”
Metis looked at my grandma again. “It varies, depending on the student and her background. But the Vikings and Valkyries are very strong, while the Romans and Amazons are very quick.”
Let me rephrase that:
“Zebras are striped and ducks walk on two legs.”
As obviousnesses go, these are better. Much better.
Shelves and shelves and shelves of books stretched out into the farthest reaches of the domed room, along with a series of glass cases [...]. I squinted at the closest case, trying to figure out what was inside it. Was that a… sword?
Yes. And in case you were wondering, that's Godric Gryffindor's sword.
A man with ink-black hair, blue eyes, and pale skin sat in the largest office [...].
He smiled at Metis, but then his eyes flicked to me, and his expression completely changed. His eyes darkened, and his mouth pinched into a frown. If there was such a thing as hate at first sight, it seemed like Nickamedes had it for me, and I had no idea why.
And here's Severus Snape.
For God's sake, author!
The liquid noise you're hearing is my brain spilling out from my ears and dripping to the floor.
He noticed me staring at him, and our eyes locked, his a brilliant blue and mine a confused violet.
I'm trying to imagine how does a "confused violet" look like. I must be short on imagination, because I just can't.
Let's not point out that the two kids stay at about 20 meters from each other, so how she could distinguish his eye color is anyone's guess.
I have to throw something. Unfortunately, I can't trow this book because I paid nice money for my ebook reader and I'm not particularly fond of the idea of smashing it against a wall (that's the downside of ebooks, you can't really let out your violence on them).
I liked the Elemental Assassin series. I've never read the Bigtime series, and due to screwup #2 mentioned above, now I never will.
Well, bottom-line time.
If you like Harry Potter, just read Harry Potter. And if you've already read it, just read it again. It was good the first time and it's going to remain good the next ones.
If you want to read a good series about a school of "gifted" kids, try the Dark Elite series by Chloe Neill.
If you think badly of Jennifer Estep, try her Elemental Assassin series, maybe you will change your mind (or maybe not, at this point I'm not sure of anything).
This is going straight to my blacklist of bad books.
March 20, 2016
4 STARS!!!
I remember years back when I was obsessed with Percy Jackson, Vampire Academy and The Covenant series and was looking for something similar to read which led to discovering the Mythos Academy.
The story follows Gwen Frost before she became student of Mythos Academy. Gwen has a Gypsy gift.
I was a Gypsy with psychometry magic. A fancy way of saying that I saw images in my head and got flashes of other people's memories and feelings off almost everything that I touched.
After her mother's death, Gwen's grandmother thought it would be good for her to change school. After all, the Mythos Academy was designed for kids like her.
"Because Mythos isn't just any school, Gwen", Metis said. "It's for kids like you. Kids with magic."
When I got closer to the end of the book, I remembered why I liked this series in the first place. Spartan Logan Quinn
I didn't know why I was being shipped off to Mythos Academy or how I was supposed to fit in with the rich kids and the weapons the wielded with such skill, but one thing was certain-my life was never, ever going to be the same.
I remember years back when I was obsessed with Percy Jackson, Vampire Academy and The Covenant series and was looking for something similar to read which led to discovering the Mythos Academy.
The story follows Gwen Frost before she became student of Mythos Academy. Gwen has a Gypsy gift.
I was a Gypsy with psychometry magic. A fancy way of saying that I saw images in my head and got flashes of other people's memories and feelings off almost everything that I touched.
After her mother's death, Gwen's grandmother thought it would be good for her to change school. After all, the Mythos Academy was designed for kids like her.
"Because Mythos isn't just any school, Gwen", Metis said. "It's for kids like you. Kids with magic."
When I got closer to the end of the book, I remembered why I liked this series in the first place. Spartan Logan Quinn
I didn't know why I was being shipped off to Mythos Academy or how I was supposed to fit in with the rich kids and the weapons the wielded with such skill, but one thing was certain-my life was never, ever going to be the same.
December 1, 2011
My dear god, I should have known this would end up as a rant. Even though First Frost is barely an hour's read, it left me sputtering and muttering for three times as long. My fingers are sore of making annotations on my Kindle. Behold, my opinion of this little piece of work.
Ms Estep is writing in dangerous territory. Writing about a school for special kids with magical powers is tricky business; it automatically reminds of other successful YA-series that follow this formula. Series like Harry Potter, House of Night, Vampire Academy, Fallen... Just to name a few. Because of this, an author's work, how original it might be, just looks like a fake. Like the author thought, hey, this is popular, let's write something like that!
I'm quite sure Ms Estep didn't think like that when she came up with the Mythos Academy. It's quite evident that she put some thought in it; the school inhabits all different kinds of mythological creatures. Even though myths (yes, that is my newly invented abbreviation of mythological creatures) seem to be the new angels (like angels were the new vampires... etcetera), it's still a fairly new sub-genre, so definitely nothing cliché there.
Now let's talk about what made my face go "No you didn't!". For educational purposes I will add some quotes from the book so you can see what I'm talking about.
We start our little story with our heroine in the locker room at school. We immediately get introduced to her special powers.
Well, that sounds pretty cool right? It definitely has a lot of mystery potential, where Gwen uncovers secrets using her powers. The Gypsy part makes me frown a bit. But we're still on the second page, I guess that we will get more info about that later.
We go through a bit of explanation of her powers, and I am still in happy YA land. Celine is content.
Huh. There is the Gypsy thing again. Still have no idea what all that's about, but I guess we'll see. I'm a bit annoyed though that we have another awkward and clumsy heroine here. Why can't they just be mediocre at sports? Do they always have to be get a ball in their face? Even though I personally am as clumsy as every awkward book geek, I don't find it an endearing trait in a main character. Let us continue.
Something bad and freaky happens. It actually had quite a shock-factor, which I enjoyed. Gwen's reaction to said bad thing:
Okay that is pretty awful. I'm sorry, but I'm not one for repeating the same word over and over again. I'm a fan of synonyms. Or descriptions. I find this quite lame.
A few pages later we meet Gwen's mother.
Now this awkward. The logical conclusion of this sentence is that a person that is a Gypsy, must have a gift. I still don't get the definition of Gypsy here. Call me racist, but I always thought Gypsies were those people that live in trailers and travel around the world with their families. So isn't it quite obvious that Gwen's mother would be a Gypsy if Gwen herself was one? Seriously, at this point I feel like I'm missing out on some secret pact that Gypsy from now on is a code name for a supernatural person, like witch.
A little bit bewildered, I continue reading. Enter grandma. Guess what, she's a Gypsy.
Now that is freaky. Grandmother, mother & daughter all have violet (?) eyes. First, I have never seen a person with eyes that could be considered violet, but even if we completely disregard the fact of people with purple eyecolor, I think it's disconcerting that three generations have EXACTLY the same eye colour. But oh well, this is urban-fantasy, so I'll go with it. For now.
There is some family talk, some "oh my god, my mother is so weird, she always talks about Greek gods and goddesses!". Yeah, yeah, we get that. Pretty standard stuff. Unless your mother talks about killer unicorns, I'm not that interested. We talk about volcanoes and quantum mechanics at dinner. Get over yourself please.
Now we arrive at the most offensive sentence of the whole story. (If you have arrived at this point in myreview rant you probably don't care about the spoilers any more).
Oh COME ON! Seriously, this is not cool. You do not do something like this. This completely ruins the surprise in a horrible way. Really, I can't even begin to tell you how I feel about dropping such an important part of the story just seconds after an uneventful phone call. No dramatical build-up whatsoever. BOOM, hey, my mother will disappear/die! Ugh.
Let's examine dear Gwen's reaction when she finds out the bad news that she will never speak her mother again.
Figures.
Insert some self guilt.
Are you kidding me? There is really nothing more to say than "verb and verb and verb some more"?! Use it once, and I will be forgiving. Use it twice in a twenty page story and I will begin to doubt if you even put some effort into this. And if this story has ever seen an editor. Or a proof reader.
Now, we come to the Harry Potter-style part. A mysterious Professor arrives at the house.
Right. Give her robes and grey hair, and who have we gotten here?... That's right, Professor McGonagall! And there is more, look what she has to say!
You're a wizard Harry!
Oops, wrong book.
Our ever eloquent heroine has some questions for McGonagall.
Well, DUH. Every kid with magic is a witch! Or wait, you call that Gypsy. Wait, now I am confused.
McGonagall vaguely answers
Ahhh, that's how the Roman empire was so successful! They were QUICK! So when they were fighting Asterix and Obelix in France, they would just go like, oh-my-god-we-capture-your-land-so-quickly-it's-so-quick-you-didn't-even-see-us-coming! And the Vikings were just like ARRGG, I'm strong. I'm gonna hit you in the head with my big axe, I'm so strong. And Valkyries, that usually are pictured with wings, they're not quick! Nope, they're just strong. Like tanks. With wings.
How can you take this seriously.
Now, enter the super cool classes at Mythos.
Well dear, supposedly "booksmart" girl, it's a CLASS in which you learn about MYTHS. It's a very hard to grasp concept. I wouldn't understand it either. I looked it up on Wikipedia.
McGonagall thinks it's still a mystery though.
I guess she will see.
It's absolutely IMPOSSIBLE that your mother knows someone you don't! You know every single person in her life, from the moment she was born up until now! I bet she has like, big photobooks with their pictures to keep track of them. Must be hard work to keep up with all the mail men.
Gonna skip a part here, otherwise this rant will last forever.
Mythos looks spooky, blah blah blah. They have Minotaur statues, big deal.
EVERY SINGLE KID HERE IS LIKE SUPER DUPER RICH AND THEY ALL WEAR LIKE DESIGNER CLOTHES AND PLATINUM WATCHES AND DIAMONDS.
I don't make that up. It's in there.
You have frigging magical grandma, and you don't believe someone else can have some powers too? No comment.
Then there is super awesome guy that fights with swords. And please sit down now because this might be shocking;
No he DIDN'T! A guy that flirts with the new girl! That HAS NEVER EVER HAPPENED BEFORE!
I'm going to skip to the last line though. There is some more mindless babbling that really isn't that interesting any more.
I agree. Mine won't either.
Ms Estep is writing in dangerous territory. Writing about a school for special kids with magical powers is tricky business; it automatically reminds of other successful YA-series that follow this formula. Series like Harry Potter, House of Night, Vampire Academy, Fallen... Just to name a few. Because of this, an author's work, how original it might be, just looks like a fake. Like the author thought, hey, this is popular, let's write something like that!
I'm quite sure Ms Estep didn't think like that when she came up with the Mythos Academy. It's quite evident that she put some thought in it; the school inhabits all different kinds of mythological creatures. Even though myths (yes, that is my newly invented abbreviation of mythological creatures) seem to be the new angels (like angels were the new vampires... etcetera), it's still a fairly new sub-genre, so definitely nothing cliché there.
Now let's talk about what made my face go "No you didn't!". For educational purposes I will add some quotes from the book so you can see what I'm talking about.
We start our little story with our heroine in the locker room at school. We immediately get introduced to her special powers.
I was a Gypsy with psychometry magic. A fancy way of saying that I saw images in my head and got flashes of other people's memories and feelings off almost everything that I touched.
Well, that sounds pretty cool right? It definitely has a lot of mystery potential, where Gwen uncovers secrets using her powers. The Gypsy part makes me frown a bit. But we're still on the second page, I guess that we will get more info about that later.
We go through a bit of explanation of her powers, and I am still in happy YA land. Celine is content.
Yeah, I was just that kind of loser, a book-smart Gypsy girl who sucked at pretty much every sport you could think of and probably a couple that hadn't even been invented yet.
Huh. There is the Gypsy thing again. Still have no idea what all that's about, but I guess we'll see. I'm a bit annoyed though that we have another awkward and clumsy heroine here. Why can't they just be mediocre at sports? Do they always have to be get a ball in their face? Even though I personally am as clumsy as every awkward book geek, I don't find it an endearing trait in a main character. Let us continue.
Something bad and freaky happens. It actually had quite a shock-factor, which I enjoyed. Gwen's reaction to said bad thing:
And that's when I started screaming.
I screamed and screamed and screamed.
Okay that is pretty awful. I'm sorry, but I'm not one for repeating the same word over and over again. I'm a fan of synonyms. Or descriptions. I find this quite lame.
A few pages later we meet Gwen's mother.
Concern Filled my mom's eyes. She was a Gypsy just like me, which meant that she had a gift like me.
Now this awkward. The logical conclusion of this sentence is that a person that is a Gypsy, must have a gift. I still don't get the definition of Gypsy here. Call me racist, but I always thought Gypsies were those people that live in trailers and travel around the world with their families. So isn't it quite obvious that Gwen's mother would be a Gypsy if Gwen herself was one? Seriously, at this point I feel like I'm missing out on some secret pact that Gypsy from now on is a code name for a supernatural person, like witch.
A little bit bewildered, I continue reading. Enter grandma. Guess what, she's a Gypsy.
...the same violet color as her eyes-as all our eyes were.
Now that is freaky. Grandmother, mother & daughter all have violet (?) eyes. First, I have never seen a person with eyes that could be considered violet, but even if we completely disregard the fact of people with purple eyecolor, I think it's disconcerting that three generations have EXACTLY the same eye colour. But oh well, this is urban-fantasy, so I'll go with it. For now.
There is some family talk, some "oh my god, my mother is so weird, she always talks about Greek gods and goddesses!". Yeah, yeah, we get that. Pretty standard stuff. Unless your mother talks about killer unicorns, I'm not that interested. We talk about volcanoes and quantum mechanics at dinner. Get over yourself please.
Now we arrive at the most offensive sentence of the whole story. (If you have arrived at this point in my
I didn't know then that this would be the last time I ever talked to her.
Oh COME ON! Seriously, this is not cool. You do not do something like this. This completely ruins the surprise in a horrible way. Really, I can't even begin to tell you how I feel about dropping such an important part of the story just seconds after an uneventful phone call. No dramatical build-up whatsoever. BOOM, hey, my mother will disappear/die! Ugh.
Let's examine dear Gwen's reaction when she finds out the bad news that she will never speak her mother again.
I had started screaming again.
Figures.
Insert some self guilt.
And cried and cried and cried some more.
Are you kidding me? There is really nothing more to say than "verb and verb and verb some more"?! Use it once, and I will be forgiving. Use it twice in a twenty page story and I will begin to doubt if you even put some effort into this. And if this story has ever seen an editor. Or a proof reader.
Now, we come to the Harry Potter-style part. A mysterious Professor arrives at the house.
She was short, with a body that looked stocky and strong inside her black pantsuit and white shirt. Her black hair was pulled back into a bun, and her eyes were a soft green behind her silver glasses.
Right. Give her robes and grey hair, and who have we gotten here?... That's right, Professor McGonagall! And there is more, look what she has to say!
"Because Mythos isn't just any school, Gwen," Metis said. "It's for kids like you. Kids with magic."
You're a wizard Harry!
Oops, wrong book.
Our ever eloquent heroine has some questions for McGonagall.
"What kinds of kids go there?" I asked. "What kind of magic do they have? Are they Gypsies like me?"
Well, DUH. Every kid with magic is a witch! Or wait, you call that Gypsy. Wait, now I am confused.
McGonagall vaguely answers
"It varies, depending on the student and her background. But the Vikings and Valkyries are very strong, while the Romans and Amazons are very quick."
Ahhh, that's how the Roman empire was so successful! They were QUICK! So when they were fighting Asterix and Obelix in France, they would just go like, oh-my-god-we-capture-your-land-so-quickly-it's-so-quick-you-didn't-even-see-us-coming! And the Vikings were just like ARRGG, I'm strong. I'm gonna hit you in the head with my big axe, I'm so strong. And Valkyries, that usually are pictured with wings, they're not quick! Nope, they're just strong. Like tanks. With wings.
How can you take this seriously.
Now, enter the super cool classes at Mythos.
"Myth-history?" I asked. "What kind of class is that?"
Well dear, supposedly "booksmart" girl, it's a CLASS in which you learn about MYTHS. It's a very hard to grasp concept. I wouldn't understand it either. I looked it up on Wikipedia.
McGonagall thinks it's still a mystery though.
Metis just smiled. "You'll see, Gwen. You'll see."
I guess she will see.
Almost like... she'd known my mom or something. But that just wasn't possible. I'd known all of my mom's friends, and Metis wasn't one of them.
It's absolutely IMPOSSIBLE that your mother knows someone you don't! You know every single person in her life, from the moment she was born up until now! I bet she has like, big photobooks with their pictures to keep track of them. Must be hard work to keep up with all the mail men.
Gonna skip a part here, otherwise this rant will last forever.
Mythos looks spooky, blah blah blah. They have Minotaur statues, big deal.
EVERY SINGLE KID HERE IS LIKE SUPER DUPER RICH AND THEY ALL WEAR LIKE DESIGNER CLOTHES AND PLATINUM WATCHES AND DIAMONDS.
I don't make that up. It's in there.
I hadn't quite believed Metis when she'd claimed there were other kids out there like me, kids who could do amazing things, but now I was seeing it for myself.
You have frigging magical grandma, and you don't believe someone else can have some powers too? No comment.
Then there is super awesome guy that fights with swords. And please sit down now because this might be shocking;
He noticed me staring at him and gave me a slow, suggestive wink. Was he... was he flirting with me? He didn't even know me.
No he DIDN'T! A guy that flirts with the new girl! That HAS NEVER EVER HAPPENED BEFORE!
I'm going to skip to the last line though. There is some more mindless babbling that really isn't that interesting any more.
One thing was certain-my life was never, ever going to be the same.
I agree. Mine won't either.
July 30, 2011
I want to warn you that this a very long, very ranty review which I wrote in a very reactive way to what I was reading, complete with me losing my train of thought and grammatical and punctuation errors. If you actually read the whole thing, I’ll be shocked. If you do read the whole review and you get mad at me for my opinions, I won’t be shocked any more. I’ll just shrug and say, “Well, I sure do hope you enjoyed this short story more than I did” and quietly stop paying attention.
What. The. Fuck.
Seriously? Ok, not only is Gwen, our “heroine”, a nosy bit of baggage (and even admits to being obsessively nosy), but she intentionally pries into people’s lives. Where I come from, you only do that if you’re older than every other person in the county and saw most of them in their nappies, or if you have a moral compass that works as well as a stale Cheeto tossed onto the wet glue side of wallpaper. It’s one thing when you whore out your “Gypsy magic gift” (more on that in the next paragraph) for cash, playing bloodhound for misplaced mobiles and earrings. It’s entirely another thing when you see an acquaintance lost in though and decide to pick her soul apart just so that you’re in on the secret too. I’m not happy about what happened to her classmate, Paige, but I was cheering when our “heroine” (my brain is trying to bitch slap me for using that term in reference to Gwen) screamed herself into an epileptic fit and had to be hospitalized. Serves you right, you immoral wretch.
Now. This “Gypsy magic” shit? Is henceforth going to be typed as “GYPSY MAGIC” because the author apparently is afraid you might forget that Gwen as MAGIC, and makes every effort to stab you in the eyes with that lovely reminder. And it has got to stop. As does her constant use of the term “my psychometry magic” which, if you read it context, actually sounds like this: “This is my super amazing PSYCHOMETRY MAGIC which I have because I’M SO FUCKING SPECIAL AND I KNOW I AM BECAUSE I HAVE PSHYCOMETRY MAGIC AND YOU DON’T, BITCHES.” I really don’t think I’m exaggerating. The way PSYCHOMETRY MAGIC (either standing alone or in conjunction with GYPSY MAGIC) was used in nearly every paragraph fairly screamed “LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME”, complete with a red carpet and flashing neon signs. Christ crapping on a cracker, this chick sounds like the worst attention whore I’ve seen in a young adult book in a coon’s age. (Yes, I’m embracing my hillbilly roots. Deal with it.)
Let’s move on, shall we? Gwen’s family. Well of COURSE she doesn’t seem to have a daddy and her mom and grandma have GYPSY MAGIC. And use their GYPSY MAGIC for the good of those around them. Unlike Gwen. Who uses hers to reap secrets and gossip from those around her like some sad sack on Hoarders collects old newspapers and creepy ass dolls. Gwen’s mom is a police detective. Which is why it’s not a bad thing that Gwen tears through her classmates privacy faster than wrapping paper on Christmas morning. Because her mom is going to fix the horrible thing that happened to that classmate that Gwen violated. Like, duh. I’m honestly seeing this as psychic rape at this point.
Oh, and now we get to the Bella Swan-esque “My mom looks just like me, only she's pretty.” Well princess, I’m guessing she doesn’t look just like you then, does she. Right now I’m seeing Gwen as a cross between Bella Swan and this guy:
[image error]
*having read a few pages further* Oh, fuck no. “The gods wanted you to pick up Paige’s hairbrush so you could see what she was going through.” Excuse me while I try to headdesk myself into accepting such a flimsy excuse.
Even better! “We use our gifts, but we didn’t explain them to people or brag about the things we could do.” With the exception of your obsessive mentioning of said MAGIC in your narration. Though I wouldn’t want to have to explain to people why I knew their darkest, dirtiest secrets and why I was always stroking inanimate objects. That’d be a bit of a conversation killer I’m guessing.
Naturally, we have to have a Tragic Event That Sets Everything In Motion. At least Gwen now realizes that her actions have consequences that reach beyond her shortsighted desire to pry into people’s heads. Even though this realization is couched in a feeling of “Poor me, bad things happened to ME because of my actions”.
On a side note, is there a checklist that authors use to try and create drama? If there is, can someone send it to me? When I write a book, I’d like to know what the hell to avoid more diligently than I would a hoard of demonic clowns with leprosy.
Oh, and look! We have the obligatory lust-at-first-sight device as well. Golly, that sure is swell. I'm guessing that was the final tick mark on that checklist? Wait, no. There's no love triangle yet. *shrugs* It'll be in the first book, I'm sure.
Trying to step back now and see this logically (soooo not an easy thing to do). Yes, Gwen did trigger events leading to Paige no longer being raped by her stepdad. And I can see how this could be a positive “gift” (Sans says dubiously) and be used to help other people in terrifying situations. But that is NOT what this chick was doing. She wasn’t thinking, “Gee, Paige looks upset. I wish there was something I could to do help her.” No. Gwen thought, “Gee, Paige looks upset. OMG, I just have to know why! I won’t be able to rest until I learn every little secret she’s hiding.”
I hope this prequel to the Mythos Academy books is NOT indicative of the series as a whole. I skimmed the last half of the prequel and, shockingly, I am willing to give the first book a try. Gwen seems to have had one hell of a wake-up call, and that can only be a good thing. The prequel felt like an immature rendition of Pandora’s Box and the references to all things Greek mythology have me reluctantly interested. Have I been too harsh on this short story? I’m sure many will think so, but as I said at the outset, this was a reactive review written as I was reading. Right now, I’m too leery to start the first book any time soon and am going to happily ignore it for a spell.
What. The. Fuck.
Seriously? Ok, not only is Gwen, our “heroine”, a nosy bit of baggage (and even admits to being obsessively nosy), but she intentionally pries into people’s lives. Where I come from, you only do that if you’re older than every other person in the county and saw most of them in their nappies, or if you have a moral compass that works as well as a stale Cheeto tossed onto the wet glue side of wallpaper. It’s one thing when you whore out your “Gypsy magic gift” (more on that in the next paragraph) for cash, playing bloodhound for misplaced mobiles and earrings. It’s entirely another thing when you see an acquaintance lost in though and decide to pick her soul apart just so that you’re in on the secret too. I’m not happy about what happened to her classmate, Paige, but I was cheering when our “heroine” (my brain is trying to bitch slap me for using that term in reference to Gwen) screamed herself into an epileptic fit and had to be hospitalized. Serves you right, you immoral wretch.
Now. This “Gypsy magic” shit? Is henceforth going to be typed as “GYPSY MAGIC” because the author apparently is afraid you might forget that Gwen as MAGIC, and makes every effort to stab you in the eyes with that lovely reminder. And it has got to stop. As does her constant use of the term “my psychometry magic” which, if you read it context, actually sounds like this: “This is my super amazing PSYCHOMETRY MAGIC which I have because I’M SO FUCKING SPECIAL AND I KNOW I AM BECAUSE I HAVE PSHYCOMETRY MAGIC AND YOU DON’T, BITCHES.” I really don’t think I’m exaggerating. The way PSYCHOMETRY MAGIC (either standing alone or in conjunction with GYPSY MAGIC) was used in nearly every paragraph fairly screamed “LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME”, complete with a red carpet and flashing neon signs. Christ crapping on a cracker, this chick sounds like the worst attention whore I’ve seen in a young adult book in a coon’s age. (Yes, I’m embracing my hillbilly roots. Deal with it.)
Let’s move on, shall we? Gwen’s family. Well of COURSE she doesn’t seem to have a daddy and her mom and grandma have GYPSY MAGIC. And use their GYPSY MAGIC for the good of those around them. Unlike Gwen. Who uses hers to reap secrets and gossip from those around her like some sad sack on Hoarders collects old newspapers and creepy ass dolls. Gwen’s mom is a police detective. Which is why it’s not a bad thing that Gwen tears through her classmates privacy faster than wrapping paper on Christmas morning. Because her mom is going to fix the horrible thing that happened to that classmate that Gwen violated. Like, duh. I’m honestly seeing this as psychic rape at this point.
Oh, and now we get to the Bella Swan-esque “My mom looks just like me, only she's pretty.” Well princess, I’m guessing she doesn’t look just like you then, does she. Right now I’m seeing Gwen as a cross between Bella Swan and this guy:
[image error]
*having read a few pages further* Oh, fuck no. “The gods wanted you to pick up Paige’s hairbrush so you could see what she was going through.” Excuse me while I try to headdesk myself into accepting such a flimsy excuse.
Even better! “We use our gifts, but we didn’t explain them to people or brag about the things we could do.” With the exception of your obsessive mentioning of said MAGIC in your narration. Though I wouldn’t want to have to explain to people why I knew their darkest, dirtiest secrets and why I was always stroking inanimate objects. That’d be a bit of a conversation killer I’m guessing.
Naturally, we have to have a Tragic Event That Sets Everything In Motion. At least Gwen now realizes that her actions have consequences that reach beyond her shortsighted desire to pry into people’s heads. Even though this realization is couched in a feeling of “Poor me, bad things happened to ME because of my actions”.
On a side note, is there a checklist that authors use to try and create drama? If there is, can someone send it to me? When I write a book, I’d like to know what the hell to avoid more diligently than I would a hoard of demonic clowns with leprosy.
Oh, and look! We have the obligatory lust-at-first-sight device as well. Golly, that sure is swell. I'm guessing that was the final tick mark on that checklist? Wait, no. There's no love triangle yet. *shrugs* It'll be in the first book, I'm sure.
Trying to step back now and see this logically (soooo not an easy thing to do). Yes, Gwen did trigger events leading to Paige no longer being raped by her stepdad. And I can see how this could be a positive “gift” (Sans says dubiously) and be used to help other people in terrifying situations. But that is NOT what this chick was doing. She wasn’t thinking, “Gee, Paige looks upset. I wish there was something I could to do help her.” No. Gwen thought, “Gee, Paige looks upset. OMG, I just have to know why! I won’t be able to rest until I learn every little secret she’s hiding.”
I hope this prequel to the Mythos Academy books is NOT indicative of the series as a whole. I skimmed the last half of the prequel and, shockingly, I am willing to give the first book a try. Gwen seems to have had one hell of a wake-up call, and that can only be a good thing. The prequel felt like an immature rendition of Pandora’s Box and the references to all things Greek mythology have me reluctantly interested. Have I been too harsh on this short story? I’m sure many will think so, but as I said at the outset, this was a reactive review written as I was reading. Right now, I’m too leery to start the first book any time soon and am going to happily ignore it for a spell.
August 10, 2011
Dear Ms. Estep,
You cannot write prologue and call it a short story. No, you really can't.
First Frost is, I'm assuming, the set-up to the first book in Jennifer Estep's YA series, Mythos Academy. I have mixed feelings towards Estep's work, but I'm willing to give her the benefit of the doubt. Not when it comes to this 'story', however. The only good thing about First Frost is that it helps me up my book count, which is desperately lagging.
This is mostly backstory for the first book. There is no plot, nothing actually happens, and I'm SO sure the author's going to summarize the events of this story again in the full-length book. So what was the point, really?
You cannot write prologue and call it a short story. No, you really can't.
First Frost is, I'm assuming, the set-up to the first book in Jennifer Estep's YA series, Mythos Academy. I have mixed feelings towards Estep's work, but I'm willing to give her the benefit of the doubt. Not when it comes to this 'story', however. The only good thing about First Frost is that it helps me up my book count, which is desperately lagging.
This is mostly backstory for the first book. There is no plot, nothing actually happens, and I'm SO sure the author's going to summarize the events of this story again in the full-length book. So what was the point, really?
February 10, 2013
I have to say that this short introduction to Mythos Academy has gripped me. Packed with information that saddened and worried me, that has me curious and wanting more, it is a sure read to start off the series I've been wanting to read for ages.
Gwen has 'Gypsey' powers, psychometry, where she can find or see things through the vibrations others leave. This 'gift' comes from her grandmother and her mother but in different forms.
A tragedy occurs and Gwen finds herself enrolled into Mythos Academy, a school for other kids with magic abilities.
I can't wait to get started properly!
Gwen has 'Gypsey' powers, psychometry, where she can find or see things through the vibrations others leave. This 'gift' comes from her grandmother and her mother but in different forms.
A tragedy occurs and Gwen finds herself enrolled into Mythos Academy, a school for other kids with magic abilities.
I can't wait to get started properly!
August 15, 2011
Another amazing prequel. I can't wait to start reading Touch of Frost.
Ok, this is the story of Gwen before she enrolled in Mythos Academy. Gwen is a gypsy, though she doesn't know why, which is kind of weird but anyways...she is a gypsy with a gift to see memories and feelings that are attached to an object or even a person. One day she finds out a terrible secret by touching the hairbrush of another girl and her story begins. After a few weeks she is told that, by fall she will have to leave her old school back and go to Mythos Academy, a place for people like her.
The story is really nice and it gets you wanna read more. I love Gwen and the way she is so curious about everything.
I also have to say that Spartans are not mythological creatures (gypsies either). They are just people who where born in Sparta. Humans. It's the way they were raise that made them of the most incredible fighters of Greece. Just a note. But I'm going to look pass that cause I think the book is really awesome.
Ok, this is the story of Gwen before she enrolled in Mythos Academy. Gwen is a gypsy, though she doesn't know why, which is kind of weird but anyways...she is a gypsy with a gift to see memories and feelings that are attached to an object or even a person. One day she finds out a terrible secret by touching the hairbrush of another girl and her story begins. After a few weeks she is told that, by fall she will have to leave her old school back and go to Mythos Academy, a place for people like her.
The story is really nice and it gets you wanna read more. I love Gwen and the way she is so curious about everything.
I also have to say that Spartans are not mythological creatures (gypsies either). They are just people who where born in Sparta. Humans. It's the way they were raise that made them of the most incredible fighters of Greece. Just a note. But I'm going to look pass that cause I think the book is really awesome.
July 9, 2017
Interesting little intro to the series!
August 14, 2023
Promising Series start in a short Novella.
August 3, 2020
This was an interesting prequel. I was a little put off by some of the foreshadowing that occurred in this of events and details we aren't aware of for the first few books. It was just confusing how Gwenn was being told things that she actually is told in book 2 and 3. Other than that, it was really nice to get to see Gwenn's mom other than a memory and read the dialogues and interactions she and Gwenn had together if only very briefly.
A lot of people keep commenting about Estep using the word 'Gypsy' as the name of Gwenn's "magical race". Albeit it is now increasingly becoming more common knowledge that the word "gypsy" used in American vernacular to mean a free spirit or hippie has dark origins and is actually a slur against Romanian people. I don't believe Estep chose this word for the magical race out of racism, if anything she most likely was associating with the "free spirit" definition most Americans believe the word means and perhaps completely oblivious to its origins.
Reading this prequel after having read the first few books, I would say people probably shouldn't start off with this when reading the series for the first time. I would recommend reading book 1 at least before reading this prequel.
A lot of people keep commenting about Estep using the word 'Gypsy' as the name of Gwenn's "magical race". Albeit it is now increasingly becoming more common knowledge that the word "gypsy" used in American vernacular to mean a free spirit or hippie has dark origins and is actually a slur against Romanian people. I don't believe Estep chose this word for the magical race out of racism, if anything she most likely was associating with the "free spirit" definition most Americans believe the word means and perhaps completely oblivious to its origins.
Reading this prequel after having read the first few books, I would say people probably shouldn't start off with this when reading the series for the first time. I would recommend reading book 1 at least before reading this prequel.
August 31, 2011
Ok, I can see straight away that this short story and I are going to have some problems getting along.
First of all, "I was a gypsy with psychometry magic" does not make any sense to me at all. Gypsy is considered a derogatory term to describe the Romani people. So when Gwen says she does not know why she was even considered a Gyspy in the first place I am as puzzled as she is.
Next we harp on about Gypsy Magic and Psychometry Magic several times lest we should forget that Gwen is a very speshul person.
Then we have the nosy parker aspect of our heroine. A former colleague of mine, who was a very interested in knowing things about people confessed to me that her mum once told her: "Camilla, it is not attractive for a woman your age to be so prying". I don't think it is a nice quality in a teenage girl either, although - maybe our heroine will live to regret being too curious.
Then we find out that Gwen has violet colored eyes. She does say that they are "very strange looking" but I can tell that she is secretly smug about this - gypsy magic AND purple eyes...
Last but not least it annoys me that the girls in the changing room seemed to be pulling off their of sweaty gym clothes and getting in to their real clothes without having a shower. I can actually understand Paige being a bit reluctant to lend Gwen her hairbrush, after all, Gwen saying she wants to borrow it to brush her "wavy brown hair" which was a "loose sweaty mess"...
Having said all of the above, I shall try to work my way through this little pre-quel of the Mythos Academy series and then I will decide if Jennifer Estep's production and I have a future together, after all.
---
Realized I could not be asked to finish reading this; the next (first) book in the series does not seem to be an improvement and there are so many other books out there waiting to be read!
First of all, "I was a gypsy with psychometry magic" does not make any sense to me at all. Gypsy is considered a derogatory term to describe the Romani people. So when Gwen says she does not know why she was even considered a Gyspy in the first place I am as puzzled as she is.
Next we harp on about Gypsy Magic and Psychometry Magic several times lest we should forget that Gwen is a very speshul person.
Then we have the nosy parker aspect of our heroine. A former colleague of mine, who was a very interested in knowing things about people confessed to me that her mum once told her: "Camilla, it is not attractive for a woman your age to be so prying". I don't think it is a nice quality in a teenage girl either, although - maybe our heroine will live to regret being too curious.
Then we find out that Gwen has violet colored eyes. She does say that they are "very strange looking" but I can tell that she is secretly smug about this - gypsy magic AND purple eyes...
Last but not least it annoys me that the girls in the changing room seemed to be pulling off their of sweaty gym clothes and getting in to their real clothes without having a shower. I can actually understand Paige being a bit reluctant to lend Gwen her hairbrush, after all, Gwen saying she wants to borrow it to brush her "wavy brown hair" which was a "loose sweaty mess"...
Having said all of the above, I shall try to work my way through this little pre-quel of the Mythos Academy series and then I will decide if Jennifer Estep's production and I have a future together, after all.
---
Realized I could not be asked to finish reading this; the next (first) book in the series does not seem to be an improvement and there are so many other books out there waiting to be read!
July 2, 2015
Inhalt: Sie sind die Nachkommen sagenhafter Kämpfer wie Spartaner, Amazonen oder Walküren und verfügen über magische Kräfte. Auf der Mythos Academy lernen sie, mit ihren Fähigkeiten umzugehen und sie richtig einzusetzen – auch die 17-jährige Gwen Frost, die gegen einen übermächtigen Feind bestehen muss … Wie es nach »Erster Frost« weitergeht, erfährst du im Roman »Frostkuss«, erschienen bei ivi. (Quelle: Verlag)
Wann kann ich es lesen: First Frost ist die Vorgeschichte zu der Mythos Academy-Reihe von Jennifer Estep. Deshalb könnt ihr Frostkuss ohne Probleme schon vor der Reihe lesen. Am meisten Spaß macht es aber nachdem ihr Band 1 gelesen habt.
Meine Meinung: Mit der zuckersüßen aber auch irgendwie etwas düsteren Vorgeschichte zu Jennifer Esteps Mythos Academy- Reihe hat die Autorin mir eine kurze Zugfahrt von der Uni nach Hause versüßt. Die Geschichte greift noch einmal einen sehr wichtigen Aspekt auf dem ersten Teil auf, einen Tag, an dem sich für Gwen alles ändern soll. So war es für mich sehr spannend diesen Tag noch einmal hautnah zu erleben und alles mit der entspannt witzigen Erzählperspektive mit ihr zusammen zu erleben. Auf diesen wenigen Seiten konnte Jennifer Estep wirklich alle Emotionen von lustig über schockiert bis hin zu traurig holen und den Leser erwartet eine wunderschöne und berührende Kurzgeschichte.
Bewertung: Das eShort zur Mythos Academy-Reihe eignet sich hervorragend als kleiner Appetithappen für alle, die in noch keinem Buch der Reihe geschmökert haben. Für alle Mythos Academy Fans bietet First Frost eine tolle Ergänzung, die von einem wichtigen Tag in Gwens Leben erzählt und dafür erhält das eShort, das ihr übrigens überall kostenlos bekommt, von mir 5 von 5 Füchschen.
Wann kann ich es lesen: First Frost ist die Vorgeschichte zu der Mythos Academy-Reihe von Jennifer Estep. Deshalb könnt ihr Frostkuss ohne Probleme schon vor der Reihe lesen. Am meisten Spaß macht es aber nachdem ihr Band 1 gelesen habt.
Meine Meinung: Mit der zuckersüßen aber auch irgendwie etwas düsteren Vorgeschichte zu Jennifer Esteps Mythos Academy- Reihe hat die Autorin mir eine kurze Zugfahrt von der Uni nach Hause versüßt. Die Geschichte greift noch einmal einen sehr wichtigen Aspekt auf dem ersten Teil auf, einen Tag, an dem sich für Gwen alles ändern soll. So war es für mich sehr spannend diesen Tag noch einmal hautnah zu erleben und alles mit der entspannt witzigen Erzählperspektive mit ihr zusammen zu erleben. Auf diesen wenigen Seiten konnte Jennifer Estep wirklich alle Emotionen von lustig über schockiert bis hin zu traurig holen und den Leser erwartet eine wunderschöne und berührende Kurzgeschichte.
Bewertung: Das eShort zur Mythos Academy-Reihe eignet sich hervorragend als kleiner Appetithappen für alle, die in noch keinem Buch der Reihe geschmökert haben. Für alle Mythos Academy Fans bietet First Frost eine tolle Ergänzung, die von einem wichtigen Tag in Gwens Leben erzählt und dafür erhält das eShort, das ihr übrigens überall kostenlos bekommt, von mir 5 von 5 Füchschen.
December 29, 2017
This is a novella, a prequel to the Mythos Academy series.
We meet Gwen Frost, a Gypsy with a gift of psychometry. She is doing what she can to live a normal life, but she is using her gift to earn some extra cash. After all finding lost keys and phones is ridiculously easy for her. But then she touches Paige's brush. And she is suddenly in a middle of a nightmare.
The purpose of the story is to meet Gwen, to realize what is it that led to her going to Mythos. We don't see much of the Academy.
It's an OK prequel, but I'm simply not a big fan of short stories that should make everything more clear, but they usually confuse.
Rating:
3.5 stars
We meet Gwen Frost, a Gypsy with a gift of psychometry. She is doing what she can to live a normal life, but she is using her gift to earn some extra cash. After all finding lost keys and phones is ridiculously easy for her. But then she touches Paige's brush. And she is suddenly in a middle of a nightmare.
The purpose of the story is to meet Gwen, to realize what is it that led to her going to Mythos. We don't see much of the Academy.
It's an OK prequel, but I'm simply not a big fan of short stories that should make everything more clear, but they usually confuse.
Rating:
3.5 stars
November 5, 2016
Nice novella :) It is kind of a prologue for the first book of the series
February 20, 2021
A great intro into the Mythos Academy world i cant wait to get stuck in!!!
July 16, 2011
First Frost is a short novella that introduces readers and followers of Jennifer Estep’s Elemental Assassin series, to her new series called Mythos Academy and her main character Gwen Frost. Touch of Frost is the first book of the series which releases on July 26, 2011.
Gwen is a gypsy, like her mother, and grandmother, who has psychometry abilities. She sees images in her head and gets flashes of other people’s memories and feelings off almost everything she touches. Gwen even uses her “gift” to find lost things like cell phones, car keys, wallets etc. Call her Nancy Drew with psychic abilities.
But, when she touches a hair brush that belongs to her friend Paige Forest, it leads to a shocking discovery and a terrible accident that claims the life of her own mother. It also leads her grandmother to enroll her at Mythos Academy for the gifted so that she can learn to control her magical ability.
Mythos Academy is a boarding school in North Carolina which counts Vikings, Valkyries, Romans and Amazons as students. Students range in age from 16 to 21 and it appears Gwen will be coming in as a second year student.
This is an intriguing plot for a series, as well as the fact that Estep is intent on writing a young adult series at the same time she is also writing her Elemental Assassin series. I am definitely looking forward to reading Touch of Frost when it comes out since I enjoy her writing style.
I would have loved to learn more about her mother and grandmothers abilities first and the reason she is being forced to attend this school, but hopefully that shall come to light over the course of this series.
By reading this novella, we already know that Gwen will have a love interest that has already captured her imagination. Hopefully, Estep will stay away from the three way love triangle that boggles my mind and makes me want to hurl things.
Gwen is a gypsy, like her mother, and grandmother, who has psychometry abilities. She sees images in her head and gets flashes of other people’s memories and feelings off almost everything she touches. Gwen even uses her “gift” to find lost things like cell phones, car keys, wallets etc. Call her Nancy Drew with psychic abilities.
But, when she touches a hair brush that belongs to her friend Paige Forest, it leads to a shocking discovery and a terrible accident that claims the life of her own mother. It also leads her grandmother to enroll her at Mythos Academy for the gifted so that she can learn to control her magical ability.
Mythos Academy is a boarding school in North Carolina which counts Vikings, Valkyries, Romans and Amazons as students. Students range in age from 16 to 21 and it appears Gwen will be coming in as a second year student.
This is an intriguing plot for a series, as well as the fact that Estep is intent on writing a young adult series at the same time she is also writing her Elemental Assassin series. I am definitely looking forward to reading Touch of Frost when it comes out since I enjoy her writing style.
I would have loved to learn more about her mother and grandmothers abilities first and the reason she is being forced to attend this school, but hopefully that shall come to light over the course of this series.
By reading this novella, we already know that Gwen will have a love interest that has already captured her imagination. Hopefully, Estep will stay away from the three way love triangle that boggles my mind and makes me want to hurl things.
June 1, 2017
I didn't know it was a novella when I started it. But what the hell, a few pages were not gonna kill me.
But seriously, it was really unnecessary. The novella was about Gwen learning about Paige's abuse and about her mom's death. But we already know all of that, she talk about it like all the time during book one.
So only a few pages, but redundant.
But seriously, it was really unnecessary. The novella was about Gwen learning about Paige's abuse and about her mom's death. But we already know all of that, she talk about it like all the time during book one.
So only a few pages, but redundant.
March 19, 2018
I saw this series recommended in the comments of another paranormal series I’ve read. I’d never heard of the author or the series but when I looked them up, I was excited to see such a large backlog of stories. If I liked the series, I had many hours of happy reading ahead of me. So I went into this book with happy optimism.
Unfortunately, I came out of it feeling decidedly unmoved. The whole story seems derivative and uninspired, I didn’t connect with the main character and her powers seem really inconsistent.
When Gwen was told about the school, she asked almost no questions, so that when she arrived on campus she still had no clue what was going on. This just doesn’t make sense, other than as plot contrivance, because no kid, supernatural or otherwise, would quietly sit by and let themselves be shipped off to a boarding school without asking for a few pertinent details. I just didn’t believe any of Gwen’s behavior here.
And once she’s at the school, it’s like we’re going down a checklist. Popular mean girl who will make Gwen’s life hard? Check. Severus Snape, er, I mean, black-haired, pale-skinned authority figure who instantly hates the heroine and will make her life hard? Check. Gorgeous boy who will be inexplicably infatuated with our heroine even though she’s repeatedly assured us that she’s nothing special? Check.
I don’t know. I didn’t hate this novella but nothing about it really made me want to find out what happens next. Maybe the next time I’ve run out of things to read, I’ll give this series another shot, but for now, I’m done.
Unfortunately, I came out of it feeling decidedly unmoved. The whole story seems derivative and uninspired, I didn’t connect with the main character and her powers seem really inconsistent.
When Gwen was told about the school, she asked almost no questions, so that when she arrived on campus she still had no clue what was going on. This just doesn’t make sense, other than as plot contrivance, because no kid, supernatural or otherwise, would quietly sit by and let themselves be shipped off to a boarding school without asking for a few pertinent details. I just didn’t believe any of Gwen’s behavior here.
And once she’s at the school, it’s like we’re going down a checklist. Popular mean girl who will make Gwen’s life hard? Check. Severus Snape, er, I mean, black-haired, pale-skinned authority figure who instantly hates the heroine and will make her life hard? Check. Gorgeous boy who will be inexplicably infatuated with our heroine even though she’s repeatedly assured us that she’s nothing special? Check.
I don’t know. I didn’t hate this novella but nothing about it really made me want to find out what happens next. Maybe the next time I’ve run out of things to read, I’ll give this series another shot, but for now, I’m done.
February 11, 2018
I enjoyed this book when I read it!
August 19, 2018
Introduces Gwen and her paranormal ability. This is short and tells how her mom died and it was decided that she attend Mythos Academy. A few characters are introduced. Calling it now- Logan is going to be the love interest.
June 5, 2020
This is just a more detailed POV of what we've been told in Touch of Frost. It starts with the scene in the Locker room leading up to her Mother's death and ending with Professor Metis introducing her to Mythos Academy. Though a nice read, it wasn't anything new. It was just a few things that threw me off like Gwen later being so shocked and oblivious to gods and goddesses when her mother hinted at it through stories and the way she spoke since her childhood. Plus, in the first book, she is amazed that Logan flirts with her but he flirts with her here before she even started attending the school.
January 16, 2024
una relectura tranquila y bonita siempre ayuda contra las cosas feas
June 26, 2013
The review is also available on my blog, Bows & Bullets Reviews
Gwen Frost has a gypsy gift, the gift of psychometry. Basically, she gets flashes of other people’s memories from touching things. Her gift has made her incredibly nosy and when she discovers something entirely unpleasant about her fellow classmate, it forces her into a mental breakdown leading to her changing school. Mythos Academy is for people with gifts, to help them control their gifts and learn fighting techniques to defend themselves. One thing is certain, her life has changed forever.
This prequel has accomplished exactly what it set out to, it’s whetted my appetite for more. I cannot wait to read Touch Of Frost. In fact, it’s one of the next books on my TBR list, partly because I really enjoyed this and partly because I was granted an eARC for book 5 in this series. Gwen seems to be a somewhat headstrong teen with a pretty level head on her shoulders. She suffers a terrible loss and though she is resistant to the idea of starting a new school, she never does that temper tandrum thing that I think we were all expecting. That’s commendable because I certainly would have thrown a fit! I can’t really say much about the rest of the cast because you don’t meet many of them, since most of the ones you do meet are at the school she’s leaving behind. You get a vague glimpse at who I hope the hero of the story will be, but that’s it.
Basically, it’s pretty similar to most prequel novellas, it sets the stage for book one. It gives you just enough to want more, but mostly leaves you guessing about what is going to happen next and any deeper plots that may have occurred.
Gwen Frost has a gypsy gift, the gift of psychometry. Basically, she gets flashes of other people’s memories from touching things. Her gift has made her incredibly nosy and when she discovers something entirely unpleasant about her fellow classmate, it forces her into a mental breakdown leading to her changing school. Mythos Academy is for people with gifts, to help them control their gifts and learn fighting techniques to defend themselves. One thing is certain, her life has changed forever.
This prequel has accomplished exactly what it set out to, it’s whetted my appetite for more. I cannot wait to read Touch Of Frost. In fact, it’s one of the next books on my TBR list, partly because I really enjoyed this and partly because I was granted an eARC for book 5 in this series. Gwen seems to be a somewhat headstrong teen with a pretty level head on her shoulders. She suffers a terrible loss and though she is resistant to the idea of starting a new school, she never does that temper tandrum thing that I think we were all expecting. That’s commendable because I certainly would have thrown a fit! I can’t really say much about the rest of the cast because you don’t meet many of them, since most of the ones you do meet are at the school she’s leaving behind. You get a vague glimpse at who I hope the hero of the story will be, but that’s it.
Basically, it’s pretty similar to most prequel novellas, it sets the stage for book one. It gives you just enough to want more, but mostly leaves you guessing about what is going to happen next and any deeper plots that may have occurred.
August 1, 2011
First Frost is the prequel to the series.
In this book we learned about Gwen Frost, a teenager but also a "Gypsy" who has the gift of psychometry. When she touches things she can tell what emotions the owner had while holding the instrument. It is much stronger when she touches a person. She uses this ability in high school to earn some extra money finding things for classmates. At times psycometry has been a downer, like when she found out her new boyfriend was kissing her but thinking of another girl instead.
Her mom and grandmother both are Gypsies too. The grandmother gets visions and her mother can tell if someone is lying which is helpful in her job since she is a cop.
When Gwen touches the hair brush of her classmate Paige, she learns that she has been sexually abused by her step father. Those strong emotions send her into almost a seizure like experience and she ends up in the hospital.
After loosing a family member she gets enrolled in a new school, Mythos Academy. It takes kids from 16 to 21 years of age. This is not your daily high school. She is to live there and learned more about her gift. She also learns there are other kids who have different type of magic, Amazons, Spartans, Romans, Vikings and Valkyries.
This prequel sets the story for this new series. I have read Jennifer Estep's Elemental Assassin series, which is one of my favorites and I think this series won't disappoint me either. Funny how the heroine has a name that also starts with G. I am a fan of the writer. Once I finished this book I started Touch of Frost which I devoured in an afternoon.
4/5 Fangs
cross posted at my blog http://mrsleifs.blogspot
In this book we learned about Gwen Frost, a teenager but also a "Gypsy" who has the gift of psychometry. When she touches things she can tell what emotions the owner had while holding the instrument. It is much stronger when she touches a person. She uses this ability in high school to earn some extra money finding things for classmates. At times psycometry has been a downer, like when she found out her new boyfriend was kissing her but thinking of another girl instead.
Her mom and grandmother both are Gypsies too. The grandmother gets visions and her mother can tell if someone is lying which is helpful in her job since she is a cop.
When Gwen touches the hair brush of her classmate Paige, she learns that she has been sexually abused by her step father. Those strong emotions send her into almost a seizure like experience and she ends up in the hospital.
After loosing a family member she gets enrolled in a new school, Mythos Academy. It takes kids from 16 to 21 years of age. This is not your daily high school. She is to live there and learned more about her gift. She also learns there are other kids who have different type of magic, Amazons, Spartans, Romans, Vikings and Valkyries.
This prequel sets the story for this new series. I have read Jennifer Estep's Elemental Assassin series, which is one of my favorites and I think this series won't disappoint me either. Funny how the heroine has a name that also starts with G. I am a fan of the writer. Once I finished this book I started Touch of Frost which I devoured in an afternoon.
4/5 Fangs
cross posted at my blog http://mrsleifs.blogspot
February 13, 2015
It's a good prologue for a book series especially since the protagonist, Gwen frost, feelings are illustrated very clear. Like when she touch the hairbrush of Paige Forrest she literally scream her head off, 'till she head off to the hospital. Her Psychometry magic that is mentioned as her gift or in simple word her gypsy magic is kind of awesome. Her sense of touch be it an object, person or anything is incredible, to know someone else's secret that nobody did, to replay it in her head like some kind of movie scene. Her magic is both a curse and a gift. Curse for when she told her mom grace, about what she saw, when she touch Paige hairbrush doing to her by her stepfather, her mom a cop and a gypsy like her who by the way can tell if someone is lying which is kind of helpful for her job, like she is a living breathing lie detector mentioned on the book, her mom acted on instinct to help Paige for it is her duty but in doing so her life is like an exchange for helping someone else, co'z she died in a car accident which is sad and heart wrenching for Gwen and everyone who read and liked the book. Gwen is left on her grandmother Grandma Frost a gypsy like her mom and her who can tell the future. Three weeks after that a professor of Mythos Academy arrived telling Gwen that she is enrolling next fall on their school. Leaving her no choice but to accept since her grandma did not object...
December 30, 2020
Decided to re-read from the beginning to finally read the last book, after...who knows how many years having put it on hold ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Overall for the series a good decision, for this prequel...not so good? - downgrading it from 4* to 3* because while it does do it's job and get you interested to read the series, not that great on it's own. Meh.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Book #0.5 review: First Frost ***
Book #1 review: Touch of Frost ***
Book #1.5 review: Halloween Frost **
Book #2 review: Kiss of Frost***
Book #3 review: Dark Frost***
Book #4 review: Crimson Frost**
Book #4.5 review: Spartan Frost***
Book #5 review: Midnight Frost***
Book #6 review: Killer Frost***
~The End~
Overall for the series a good decision, for this prequel...not so good? - downgrading it from 4* to 3* because while it does do it's job and get you interested to read the series, not that great on it's own. Meh.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Book #0.5 review: First Frost ***
Book #1 review: Touch of Frost ***
Book #1.5 review: Halloween Frost **
Book #2 review: Kiss of Frost***
Book #3 review: Dark Frost***
Book #4 review: Crimson Frost**
Book #4.5 review: Spartan Frost***
Book #5 review: Midnight Frost***
Book #6 review: Killer Frost***
~The End~
July 18, 2015
Ernsthaft. Will mich die Autorin verarschen? Gwen wurde nach geschätzten 10% dieser Kurzgeschichte schon so zickig und, ich will es gar nicht glauben, so unsympathisch das ich echt etwas sprachlos war. Bei "Frostkuss" hat man sich daran gewöhnen können, dass sie versucht junge Leser anzusprechen, aber bei der kurzen Story hier ... Aber nun gut.
Etwas neues hat einem die Story nicht gegeben, weil man die Handlung eben schon vom ersten Band kannte und sie wurde hier nur etwas genauer erzählt. Ist ja auch nicht umsonst in der Reihenfolge als "0,5" nummeriert :D Doch ich würde jedem empfehlen, eben durch die krasse Spoiler-Gefahr, die Kurzgeschichte nach dem ersten Band zu lesen.
Ein paar Widersprüche konnte ich auch finden und eben so wieder die Liebe zu der Farbmischung purpur-grau der Autorin. Nicht zu vergessen von diesen Special-Augen die man jetzt mittlerweile sogar von der oberen Tribüne aus sehen konnte - diesmal strahlte die Konzentration in den Augen so stark und nicht nur die Farbe. *eyes roll*
Was hat mir der kleine "Bonus" also gegeben? Nichts. Aber na ja ... es hat die Wartezeit etwas verkürzt auf den zweiten und dritten Band der Mythos Academy-Reihe, die ich bestellt habe :)
Etwas neues hat einem die Story nicht gegeben, weil man die Handlung eben schon vom ersten Band kannte und sie wurde hier nur etwas genauer erzählt. Ist ja auch nicht umsonst in der Reihenfolge als "0,5" nummeriert :D Doch ich würde jedem empfehlen, eben durch die krasse Spoiler-Gefahr, die Kurzgeschichte nach dem ersten Band zu lesen.
Ein paar Widersprüche konnte ich auch finden und eben so wieder die Liebe zu der Farbmischung purpur-grau der Autorin. Nicht zu vergessen von diesen Special-Augen die man jetzt mittlerweile sogar von der oberen Tribüne aus sehen konnte - diesmal strahlte die Konzentration in den Augen so stark und nicht nur die Farbe. *eyes roll*
Was hat mir der kleine "Bonus" also gegeben? Nichts. Aber na ja ... es hat die Wartezeit etwas verkürzt auf den zweiten und dritten Band der Mythos Academy-Reihe, die ich bestellt habe :)
December 26, 2014
Segui a la profesora Metis fuera del gimnasio y volvimos al patio principal. Mis ojos vagaron sobre el paisaje. Vi las misma cosas que cuando habiamos caminado por primera vez por el patio. Arboles. Bancos. Edificios. Estudiantes. Estatuas.
Todo parecia bastante inocente desde una distancia, pero habia mas ahi que lo que se podia observar con los ojos. No tenia que tocar nada o usar mi don Gitano para averiguar que habia algo ahi. Podia sentirlo profundo en mis huesos.
No sabia porque estaba siendo cambiada a la Academia Mythos o como se suponia que encajaria con los chicos ricos y las armas que blandian con semejante habilidad, pero una cosa era segura, mi vida nunca, nunca iba a volver a ser la misma.
FIN DE LA HISTORIA CORTA
Hmm okay :)
24/12/2014.
Sara Nuñez
Todo parecia bastante inocente desde una distancia, pero habia mas ahi que lo que se podia observar con los ojos. No tenia que tocar nada o usar mi don Gitano para averiguar que habia algo ahi. Podia sentirlo profundo en mis huesos.
No sabia porque estaba siendo cambiada a la Academia Mythos o como se suponia que encajaria con los chicos ricos y las armas que blandian con semejante habilidad, pero una cosa era segura, mi vida nunca, nunca iba a volver a ser la misma.
FIN DE LA HISTORIA CORTA
Hmm okay :)
24/12/2014.
Sara Nuñez
October 24, 2015
First Frost ist die Kurzgeschichte zur Mythos Academy Reihe, die noch vor dem ersten Band spielt und erklärt wann und wieso Gwen auf die Mythos Academy geschickt wird. Zumindest ein bisschen.
Die Handlung spielt in Gwens alter Schule, in der sie mit ihrer Gabe von einem Vorfall bei einer Klassenkameradin erfährt, wodurch verschiedene Ereignisse ins Rollen kommen und schließlich Professor Metis vor Gwens Tür steht und sie erfährt, auf welche Schule sie nun gehen muss.
Allerdings bleibt die Kurzgeschichte natürlich sehr vage, damit den späteren Ereignissen der Bücher nicht vorgegriffen wird.
Insgesamt lässt sich auch die Kurzgeschichte gut lesen und wenn man Gwen bereits kennt, erfährt man ein paar kleine neue Details. Einiges kennt man aber auch schon, sodass es gut ist, dass es sich um ein kostenloses ebook als kleine Ergänzung zur Reihe handelt.
Die Handlung spielt in Gwens alter Schule, in der sie mit ihrer Gabe von einem Vorfall bei einer Klassenkameradin erfährt, wodurch verschiedene Ereignisse ins Rollen kommen und schließlich Professor Metis vor Gwens Tür steht und sie erfährt, auf welche Schule sie nun gehen muss.
Allerdings bleibt die Kurzgeschichte natürlich sehr vage, damit den späteren Ereignissen der Bücher nicht vorgegriffen wird.
Insgesamt lässt sich auch die Kurzgeschichte gut lesen und wenn man Gwen bereits kennt, erfährt man ein paar kleine neue Details. Einiges kennt man aber auch schon, sodass es gut ist, dass es sich um ein kostenloses ebook als kleine Ergänzung zur Reihe handelt.
September 11, 2011
A decent enough introduction to yet another young adult novel series about Professor Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters... excuse me, Mythos Academy. I still like the idea, but nothing in the writing seized me enough for me to want to continue reading. Instead, I'm going to stop here and thank my lucky stars I got this when it was free on Amazon and move on to something else. That way I won't be disappointed when the crush at first sight turns into instant love and and the grumpy librarian won't have a chance to win over the annoying girl's heart.
Also, a word of warning, if you're going to pick this up, you should be aware that the author goes for the shock factor. An abhorring behaviour is trivialized for the sake of a plot point and then promptly forgotten.
Also, a word of warning, if you're going to pick this up, you should be aware that the author goes for the shock factor. An abhorring behaviour is trivialized for the sake of a plot point and then promptly forgotten.
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