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Mythos Academy #1
Touch of Frost
The new girl at a school for mythical warriors is out to solve her classmate’s murder in the New York Times bestselling author’s YA fantasy series debut.
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. 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. That kinda puts us on the verge of death, destruction and lots of other bad, bad things. Now I'm determined to find out who killed Jasmine and why – especially since I should have been the one who died.
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. 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. That kinda puts us on the verge of death, destruction and lots of other bad, bad things. Now I'm determined to find out who killed Jasmine and why – especially since I should have been the one who died.
386 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 1, 2011
632 people are currently reading
33.9k people want to read
About the author
Jennifer Estep
92 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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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 2,274 reviews
May 11, 2013
I freakin' HATED this book
I can summarize why I loathed this book with just a few quotes:
"Yucko" (repeated 6 times)
"My Gypsy gift" (repeated 45 times- yes I searched for this on my kindle)
And for the sentiment attached to quotes like this one
This book was a HUGE disappointment. I was hoping for another Vampire Academy, something with great sexual tension and a kick-butt plot. Instead I got poorly written crap that is filled with stereotypes.
Meet Gwen, a girl who is so nerdy and alternative that she wears hoodies! and reads comic books! Crazy stuff here, folks. Gwen is just a terrible character. She is so judgmental it is sickening. She hates the rich girls and the "sluts" (the ultimate put down in Gwen's book!) and anyone too girly. The worst part is that she doesn't seem to mind male "sluts". Apparently having sex is only a cardinal sin if you have lady parts.
She is also incredibly dense. Gwen claims that because of her "Gypsy gift" she can never forget anything. Then why, may I ask, does she seem not to catch on to ANYTHING. I figured out everything from about 60% on and Gwen was still walking around in a befuddled haze. Gwen also seems to have the mental capacity of a 12 year old. She thinks kissing is icky and says things like "yucko" regularly. She is supposed to be 17!!!. Honestly, I found that hard to believe. She goes to a magic school with abnormally strong Spartans, Valkyrie girls who shoot colored sparks out of their fingers, and she herself has a "Gypsy gift" of seeing the history of things that she touches yet she still doesn't believe in the Gods and mythology- what more proof do you need girl?!?! And don't get me even started on the "romance". I didn't get it and I wasn't feeling it.
The writing too was just not up to par. Aside from the fact that it was incredibly repetitive and cliched, there are tons of grammar mistakes and contradictions. It just irritated me more and more as I read. I tried to keep an open mind but I wanted to put it down at about 70% because I was so frustrated with the whole reading experience.
As you can see, this book was a HUGE miss for me.
I can summarize why I loathed this book with just a few quotes:
"Yucko" (repeated 6 times)
"My Gypsy gift" (repeated 45 times- yes I searched for this on my kindle)
And for the sentiment attached to quotes like this one
This book was a HUGE disappointment. I was hoping for another Vampire Academy, something with great sexual tension and a kick-butt plot. Instead I got poorly written crap that is filled with stereotypes.
Meet Gwen, a girl who is so nerdy and alternative that she wears hoodies! and reads comic books! Crazy stuff here, folks. Gwen is just a terrible character. She is so judgmental it is sickening. She hates the rich girls and the "sluts" (the ultimate put down in Gwen's book!) and anyone too girly. The worst part is that she doesn't seem to mind male "sluts". Apparently having sex is only a cardinal sin if you have lady parts.
She is also incredibly dense. Gwen claims that because of her "Gypsy gift" she can never forget anything. Then why, may I ask, does she seem not to catch on to ANYTHING. I figured out everything from about 60% on and Gwen was still walking around in a befuddled haze. Gwen also seems to have the mental capacity of a 12 year old. She thinks kissing is icky and says things like "yucko" regularly. She is supposed to be 17!!!. Honestly, I found that hard to believe. She goes to a magic school with abnormally strong Spartans, Valkyrie girls who shoot colored sparks out of their fingers, and she herself has a "Gypsy gift" of seeing the history of things that she touches yet she still doesn't believe in the Gods and mythology- what more proof do you need girl?!?! And don't get me even started on the "romance". I didn't get it and I wasn't feeling it.
The writing too was just not up to par. Aside from the fact that it was incredibly repetitive and cliched, there are tons of grammar mistakes and contradictions. It just irritated me more and more as I read. I tried to keep an open mind but I wanted to put it down at about 70% because I was so frustrated with the whole reading experience.
As you can see, this book was a HUGE miss for me.
August 11, 2016
SKEPTICAL STACIA IS A LITTLE LESS SKEPTICAL TODAY.
3.5 stars. Welcome toMythos Academy ... Warrior Academy. Oh sure, there are all kinds of mythical races present, but let's get real here : all I could see was a story about who could kick ass the most.
This is like House of Night without the raging diarrhea. Meaning : this book still has the fun adventures, but you're less likely to want to slap the hell out of each and every character. Honestly, I was sort of expecting something similar to the Covenant series because of the mythology, but this really wasn't the same thing at all. Gwen reminds me a little of Claire from Morganville Vamps (starts off klutzy and unsure of herself, but you can tell she's going to gain her footing as the series proceeds), and the relationship with Gwen and her grandmother reminded me a lot of Zoey and Grandma Redbird from HoN.
So okay, we had the insecure lead and the all-too-gorgeous male counterpart, which is pretty stereotypical for the genre, but what can I say? Even I have days when I don't mind the stereotypes. Yes, I can picture your mouths dropping open in shock at that statement coming from me. If a book hooks me, it just does, regardless of how often I've bashed the stereotypes in previous books. Call me a sucker for hot guys who can fight and love to save the damsel in distress, but Logan was pretty swoon-worthy every time he came to Gwen's aid. Cliched, maybe. But it was awfully cute.
Also, I felt like a lot of Gwen's insecurities mirrored real feelings that many of us would have had at that age. Random side note : the signing of the mattresses thing...I KNEW THIS GUY. No joke. I had a friend who did this. Not that you needed to know this info about me, but an ex of mine and I went and hooked up on that guy's bed and signed HIS mattress. Because I'm craaaazy like that.
The TENSION (oh-no-he-didn't) issue at the end of the book has me wanting to run out and grab the next book (or just download it because I'm far too lazy to run anywhere). For people who've read the series : It's been a while since I've wanted to read book 2 of a series right away. Usually, I don't do this.
The few minor issues :
I didn't mind the cliches this time, but there were a LOT more of them than I'd normally like. Fortunately, the story itself made up for some of this.
Friends of mine have mentioned this author's repetitive nature with mundane details. Since this is the first book I've read, I can't confirm that this will keep happening, but I did notice a few details/scenes which were repeated unnecessarily more than once.
While the second half of the book was completely awesome, it took me a few chapters to wade past some dull scenes and silly drama. However, given the direction of the second half of the book, I feel like this series has potential to bring it in later books the way that VA did.
Overall, I'm excited to have found a new author and series to vibe on!
"Bitch," she said. "That was my favorite dagger."
She had a favorite dagger? Seriously? And she thought that I was a freak.
3.5 stars. Welcome to
This is like House of Night without the raging diarrhea. Meaning : this book still has the fun adventures, but you're less likely to want to slap the hell out of each and every character. Honestly, I was sort of expecting something similar to the Covenant series because of the mythology, but this really wasn't the same thing at all. Gwen reminds me a little of Claire from Morganville Vamps (starts off klutzy and unsure of herself, but you can tell she's going to gain her footing as the series proceeds), and the relationship with Gwen and her grandmother reminded me a lot of Zoey and Grandma Redbird from HoN.
So okay, we had the insecure lead and the all-too-gorgeous male counterpart, which is pretty stereotypical for the genre, but what can I say? Even I have days when I don't mind the stereotypes. Yes, I can picture your mouths dropping open in shock at that statement coming from me. If a book hooks me, it just does, regardless of how often I've bashed the stereotypes in previous books. Call me a sucker for hot guys who can fight and love to save the damsel in distress, but Logan was pretty swoon-worthy every time he came to Gwen's aid. Cliched, maybe. But it was awfully cute.
"I think so." Logan stared at me, and a smile pulled up his lips. "But maybe you should give me mouth-to-mouth, just to make sure."
I rolled my eyes and stood up. "Do you ever think about anything besides sex?"
His smile widened. "Not when you're around, Gypsy girl."
Also, I felt like a lot of Gwen's insecurities mirrored real feelings that many of us would have had at that age. Random side note : the signing of the mattresses thing...I KNEW THIS GUY. No joke. I had a friend who did this. Not that you needed to know this info about me, but an ex of mine and I went and hooked up on that guy's bed and signed HIS mattress. Because I'm craaaazy like that.
The TENSION (oh-no-he-didn't) issue at the end of the book has me wanting to run out and grab the next book (or just download it because I'm far too lazy to run anywhere). For people who've read the series : It's been a while since I've wanted to read book 2 of a series right away. Usually, I don't do this.
The few minor issues :
I didn't mind the cliches this time, but there were a LOT more of them than I'd normally like. Fortunately, the story itself made up for some of this.
Friends of mine have mentioned this author's repetitive nature with mundane details. Since this is the first book I've read, I can't confirm that this will keep happening, but I did notice a few details/scenes which were repeated unnecessarily more than once.
While the second half of the book was completely awesome, it took me a few chapters to wade past some dull scenes and silly drama. However, given the direction of the second half of the book, I feel like this series has potential to bring it in later books the way that VA did.
Overall, I'm excited to have found a new author and series to vibe on!
February 27, 2017
Everything that I've already said for the prequel still stands.
And in this one we get a shitload of pumpkins, too.
Seriously, I don't understand the pumpkins.
I don't understand the fixation with the designer clothes, either. In every paragraph we are reminded that everyone in that school wears designer clothes. And that there are pumpkins.
From now on, I'm going to cram pumpkins everywhere just to prove how annoying they are.
Well, I suppose now it's time to say something review-like.
Our heroine (pumpkin!
) has the gift of being able to tell the history of every object by touching it (that works even for pumpkins!).
So this could have been a story telling how this girl became a stellar detective, who solved every case just by touching some odd scrap of evidence. It could even have been the story of this girl becoming a famous historian, who unveiled weird events about weirder artifacts by simply touching them. Or a Doctor House with a skirt, diagnosing unknown exotic diseases (or healing sick pumpkins).
I could go on for hours, but the sad truth is that this novel is none of the above.
The girl uses her gift to retrieve stuff for her schoolmates, in exchange of petty cash.
Just sad, isn't it?
Even the pumpkins are sad for that:
So, this girl has this fantabulous gift. The author reminds us of it every single page, but sometimes the protagonist herself forgets (how could she! Call the avenging pumpkins!)
See? She FORGETS. She could just touch something and have full knowledge of everything concerning her father.
This happens a lot, throughout the entire book.
Bad editor, no cookie!
But you can have a pumpkin, here it is:
Our girl then goes to a special school for magical kids. Think of Hogwarts, but without the medieval stuff and full of mythological nonsense.
There she finds a lot of other magical kids who all have some special superpower and wear designer clothes. It’s important to highlight that second aspect again, you know.
And there are pumpkin fudges, pumpkin rolls and other pumpkins.
All very interesting.
Do I have to go on?
I think you can get the gist of it.
There's some abs-staring and some oh-no-I-didnt-think-you-liked-me-even-though-you-tried-to-kiss-me. Quite uneventful. And boring. And don't forget the pumpkins.
And in this one we get a shitload of pumpkins, too.
Seriously, I don't understand the pumpkins.
I don't understand the fixation with the designer clothes, either. In every paragraph we are reminded that everyone in that school wears designer clothes. And that there are pumpkins.
From now on, I'm going to cram pumpkins everywhere just to prove how annoying they are.
Well, I suppose now it's time to say something review-like.
Our heroine (pumpkin!
) has the gift of being able to tell the history of every object by touching it (that works even for pumpkins!).So this could have been a story telling how this girl became a stellar detective, who solved every case just by touching some odd scrap of evidence. It could even have been the story of this girl becoming a famous historian, who unveiled weird events about weirder artifacts by simply touching them. Or a Doctor House with a skirt, diagnosing unknown exotic diseases (or healing sick pumpkins).
I could go on for hours, but the sad truth is that this novel is none of the above.
The girl uses her gift to retrieve stuff for her schoolmates, in exchange of petty cash.
Just sad, isn't it?
Even the pumpkins are sad for that:
So, this girl has this fantabulous gift. The author reminds us of it every single page, but sometimes the protagonist herself forgets (how could she! Call the avenging pumpkins!)
My dad, Tyr, had died from cancer when I was two, and the only memories I had of him were the faded photos my mom had shown me.
See? She FORGETS. She could just touch something and have full knowledge of everything concerning her father.
This happens a lot, throughout the entire book.
Bad editor, no cookie!
But you can have a pumpkin, here it is:
Our girl then goes to a special school for magical kids. Think of Hogwarts, but without the medieval stuff and full of mythological nonsense.
There she finds a lot of other magical kids who all have some special superpower and wear designer clothes. It’s important to highlight that second aspect again, you know.
And there are pumpkin fudges, pumpkin rolls and other pumpkins.
All very interesting.
Do I have to go on?
I think you can get the gist of it.
There's some abs-staring and some oh-no-I-didnt-think-you-liked-me-even-though-you-tried-to-kiss-me. Quite uneventful. And boring. And don't forget the pumpkins.
June 18, 2011
This review may also be found on A Thousand Little Pages.
Gwen Frost is being forced to attend Mythos Academy, an elite school set apart to train kids who just so happen to be descendants of various mythical warriors. Of course, Gwen doesn’t believe in any of the supernatural skills her classmates supposedly possess. The only type of magic she actually accepts is her own and that of her own family. When the school’s most popular girl, the icy Valkyrie princess Jasmine, is murdered right in the library next to a stolen mythical artifact called the Bowl of Tears, Gwen is determined to get to the bottom of the entire situation. It’s never a good idea to poke your head into other people’s business, though. So the results? Who else is to blame but yourself?
Touch of Frost belongs to the new batch of paranormal stories that all seem exactly the same, only with different character names and fantastical elements. This novel’s back story is a mishmash of tons of various warriors -- from Norse gods to ninjas. While that is certainly a nice idea, it’s never really delved into. Except for a few key warrior gods, all the others felt extraneous and were barely mentioned at all.
The characters aren’t especially mind-blowing, either. You have the blonde mean girl clique, the quirky and unpopular heroine, and the hot bad boy who falls in love with the heroine anyways; just the same formula used over and over and over again. The character with an actual personality was Vic, the ancient magical sword, who has a grand total of about five lines in the entire novel. That is just sad. A sword beats out all those other full-fledged human characters? Sad, sad, sad.
Touch of Frost is quite a cliché, but lovers of stereotypical teen paranormal stories (I know there are a lot of you out there) will devour it with glee.
Book Source: ARC via Flamingnet
Gwen Frost is being forced to attend Mythos Academy, an elite school set apart to train kids who just so happen to be descendants of various mythical warriors. Of course, Gwen doesn’t believe in any of the supernatural skills her classmates supposedly possess. The only type of magic she actually accepts is her own and that of her own family. When the school’s most popular girl, the icy Valkyrie princess Jasmine, is murdered right in the library next to a stolen mythical artifact called the Bowl of Tears, Gwen is determined to get to the bottom of the entire situation. It’s never a good idea to poke your head into other people’s business, though. So the results? Who else is to blame but yourself?
Touch of Frost belongs to the new batch of paranormal stories that all seem exactly the same, only with different character names and fantastical elements. This novel’s back story is a mishmash of tons of various warriors -- from Norse gods to ninjas. While that is certainly a nice idea, it’s never really delved into. Except for a few key warrior gods, all the others felt extraneous and were barely mentioned at all.
The characters aren’t especially mind-blowing, either. You have the blonde mean girl clique, the quirky and unpopular heroine, and the hot bad boy who falls in love with the heroine anyways; just the same formula used over and over and over again. The character with an actual personality was Vic, the ancient magical sword, who has a grand total of about five lines in the entire novel. That is just sad. A sword beats out all those other full-fledged human characters? Sad, sad, sad.
Touch of Frost is quite a cliché, but lovers of stereotypical teen paranormal stories (I know there are a lot of you out there) will devour it with glee.
Book Source: ARC via Flamingnet
May 14, 2015
DNF at 41%
This just isn't doing it for me. Maybe it's because I'm fighting off the sickness and have no time for nonsense, or maybe I just need to stop making excuses for this.
I've never been a fan of slut shaming. I'm especially not a fan of slut shaming when it's sexist and one-sided. To Gwen, chicks who sleep around are sluts and whores. Logan, however, who has been in every girl in school's bed, is sexy, mysterious, and dark when he does it. She even goes so far as to say she understands why he sleeps around, because his body is just so perfect. Wait, what? Yeah... but don't you dare be a chick with big boobs, or it's straight to hell for you!
I also couldn't find any spare fucks to give over who murdered Jasmine. Seems I'm all out of fucks. I should make a note to stop and get more from the store on the way home from work...
Finally, if I have to hear one more god-damned-blasted-time how Gwen is different and just doesn't fit in at Mythos, my next step will be to start sawing off the end of a shotgun. Seriously. WE GET IT GWEN, YOU ARE A SPECIAL FUCKING SNOWFLAKE who happens to be poor and a geek in the midst of the preppy and rich. Go feel guilty about your dead mother some more. I don't see how that could possibly be unhealthy. You'll turn out fine.
And because this review would be incomplete with out a zero fucks gif (how could I deprive you like that?), I give you one of my favorites:
March 26, 2013
Ugh, what's with the slut shaming? So one girl at her school is beautiful, popular, and sleeps around. That's not exactly admirable behavior, but to bring it to the front and judge her and secretly slut shame her and have other characters talk about it behind her back is not cool. Jasmine's not the only character that Gwen names as a slut either, Logan Quinn supposedly sleeps around. Again, typical teenager behavior, and bringing it up constantly doesn't make for an entirely likable character when it says something that said character is judgmental like that.
The book is just all right, the idea of an academy full of descendants of legendary warriors and servants of the gods is nice, but oh god, Gwen does not fit in. And it's not only that, she is such a little whiner about it; I'm reminded of the goth and emo kids at my school who whines about everything and goes against the establishment just for the sake of being contrary. Gwen is like that, and she's not a very sympathetic character in my eyes. She's also hypocritical, since she breaks the rules herself by sneaking out of school to visit her grandmother every few days.
New premise, but not an entirely promising nor attractive one. Whiny, annoying lead character. Will continue the series, but only because I'm bored and lacking reading materials.
The book is just all right, the idea of an academy full of descendants of legendary warriors and servants of the gods is nice, but oh god, Gwen does not fit in. And it's not only that, she is such a little whiner about it; I'm reminded of the goth and emo kids at my school who whines about everything and goes against the establishment just for the sake of being contrary. Gwen is like that, and she's not a very sympathetic character in my eyes. She's also hypocritical, since she breaks the rules herself by sneaking out of school to visit her grandmother every few days.
New premise, but not an entirely promising nor attractive one. Whiny, annoying lead character. Will continue the series, but only because I'm bored and lacking reading materials.
September 27, 2013
"Yucko"". That is the heroine's favorite word. And it fits, a bit. However, if I were to blurb the paranormal sleutheress boarding-school romance ""Touch of Frost"" I would say ""Likable, but in the direct vicinity of 'meh'"".
I feel a little bit like venting, but I am in bed with a cold. So, please excuse me for amassing random thoughts here instead of a structured review:
- English is not my mother tongue. Therefore I am always happy to pick up additional tidbits that help me to understand and use it better. While reading ""Touch of Frost"", I learned that ""purple hoodie"" is actually a composite word. The same might be true for ""violet eyes"", a narrower term being ""my violet eyes"". The broader term can be found sixteen times within this series' starter volume. Both can be used in sentences of remarkable literary value, i.e.: ""So I just stared at him, my feelings for him so obvious in my violet eyes."" The only way Gwenny could be so unwaveringly sure of the expressability of her Frost-Familiy-Brand-Eyes in PANTONE 261C is extensive self-study via mirror... or it might be that the author still has no idea how a first-person-narration is successfully implemented. That might also explain the long, long and kind of repetitive analytical monologues the heroine has in her mind - preferably in the face of imminent danger.
- Connected to the point-of-view is a lot of meta-information that gets dumped on the reader, which is either the result of judging the readers as being too dense to spot the author's applaudable ability to stick to certain paranomal romance or sleuthing-story formula on the dot on his or her own or it is a tell-tale-sign of parodistic writing. I tend to go with the first possibility.
Gwendolyn actually tells us ""Everything about Logan screamed bad boy, from the thick, silky, ink-black hair to his intense ice blue eyes to the black leather jacket that highlighted his broad shoulders."" A thousand things just feel ""off"" to the heroine, which certainly makes her investigate. But then she misses some important clues. And in case the reader has not just noticed that things are a tad too obvious here and the heroine has a plot-lengthening moment, she emphasises her own being behind: ""I felt a memory stirring in my subconscious. Something to do with illusions. Something that I'd seen or heard or read or thought about in the last few days. Something that was important."" Well, duh.
- In addition there is the ""let's-have-a-paranormal-heroine-but-how-on-earth-can-we-make-use-of-her-powers"" dilemma. In ""Touch of Frost"" it is not as bad as in, for example, Clarity. But if the heroine would play her cards, or rather abilities, right, there would be no need for her to admit repeatedly that she is no Veronica Mars. Gwen, whose gift is ""touch magic"" - having visions when touching people or people's objects -, breaks into a room to find clues about a murder, but actually tries to avoid touching most things in there. She takes out a book with a sticky note tacked to a rather relevant looking paragraph, but a day later she has still not tried her power on it. Gwen's reluctance is feebly explained away by her fear of reliving horrible moments or learning secrets without the consent of people she respects, but in the light of solving the case - and the fact, that Gwen earns money by locating lost and sometimes embarrassing stuff - that sounds far-fetched.
- The heroine's ""I-avoid-touching-people"" strategy certainly works beautifully with the ""Save-the-heroine's-virginity-for-the-last-installment-or-forever"" rule most paranormal young adult romance sticks to. Gwenny is even of the unkissed sort and ohhh does she want to make out with the bad, but life-saving boy, but then she would compromise him by learning all his and his family's dirty secrets and probably his hot and dirty thoughts on top. Therefore she takes down her open arms in time, makes a double morron out of herself verbally, has the love interest's half-melted ice-eyes turn to popsicles and does not get a third chance in the end, because by then we have - just in time - switched to the moody-broody ""I-cannot-have-you-know-my-dark-secret-and-my-utterly-ugly-side-yet-although-I-crave-you"" part of the required plot development. Who would have guessed, huh?
That would be all for now. Before you say it, I have to bring it on the table myself: I cannot successfully explain what made me read a paranormal boarding school romance again after so many disappointments. Must have been the high average rating plus the enthusiasm of several of my friends - or my indestructable hope that Enid Blython and J. K. Rowlings cannot be the only ones who were able to pull off addictive stories set in boarding school environments.
I feel a little bit like venting, but I am in bed with a cold. So, please excuse me for amassing random thoughts here instead of a structured review:
- English is not my mother tongue. Therefore I am always happy to pick up additional tidbits that help me to understand and use it better. While reading ""Touch of Frost"", I learned that ""purple hoodie"" is actually a composite word. The same might be true for ""violet eyes"", a narrower term being ""my violet eyes"". The broader term can be found sixteen times within this series' starter volume. Both can be used in sentences of remarkable literary value, i.e.: ""So I just stared at him, my feelings for him so obvious in my violet eyes."" The only way Gwenny could be so unwaveringly sure of the expressability of her Frost-Familiy-Brand-Eyes in PANTONE 261C is extensive self-study via mirror... or it might be that the author still has no idea how a first-person-narration is successfully implemented. That might also explain the long, long and kind of repetitive analytical monologues the heroine has in her mind - preferably in the face of imminent danger.
- Connected to the point-of-view is a lot of meta-information that gets dumped on the reader, which is either the result of judging the readers as being too dense to spot the author's applaudable ability to stick to certain paranomal romance or sleuthing-story formula on the dot on his or her own or it is a tell-tale-sign of parodistic writing. I tend to go with the first possibility.
Gwendolyn actually tells us ""Everything about Logan screamed bad boy, from the thick, silky, ink-black hair to his intense ice blue eyes to the black leather jacket that highlighted his broad shoulders."" A thousand things just feel ""off"" to the heroine, which certainly makes her investigate. But then she misses some important clues. And in case the reader has not just noticed that things are a tad too obvious here and the heroine has a plot-lengthening moment, she emphasises her own being behind: ""I felt a memory stirring in my subconscious. Something to do with illusions. Something that I'd seen or heard or read or thought about in the last few days. Something that was important."" Well, duh.
- In addition there is the ""let's-have-a-paranormal-heroine-but-how-on-earth-can-we-make-use-of-her-powers"" dilemma. In ""Touch of Frost"" it is not as bad as in, for example, Clarity. But if the heroine would play her cards, or rather abilities, right, there would be no need for her to admit repeatedly that she is no Veronica Mars. Gwen, whose gift is ""touch magic"" - having visions when touching people or people's objects -, breaks into a room to find clues about a murder, but actually tries to avoid touching most things in there. She takes out a book with a sticky note tacked to a rather relevant looking paragraph, but a day later she has still not tried her power on it. Gwen's reluctance is feebly explained away by her fear of reliving horrible moments or learning secrets without the consent of people she respects, but in the light of solving the case - and the fact, that Gwen earns money by locating lost and sometimes embarrassing stuff - that sounds far-fetched.
- The heroine's ""I-avoid-touching-people"" strategy certainly works beautifully with the ""Save-the-heroine's-virginity-for-the-last-installment-or-forever"" rule most paranormal young adult romance sticks to. Gwenny is even of the unkissed sort and ohhh does she want to make out with the bad, but life-saving boy, but then she would compromise him by learning all his and his family's dirty secrets and probably his hot and dirty thoughts on top. Therefore she takes down her open arms in time, makes a double morron out of herself verbally, has the love interest's half-melted ice-eyes turn to popsicles and does not get a third chance in the end, because by then we have - just in time - switched to the moody-broody ""I-cannot-have-you-know-my-dark-secret-and-my-utterly-ugly-side-yet-although-I-crave-you"" part of the required plot development. Who would have guessed, huh?
That would be all for now. Before you say it, I have to bring it on the table myself: I cannot successfully explain what made me read a paranormal boarding school romance again after so many disappointments. Must have been the high average rating plus the enthusiasm of several of my friends - or my indestructable hope that Enid Blython and J. K. Rowlings cannot be the only ones who were able to pull off addictive stories set in boarding school environments.
September 8, 2022
Hab richtig viel gutes über die Reihe gehört, und deshalb auch viel davon erwartet. Und jaaa es war toll !!! Hab es geliebt durch die Seiten zu fliegen und mit Gwen die Mythos Academy zu erkunden! Alles an diesem Buch hat mir richtig viel Spaß gemacht und ich bin super gespannt darauf, weiterzulesen und noch mehr über die ganze Welt zu erfahren!!! Sehr zu empfehlen, würde sagen für alle Young Adult Fantasy Leser:)
July 17, 2016
1.5 stars. This book is one of those "Oh I'm the poor, humble girl who has to go to a school filled with spoiled rich kids" books. We're all supposed to be guilt trapped into feeling bad for the poor heroine, but sadly I found myself being annoyed by both the main character and the story.
The author, Jennifer Estep tried very hard to make her heroine and her story humorous, but both come off very forced and awkward. Not to mention the 'heroine' also loves to label people with stereotypes such as 'the band geek', 'the slut' and 'the spoiled brat' and so on, such attitude makes her rather unlikable.
Yes, we're treated with tons and tons of slut shaming. And according to the heroine, a girl sleeping around with boys is a slut and a bitch, but a bad boy who sneaked out from girl's dorm and asked another girl whom he had barely spoken to before to "get back to his dorm" makes the boy a sexy dangerous bad boy? Oh....this is double standards.
There's also no sense of reality in Estep's mythology and the magical school for mythical warriors. Supposedly all students and professors were trained and prepared to battle the evil villains but their actions and how they handle the incident of a girl student being murdered on campus shows me none of them---even the professors who are adults, can handle serious issues logically and maturely. I mean, no one ever thinks about searching the murdered girl's dorm for evident or questioning her friends in order to find the murderer? Are you kidding me!? So the whole thing looks just damn fake and make-believe. Ms. Estep, why don't you take a writing lesson before you start writing anything else in the future?
Last but not least, how the murder mystery is revealed at the very end is so cliched and forced---so the bad guy wastes time to inform-dumps the entire evil plan to the heroine, instead of finishing her off then and there!? It's so cliched that it reads like some badly written detective novels. It also reminds me of how J K. Rowling reveals the 'mysteries' of each of her Harry Potter book (I'm referring on the ones I did bother to read, you know).
The author, Jennifer Estep tried very hard to make her heroine and her story humorous, but both come off very forced and awkward. Not to mention the 'heroine' also loves to label people with stereotypes such as 'the band geek', 'the slut' and 'the spoiled brat' and so on, such attitude makes her rather unlikable.
Yes, we're treated with tons and tons of slut shaming. And according to the heroine, a girl sleeping around with boys is a slut and a bitch, but a bad boy who sneaked out from girl's dorm and asked another girl whom he had barely spoken to before to "get back to his dorm" makes the boy a sexy dangerous bad boy? Oh....this is double standards.
There's also no sense of reality in Estep's mythology and the magical school for mythical warriors. Supposedly all students and professors were trained and prepared to battle the evil villains but their actions and how they handle the incident of a girl student being murdered on campus shows me none of them---even the professors who are adults, can handle serious issues logically and maturely. I mean, no one ever thinks about searching the murdered girl's dorm for evident or questioning her friends in order to find the murderer? Are you kidding me!? So the whole thing looks just damn fake and make-believe. Ms. Estep, why don't you take a writing lesson before you start writing anything else in the future?
Last but not least, how the murder mystery is revealed at the very end is so cliched and forced---so the bad guy wastes time to inform-dumps the entire evil plan to the heroine, instead of finishing her off then and there!? It's so cliched that it reads like some badly written detective novels. It also reminds me of how J K. Rowling reveals the 'mysteries' of each of her Harry Potter book (I'm referring on the ones I did bother to read, you know).
July 29, 2011
"Come inside and all will be revealed"
Originally what caught my interest was that this book reminded me of Vampire Academy except mythical creatures instead of vampires. I was not disappointed. From the first page this author caught my attention and I was eager to learn more about Gwen, Mythos Academy, Daphne, and Spartan-Licious "Logan freaking Quinn"
Meet Gwen Frost, she's a gypsy, an outcast, a nerd and a comic book fanatic. She's one of my new favorite protagonist! She's also witty, charming, fun loving, empatic and smart.
"So," the Valkyrie said, cracking open the lid of her Perrier. "This is where you eat lunch. All the way in the back here. What are you? A vampire who's afraid of sunlight or something?"
Vampires? Were vampires real too? I wondered but I didn't want to look stupid and ask, especially since I didn't know what Daphne was doing here in the first place.
"Yeah," I said in a guarded voice. "You caught me. I've got this whole superhero thing going on, so I sit way back here to keep the paparazzi and rabid fans at bay."
Since tragedy struck at home six months ago she's been uprooted to Mythos Academy where Gwen finds herself surrounded by mythical warriors of all types. Spartans, Romans, Valkyrie, Amazons and she's the lonely new Gypsy on the block. As you learn these whiz kids ferociously powerful warrior gifts are compatible with the mythical creatures in Clash Of The Titans whereas Gwen's gift of Psychometry appears to be no match for their talent and skills, or so it may seem.
Psychometry is the ability to touch someone and read their emotions, thoughts, interests and deepest dark secrets. she's quickly labelled as a "freak", "a nobody", but she easily proves to herself that she's "not a nobody."
Gwen's new unlikely friend a rich, popular Valkyrie Daphne was an excitingly charismatic supporting character.
"Let me walk you to your room,"Logan offered in a helpful voice. "You, me and the Gypsy girl could have our own
bonfire tonight."
Daphne and I stared at eachother. I rolled my eyes while Daphne sniffed.
"Oh please,"she scoffed. "Like I need a guy to protect me. I'm a Valkyrie, remember? I could pick you up and break your back over my knee, Spartan. Like you were a piñata."
"Kinky," Logan said, smiling at her. "I like it."
Overall this book is an easy 5 stars because I LOVED it! The next book Kiss Of Frost comes out late this year as well. I'm eagerly looking forward to catching up with Gwen's life at Mythos Academy now that she's discovered her true Gypsy heritage while shes learning her inherited magical powers, as well as Daphne, and of course The Spartan-Licious "Logan freaking Quinn" ;)
Like what you see here, check out more of my reviews at http://missvainsparanormalfantasy.com/
Originally what caught my interest was that this book reminded me of Vampire Academy except mythical creatures instead of vampires. I was not disappointed. From the first page this author caught my attention and I was eager to learn more about Gwen, Mythos Academy, Daphne, and Spartan-Licious "Logan freaking Quinn"
Meet Gwen Frost, she's a gypsy, an outcast, a nerd and a comic book fanatic. She's one of my new favorite protagonist! She's also witty, charming, fun loving, empatic and smart.
"So," the Valkyrie said, cracking open the lid of her Perrier. "This is where you eat lunch. All the way in the back here. What are you? A vampire who's afraid of sunlight or something?"
Vampires? Were vampires real too? I wondered but I didn't want to look stupid and ask, especially since I didn't know what Daphne was doing here in the first place.
"Yeah," I said in a guarded voice. "You caught me. I've got this whole superhero thing going on, so I sit way back here to keep the paparazzi and rabid fans at bay."
Since tragedy struck at home six months ago she's been uprooted to Mythos Academy where Gwen finds herself surrounded by mythical warriors of all types. Spartans, Romans, Valkyrie, Amazons and she's the lonely new Gypsy on the block. As you learn these whiz kids ferociously powerful warrior gifts are compatible with the mythical creatures in Clash Of The Titans whereas Gwen's gift of Psychometry appears to be no match for their talent and skills, or so it may seem.
Psychometry is the ability to touch someone and read their emotions, thoughts, interests and deepest dark secrets. she's quickly labelled as a "freak", "a nobody", but she easily proves to herself that she's "not a nobody."
Gwen's new unlikely friend a rich, popular Valkyrie Daphne was an excitingly charismatic supporting character.
"Let me walk you to your room,"Logan offered in a helpful voice. "You, me and the Gypsy girl could have our own
bonfire tonight."
Daphne and I stared at eachother. I rolled my eyes while Daphne sniffed.
"Oh please,"she scoffed. "Like I need a guy to protect me. I'm a Valkyrie, remember? I could pick you up and break your back over my knee, Spartan. Like you were a piñata."
"Kinky," Logan said, smiling at her. "I like it."
Overall this book is an easy 5 stars because I LOVED it! The next book Kiss Of Frost comes out late this year as well. I'm eagerly looking forward to catching up with Gwen's life at Mythos Academy now that she's discovered her true Gypsy heritage while shes learning her inherited magical powers, as well as Daphne, and of course
Like what you see here, check out more of my reviews at http://missvainsparanormalfantasy.com/
Read
May 8, 2017I love the talking sword. Also the heroine and her enemy turned friend. I think this one would make a great tv series. The ending was hands down my favorite part. Everything comes together really well. Also I want some of grandma's cookies.
August 17, 2018
Τον τελευταίο καιρό έψαχνα να βρω μία νεανική σειρά που θα κέρδιζε αμέσως το ενδιαφέρον μου… Η αντίδρασή μου μόλις διάβασα τις πρώτες σελίδες αυτού του βιβλίου ήταν χαρακτηριστική…
Τα έχει όλα… Ακαδημία (τρελαίνομαι για Ακαδημίες!), απίστευτους πρωταγωνιστές (κορίτσια και αγόρια!), ωραία πλοκή (hello!! Η παγκόσμια μυθολογία είναι πάντα στη μόδα!) και χιούμορ (ποιος δεν αγαπάει ένα καλό αστείο???)…
Όπως καταλαβαίνετε, χαίρομαι που ξεκίνησα αυτή τη σειρά και ελπίζω να συνεχίσει με το ίδιο ενδιαφέρον!!
Τα έχει όλα… Ακαδημία (τρελαίνομαι για Ακαδημίες!), απίστευτους πρωταγωνιστές (κορίτσια και αγόρια!), ωραία πλοκή (hello!! Η παγκόσμια μυθολογία είναι πάντα στη μόδα!) και χιούμορ (ποιος δεν αγαπάει ένα καλό αστείο???)…
Όπως καταλαβαίνετε, χαίρομαι που ξεκίνησα αυτή τη σειρά και ελπίζω να συνεχίσει με το ίδιο ενδιαφέρον!!
June 3, 2012
The book had an interesting premise, even if somewhat sketchy. I liked some of its concepts, but the protagonist completely ruined any chance this book had with me.
------Edit 6/02/2012
I hated this book. In case the 1 star rating wasn't clear enough, I absolutely despised it. I gave it 2 stars at first, because I really hate giving books a 1 star rating. I do give out 1 star ratings when a book deserves it, but I like thinking that (almost) every book has something to offer. But, after sleeping on it, I came back the next day and got a great amount of pleasure out of giving this one the single, lonely star I feel it deserves. I know I'm in the minority here, seeing as how this book has an overall rating of over 4 stars, but I really fail to see the appeal of this one, and it is not because of a lack of trying. While reading it, I gave up on this book three times. Three freaking times I put it aside, completely decided to never bother with it again, but I came back again and again. I just want to make it clear that I did not come back because I was intrigued or because I wanted to know the big "mystery": Everything about this book is ridiculously predictable right from the start. The reason I came back was because I kept hoping I could see what everyone was raving about. I think the 1 star rating makes it pretty clear that I never stumbled upon what makes this book deserve the praise.
Gwen is one of the most detestable characters I've ever had the misfortune of reading about. She's right up there with Luce, Nora and Zoey in the list of characters I wish I could erase from literary existence by flushing them down a toilet. She's whiny, judgmental, self-absorbed, self-righteous, oh, and she wants me to remind you that she has no friends. God, I swear she said that last thing about 50 times per chapter. Please, remind me how much of a loner and a rebel you are about five freaking times per page, I don't get tired of it at all. Oh, and you wear hoodies and read comic books? Wow, that is so interesting and original and totally explains why absolutely no one gets you. (Yeah, right. Guess what? That was me in high school and that never had as a result a shortage of friends or cruel rejection from everyone.) And, of course, Gwen is a loner because she's not as rich or as "pretty" or as "special" as the rest of the mean girls in class, when the truth is she actually is, but, of course, she just doesn't know it. But that's okay. Gwen comforts herself by declaring all the other girls "raging sluts" and knowing that no matter what she does, says, wears or who she likes, she will never be like those "raging sluts". The whole characterization of one of the pseudo-antagonists in the story is that she is gorgeous and is only popular because she's been with every boy in school and likes labels and brands and is mean to poor little Gwen. Sounds familiar? Yes, like every other generic YA mean girl out there. And the plot is not that different, either.
There's really nothing original about this book. I considered giving this one extra points for bringing different types of warriors and mythical creatures into one school until I realized that, not only is the whole concept far-fetched in itself, the book never offers a real explanation for it. Oh well, I suppose it does. The school is supposed to train all these warriors for a war that even the protagonists is convinced is just a whole lot of superstitious bogus. Which if you think about it, for a girl that has powers and lives constantly surrounded by mythical warriors like the Valkyries to not believe that there could be a war with other mythical beings, well, it's pretty stupid all-around.
This book was really infuriating and frustrating. There's barely a plot in there, but I couldn't be bothered to follow it anyway when I had to see it flow through a character like Gwen, who is ready to judge and insult and scorn everyone around her but falls for a guy that's popular because he hurts people and signs the mattresses of all the girls he sleeps with on campus, because, of course, that makes him so hot. There's no character development in this book, no real mystery driving the plot, a ridiculous resolution that continues to belittle girls and furthers the stereotype about the mean girls and condemns woman sexuality, an interesting, but ultimately unsatisfying concept and a terrible lead I wish I could bleach out of my mind. It's been, what?, 3 or 4 months since I read this one and I still can't get over how much it disappointed and angered me. The thing is that I was actually expecting a lot out of this one, but a book like this one is nothing but a slap in the face to YA readers out there. It's nothing but a generic, formulaic story that has been done many times because someone out there believes we are not smart enough to recognize it for what it is, throw in there a bunch of high school stereotypes and some half-assed mythology to make it paranormal, and there you go. To conclude this rant, I vow to never read any more books in this series and to try my very best to even forget I wasted my time reading this.
------Edit 6/02/2012
I hated this book. In case the 1 star rating wasn't clear enough, I absolutely despised it. I gave it 2 stars at first, because I really hate giving books a 1 star rating. I do give out 1 star ratings when a book deserves it, but I like thinking that (almost) every book has something to offer. But, after sleeping on it, I came back the next day and got a great amount of pleasure out of giving this one the single, lonely star I feel it deserves. I know I'm in the minority here, seeing as how this book has an overall rating of over 4 stars, but I really fail to see the appeal of this one, and it is not because of a lack of trying. While reading it, I gave up on this book three times. Three freaking times I put it aside, completely decided to never bother with it again, but I came back again and again. I just want to make it clear that I did not come back because I was intrigued or because I wanted to know the big "mystery": Everything about this book is ridiculously predictable right from the start. The reason I came back was because I kept hoping I could see what everyone was raving about. I think the 1 star rating makes it pretty clear that I never stumbled upon what makes this book deserve the praise.
Gwen is one of the most detestable characters I've ever had the misfortune of reading about. She's right up there with Luce, Nora and Zoey in the list of characters I wish I could erase from literary existence by flushing them down a toilet. She's whiny, judgmental, self-absorbed, self-righteous, oh, and she wants me to remind you that she has no friends. God, I swear she said that last thing about 50 times per chapter. Please, remind me how much of a loner and a rebel you are about five freaking times per page, I don't get tired of it at all. Oh, and you wear hoodies and read comic books? Wow, that is so interesting and original and totally explains why absolutely no one gets you. (Yeah, right. Guess what? That was me in high school and that never had as a result a shortage of friends or cruel rejection from everyone.) And, of course, Gwen is a loner because she's not as rich or as "pretty" or as "special" as the rest of the mean girls in class, when the truth is she actually is, but, of course, she just doesn't know it. But that's okay. Gwen comforts herself by declaring all the other girls "raging sluts" and knowing that no matter what she does, says, wears or who she likes, she will never be like those "raging sluts". The whole characterization of one of the pseudo-antagonists in the story is that she is gorgeous and is only popular because she's been with every boy in school and likes labels and brands and is mean to poor little Gwen. Sounds familiar? Yes, like every other generic YA mean girl out there. And the plot is not that different, either.
There's really nothing original about this book. I considered giving this one extra points for bringing different types of warriors and mythical creatures into one school until I realized that, not only is the whole concept far-fetched in itself, the book never offers a real explanation for it. Oh well, I suppose it does. The school is supposed to train all these warriors for a war that even the protagonists is convinced is just a whole lot of superstitious bogus. Which if you think about it, for a girl that has powers and lives constantly surrounded by mythical warriors like the Valkyries to not believe that there could be a war with other mythical beings, well, it's pretty stupid all-around.
This book was really infuriating and frustrating. There's barely a plot in there, but I couldn't be bothered to follow it anyway when I had to see it flow through a character like Gwen, who is ready to judge and insult and scorn everyone around her but falls for a guy that's popular because he hurts people and signs the mattresses of all the girls he sleeps with on campus, because, of course, that makes him so hot. There's no character development in this book, no real mystery driving the plot, a ridiculous resolution that continues to belittle girls and furthers the stereotype about the mean girls and condemns woman sexuality, an interesting, but ultimately unsatisfying concept and a terrible lead I wish I could bleach out of my mind. It's been, what?, 3 or 4 months since I read this one and I still can't get over how much it disappointed and angered me. The thing is that I was actually expecting a lot out of this one, but a book like this one is nothing but a slap in the face to YA readers out there. It's nothing but a generic, formulaic story that has been done many times because someone out there believes we are not smart enough to recognize it for what it is, throw in there a bunch of high school stereotypes and some half-assed mythology to make it paranormal, and there you go. To conclude this rant, I vow to never read any more books in this series and to try my very best to even forget I wasted my time reading this.
October 20, 2024
I have been longing for a Jennifer Estep book since I finished her Elemental series and I am so glad I gave this series a try. I am not a huge fan of young adult books but every now and then I find one that can appeal to adults. This book had many young adult themes, all the angst that goes along with being in high school such as fitting in, friendship, and finding romance. What I liked about the book was that Gwen was a great characters. She is trying to do what is right even though she has many obstacles to overcome. I also loved all of the references to Greek mythology. There were also many similarities in terms of writing style to the Elemental series so it had a very familiar read to it that was enjoyable. I am looking forward to reading more.
January 3, 2016
Mein erstes Buch 2016 hat mir sehr gut gefallen! Zum Glück habe ich Band 2 und 3 schon in meinem Regal stehen, sodass ich bald weiter lesen kann.
August 9, 2017
Mehr auf: http://xobooksheaven.wordpress.com/
Inhalt:
Im Mittelpunkt der Serie steht die 17-jährige Gwen Frost, die über ein außergewöhnliches Talent verfügt: Sie besitzt die »Gypsy-Gabe« – bei der eine einzige Berührung ausreicht, um alles über einen Gegenstand oder einen Menschen zu wissen. Doch dabei spürt Gwen nicht nur die guten Gefühle, sondern auch die schlechten und die gefährlichen. Auf der Mythos Academy soll sie lernen, mit ihrer Gabe sinnvoll umzugehen. Aber was Gwen nicht weiß: Die Studenten werden dort ausgebildet, um gegen den finsteren Gott Loki zu kämpfen. Und obwohl sie der Meinung ist, an der Mythos Academy nichts verloren zu haben, erkennt Gwen bald, dass sie viel stärker ist als gedacht und all ihre Fähigkeiten brauchen wird, um gegen einen übermächtigen Feind zu bestehen.
Quelle: piper.de
Meinung:
"»Ich kenne dein Geheimnis.«
Daphne Cruz schob ihr Gesicht näher an den Spiegel über dem Waschbecken und trug eine weitere Schicht hellen Lipgloss auf. Sie ignorierte mich demonstrativ, wie es alle hübschen, beliebten Mädchen taten."
Das Cover finde ich jetzt nicht so berauschend, es ist ganz ok, aber mehr auch nicht. Darauf sind nämlich nur zwei Augen zu sehen, der Rest des Gesichts geht in Rauch und Weiß unter, wobei ich nicht weiß, wieso gerade alles weiß sein muss, selbst die Haare. Vielleicht weil Gwen mit Nachnamen Frost heißt? Es ist also ein sehr schlichtes und einfaches Cover, welches man aber ausbauen könnte. Die blauen Rauchfäden ganz unten gefallen mit allerdings ganz gut.
Der Schreibstil der Autorin ist einfach und nicht sehr anspruchsvoll. Das Buch ist aus SIcht von Gwen geschrieben, allerdings gibt es hier sehr viele unnötige Gedankengänge, die man, wenn man sie schon einbauen muss, besser und spannender hätte schreiben können. Der Satzbau und auch die Wortwahl sind einfach gehalten, dadurch kommt man schnell voran.
Zu Beginn lernen wir hier Gwen Frost kenne, sie geht auf die Mythos Academy, da sie eine Gyspy ist und dort ihre Gabe erlenen soll. Als sie in der Bibliothek arbeitet wird ein Mädchen, Jasmin ermordert und es scheint keinen richtig zu kümmern. Gwen möchte also mit Hilfe ihrer Gabe herausfinden, was passiert ist und gerät in einen uralten Krieg.
Hört sich doch spannend an, oder? Dachte ich auch, aber das Buch war durchzogen von Klischees und es war alles total vorhersehbar. Ich habe es zusammen mit Ney gelesen. Ich habe mit schon schwer getan überhaupt in die Geschichte zu finden, denn Gwen war mir zuerst richtig unsympathisch. Sie wirkte wie der Typ Mädchen, denen alles egal ist und die ihr Ding durchziehen, dabei aber auch noch sehr arrogant sind. Dann war auch schon von vorn herein klar, dass sie etwas besonderes ist, denn Außenseiten sind ja immer was besonderes. Wobei wir schon das erste Klischee hätten. Und dann läuft sie auch noch in einen Jungen, lässt ihr Zeug fallen und er hilft ihr dabei es einzusammeln. Klischee ahoi, aber wie sollte es anders sein ist er der geheimnisvolle Junge, der jedes Mädchen um den Finger wickelt, vor dem sich aber auch alle irgendwie fürchten (wie funktioniert dann das mit den Mädchen?) und der nichts von sich preis gibt. Ab der ersten Erwähnung von diesem Jungen war klar, dass die beiden sicher zusammen kommen. Das muss nicht in Band eins sein, auch nicht in Band zwei oder drei, vielleicht erst in Band sechs, aber es passiert sicher. Dann gibt es aber auch noch das taffe und beliebte Mädchen, dass sich als gar nicht so dumm herausstellt, wie man denkt und die dem Außenseiter dann hilft. *hust* Klischee *hust.
Ok, genug Sarkasmus, das könnte wirklich jedes x-beliebige andere Jugendbuch sein, denn im Moment wird man von solchen Stories ja überschüttet. Die Idee, dass alle auf Mythos von Vikingern, Göttern, Spartanern und sonstigen Helden abstammen fand ich ziemlich cool und ich habe gehofft, dass man mehr über diese erfährt. Leider bleiben wir hier auch bei den nordischen Göttern und erfahren nur mehr über Loki und den Chaoskrieg. Die einzelenne Gruppen haben aber gewisse Merkmale und jeder läuft mit einer Waffe herum. Gwen nicht, die sie fühlt sich nicht so, als wäre sie etwas besonderes, daher passt sie auch beim Waffentraining nie wirklich auf. Als sie dann begann den Mord an Jasmine zu untersuchen, kam ich mir wie in einem schlechten Krimi vor, denn sie hatte keine Ahnung, wo sie beginnen soll und stolpert auch nur über Hinweise, mehr als dass sie sie findet.
Doch irgendwie war es dann auch spannend zu lesen, wie alles zusammen hängt. Klar war das meiste davon schon vorher klar, aber es zu lesen ist nochmal was ganz anderes. Es gab einen Kampf, wobei ich mich fragte, woher sie plötzlich kämpfen kann, wenn sie doch immer behauptet, dass sie beim Training nicht aufpasst. Helden können aber immer alles. Logisch. Zwischendruch gab es aber Szenen, die sich enfach nur gezogen haben, ich wollte schon Kapitel überspringen, hab mich dann aber zusammen gerissen und alles gelesen. Das Ende war aber das schlimmste vom Buch, ich musste mich richtig zwingen, dass ich die letzten 20 Seiten noch lesen, da sowieso nichts SPannendes mehr passieren konnte und es mich auch nicht interessierte.
Zu diesen langweiligen Szenen kamen dann auch noch so viele Überlegungen von Gwen selbst, die es nicht gebraucht hätte, das Buch war manchmal wirklich einschläfernd. Durch die Vorhersehbarkeit war es auch nicht sonderlich spannend. Nehmen wir denn Ball her, zuerst überlegt sie einemal, ob sie überhaupt hingehen soll, aber natürlich geht sie hin und natürlich trifft sie ihren Schwarm da und natürlich ist der mit einer anderen dort, was wieder zu unnötigen Gedanken und Gelaber führt, das für mich zu viel war. Dies alles trug nichts zur richtigen Geschichte bei und ich empfand es einfach nur als störend. Was mich noch störte war, dass Gwen ungefähr in jedem zweiten Satz erwähnte, dass ihre Mutter tot ist und sie keine Freunde hat. Mädchen, jeder Leser hat das nach den ersten 50 Erwähnungen verstanden.
Ich war richtig froh, als ich fertig war mit dem Buch, ich habe noch den zweiten Teil hier stehen und werde den auch lesen, aber ob ich danach weiter lese wage ich einmal zu bezweifeln. Außer Band zwei haut mich total um. Ich glaube das wird aber nichts mehr, oder wie Danny Glover in Lethal Weapon sagte: "Ich bin zu alt für diesen Scheiß".
Fazit:
Ein Buch, das eine gute Grundidee hat, das sich aber so vielen Klischees bedient, dass es für mich nicht mehr unterhaltsam war. Ich vergebe daher 2 von 5 Sterne.
Inhalt:
Im Mittelpunkt der Serie steht die 17-jährige Gwen Frost, die über ein außergewöhnliches Talent verfügt: Sie besitzt die »Gypsy-Gabe« – bei der eine einzige Berührung ausreicht, um alles über einen Gegenstand oder einen Menschen zu wissen. Doch dabei spürt Gwen nicht nur die guten Gefühle, sondern auch die schlechten und die gefährlichen. Auf der Mythos Academy soll sie lernen, mit ihrer Gabe sinnvoll umzugehen. Aber was Gwen nicht weiß: Die Studenten werden dort ausgebildet, um gegen den finsteren Gott Loki zu kämpfen. Und obwohl sie der Meinung ist, an der Mythos Academy nichts verloren zu haben, erkennt Gwen bald, dass sie viel stärker ist als gedacht und all ihre Fähigkeiten brauchen wird, um gegen einen übermächtigen Feind zu bestehen.
Quelle: piper.de
Meinung:
"»Ich kenne dein Geheimnis.«
Daphne Cruz schob ihr Gesicht näher an den Spiegel über dem Waschbecken und trug eine weitere Schicht hellen Lipgloss auf. Sie ignorierte mich demonstrativ, wie es alle hübschen, beliebten Mädchen taten."
Das Cover finde ich jetzt nicht so berauschend, es ist ganz ok, aber mehr auch nicht. Darauf sind nämlich nur zwei Augen zu sehen, der Rest des Gesichts geht in Rauch und Weiß unter, wobei ich nicht weiß, wieso gerade alles weiß sein muss, selbst die Haare. Vielleicht weil Gwen mit Nachnamen Frost heißt? Es ist also ein sehr schlichtes und einfaches Cover, welches man aber ausbauen könnte. Die blauen Rauchfäden ganz unten gefallen mit allerdings ganz gut.
Der Schreibstil der Autorin ist einfach und nicht sehr anspruchsvoll. Das Buch ist aus SIcht von Gwen geschrieben, allerdings gibt es hier sehr viele unnötige Gedankengänge, die man, wenn man sie schon einbauen muss, besser und spannender hätte schreiben können. Der Satzbau und auch die Wortwahl sind einfach gehalten, dadurch kommt man schnell voran.
Zu Beginn lernen wir hier Gwen Frost kenne, sie geht auf die Mythos Academy, da sie eine Gyspy ist und dort ihre Gabe erlenen soll. Als sie in der Bibliothek arbeitet wird ein Mädchen, Jasmin ermordert und es scheint keinen richtig zu kümmern. Gwen möchte also mit Hilfe ihrer Gabe herausfinden, was passiert ist und gerät in einen uralten Krieg.
Hört sich doch spannend an, oder? Dachte ich auch, aber das Buch war durchzogen von Klischees und es war alles total vorhersehbar. Ich habe es zusammen mit Ney gelesen. Ich habe mit schon schwer getan überhaupt in die Geschichte zu finden, denn Gwen war mir zuerst richtig unsympathisch. Sie wirkte wie der Typ Mädchen, denen alles egal ist und die ihr Ding durchziehen, dabei aber auch noch sehr arrogant sind. Dann war auch schon von vorn herein klar, dass sie etwas besonderes ist, denn Außenseiten sind ja immer was besonderes. Wobei wir schon das erste Klischee hätten. Und dann läuft sie auch noch in einen Jungen, lässt ihr Zeug fallen und er hilft ihr dabei es einzusammeln. Klischee ahoi, aber wie sollte es anders sein ist er der geheimnisvolle Junge, der jedes Mädchen um den Finger wickelt, vor dem sich aber auch alle irgendwie fürchten (wie funktioniert dann das mit den Mädchen?) und der nichts von sich preis gibt. Ab der ersten Erwähnung von diesem Jungen war klar, dass die beiden sicher zusammen kommen. Das muss nicht in Band eins sein, auch nicht in Band zwei oder drei, vielleicht erst in Band sechs, aber es passiert sicher. Dann gibt es aber auch noch das taffe und beliebte Mädchen, dass sich als gar nicht so dumm herausstellt, wie man denkt und die dem Außenseiter dann hilft. *hust* Klischee *hust.
Ok, genug Sarkasmus, das könnte wirklich jedes x-beliebige andere Jugendbuch sein, denn im Moment wird man von solchen Stories ja überschüttet. Die Idee, dass alle auf Mythos von Vikingern, Göttern, Spartanern und sonstigen Helden abstammen fand ich ziemlich cool und ich habe gehofft, dass man mehr über diese erfährt. Leider bleiben wir hier auch bei den nordischen Göttern und erfahren nur mehr über Loki und den Chaoskrieg. Die einzelenne Gruppen haben aber gewisse Merkmale und jeder läuft mit einer Waffe herum. Gwen nicht, die sie fühlt sich nicht so, als wäre sie etwas besonderes, daher passt sie auch beim Waffentraining nie wirklich auf. Als sie dann begann den Mord an Jasmine zu untersuchen, kam ich mir wie in einem schlechten Krimi vor, denn sie hatte keine Ahnung, wo sie beginnen soll und stolpert auch nur über Hinweise, mehr als dass sie sie findet.
Doch irgendwie war es dann auch spannend zu lesen, wie alles zusammen hängt. Klar war das meiste davon schon vorher klar, aber es zu lesen ist nochmal was ganz anderes. Es gab einen Kampf, wobei ich mich fragte, woher sie plötzlich kämpfen kann, wenn sie doch immer behauptet, dass sie beim Training nicht aufpasst. Helden können aber immer alles. Logisch. Zwischendruch gab es aber Szenen, die sich enfach nur gezogen haben, ich wollte schon Kapitel überspringen, hab mich dann aber zusammen gerissen und alles gelesen. Das Ende war aber das schlimmste vom Buch, ich musste mich richtig zwingen, dass ich die letzten 20 Seiten noch lesen, da sowieso nichts SPannendes mehr passieren konnte und es mich auch nicht interessierte.
Zu diesen langweiligen Szenen kamen dann auch noch so viele Überlegungen von Gwen selbst, die es nicht gebraucht hätte, das Buch war manchmal wirklich einschläfernd. Durch die Vorhersehbarkeit war es auch nicht sonderlich spannend. Nehmen wir denn Ball her, zuerst überlegt sie einemal, ob sie überhaupt hingehen soll, aber natürlich geht sie hin und natürlich trifft sie ihren Schwarm da und natürlich ist der mit einer anderen dort, was wieder zu unnötigen Gedanken und Gelaber führt, das für mich zu viel war. Dies alles trug nichts zur richtigen Geschichte bei und ich empfand es einfach nur als störend. Was mich noch störte war, dass Gwen ungefähr in jedem zweiten Satz erwähnte, dass ihre Mutter tot ist und sie keine Freunde hat. Mädchen, jeder Leser hat das nach den ersten 50 Erwähnungen verstanden.
Ich war richtig froh, als ich fertig war mit dem Buch, ich habe noch den zweiten Teil hier stehen und werde den auch lesen, aber ob ich danach weiter lese wage ich einmal zu bezweifeln. Außer Band zwei haut mich total um. Ich glaube das wird aber nichts mehr, oder wie Danny Glover in Lethal Weapon sagte: "Ich bin zu alt für diesen Scheiß".
Fazit:
Ein Buch, das eine gute Grundidee hat, das sich aber so vielen Klischees bedient, dass es für mich nicht mehr unterhaltsam war. Ich vergebe daher 2 von 5 Sterne.
March 18, 2012
Double standards alive and well in modern YA it seems. :(
I am not sure how to grade this one, it is easy to read, a little easy to guess plot points, but a fun and interesting read except for one thing. It hit a MAJOR hot button for me.
At the school there is a girl who is denigrated throughout the book as a slut.. continuously.. now while that would always set off my buttons majorly, what makes it worse is that the love interest is a bloody man-whore. And apart from a couple half jokey remarks this is completely brushed aside... and we are back on his awesomesauceness.
SERIOUSLY!
What freaking year is this???
*slight spoiler*
*
*
And of course she had to be brought down and hobbled by the end of the book in a way as humiliating as possible.
While the slutty dude who helped with her demise, gets off free.
*
*
*end of slight spoiler*
It may be my feminist hackles standing on end, but is this really an appropriate message to be reinforced in a YA novel??
It grates me when it happens (all too frequently) in adult romance books, but I find it impossible to swallow in YA.
I don't read much YA, does this happen a lot in YA?? Should I just avoid the genre?
I am not sure how to grade this one, it is easy to read, a little easy to guess plot points, but a fun and interesting read except for one thing. It hit a MAJOR hot button for me.
At the school there is a girl who is denigrated throughout the book as a slut.. continuously.. now while that would always set off my buttons majorly, what makes it worse is that the love interest is a bloody man-whore. And apart from a couple half jokey remarks this is completely brushed aside... and we are back on his awesomesauceness.
SERIOUSLY!
What freaking year is this???
*slight spoiler*
*
*
And of course she had to be brought down and hobbled by the end of the book in a way as humiliating as possible.
While the slutty dude who helped with her demise, gets off free.
*
*
*end of slight spoiler*
It may be my feminist hackles standing on end, but is this really an appropriate message to be reinforced in a YA novel??
It grates me when it happens (all too frequently) in adult romance books, but I find it impossible to swallow in YA.
I don't read much YA, does this happen a lot in YA?? Should I just avoid the genre?
January 2, 2015
Ziemlich geniale Geschichte, die mir gezeigt hat, dass es doch möglich ist, die verschiedensten Fantasywesen in einem Buch unterzubringen - ohne sie lächerlich zu machen.
Ich bin schon sehr gespannt, wie es in Band 2 weiter gehen wird.
Einziger Kritikpunkt sind die ständigen Wiederholungen der Autorin, die im Lesefluss gestört haben, der Geschichte aber nicht schaden konnten.
Ich bin schon sehr gespannt, wie es in Band 2 weiter gehen wird.
Einziger Kritikpunkt sind die ständigen Wiederholungen der Autorin, die im Lesefluss gestört haben, der Geschichte aber nicht schaden konnten.
June 12, 2018
Ich fand den Auftakt der Mythos Academy Reihe wirklich gut.
Einziger Knackpunkt : Wieso glaubt sie nicht an Magie und die Götter, wenn sie selber eine Gabe hat, denn es ist nicht normal Dinge anzufassen und Bilder zu sehen und zu fühlen ? Hinzu redet sie aber immer von Spartaner und Co. Ihre Ungläubigkeit war nicht wirklich glaubwürdig.
Einziger Knackpunkt : Wieso glaubt sie nicht an Magie und die Götter, wenn sie selber eine Gabe hat, denn es ist nicht normal Dinge anzufassen und Bilder zu sehen und zu fühlen ? Hinzu redet sie aber immer von Spartaner und Co. Ihre Ungläubigkeit war nicht wirklich glaubwürdig.
March 3, 2016
es war einfach nur so gut *_*
July 27, 2022
This review can also be found at https://carolesrandomlife.com/
I really enjoyed this book. This was a re-read for me but it felt like I was reading it for the first time since I remember next to none of it. I can barely remember the names of characters an hour after finishing a book so it shouldn’t be a surprise that I can forget an entire plot after 11 years. Anyway, I thought that this was a worthwhile read and am glad that I decided to revisit it.
Gwen has recently started attending Mythos Academy. Her mom was killed by a drunk driver so now it is just her and her grandmother. Gwen has a bit of gypsy magic which helps her find lost items for other students. She doesn’t have any real friends at school and often sneaks out of campus to visit with her grandmother. One night when she is working her job at the school library another student is murdered and an artifact is taken. Nobody seems to care but Gwen wants to figure out what really happened that night.
I liked Gwen and thought that it was great to see a few friendships start to form in this book. I liked the mythology that was worked into the story. The mystery was rather interesting and there were enough twists and turns to keep me invested in the story. I thought that the story was well-paced with enough action to keep things moving. I am eager to see how the events from this book play out in future installments.
Tara Sands did a great job with this story. I thought that she was able to bring the characters to life and liked the voices that she used for the various characters, both male and female. I thought that she added just the right amount of emotion and excitement to her voice which added a lot to the story. I would not hesitate to recommend this book to others and look forward to continuing with the series.
Initial Thoughts
I enjoyed this re-read. It has been almost 11 years since I first read this book so there was a lot that I didn't remember. The Mythos Academy was interesting and I really liked the characters. I thought that the narrator did a great job with the audiobook. I am looking forward to reading the next book in the series soon.
Book source: Purchased
I really enjoyed this book. This was a re-read for me but it felt like I was reading it for the first time since I remember next to none of it. I can barely remember the names of characters an hour after finishing a book so it shouldn’t be a surprise that I can forget an entire plot after 11 years. Anyway, I thought that this was a worthwhile read and am glad that I decided to revisit it.
Gwen has recently started attending Mythos Academy. Her mom was killed by a drunk driver so now it is just her and her grandmother. Gwen has a bit of gypsy magic which helps her find lost items for other students. She doesn’t have any real friends at school and often sneaks out of campus to visit with her grandmother. One night when she is working her job at the school library another student is murdered and an artifact is taken. Nobody seems to care but Gwen wants to figure out what really happened that night.
I liked Gwen and thought that it was great to see a few friendships start to form in this book. I liked the mythology that was worked into the story. The mystery was rather interesting and there were enough twists and turns to keep me invested in the story. I thought that the story was well-paced with enough action to keep things moving. I am eager to see how the events from this book play out in future installments.
Tara Sands did a great job with this story. I thought that she was able to bring the characters to life and liked the voices that she used for the various characters, both male and female. I thought that she added just the right amount of emotion and excitement to her voice which added a lot to the story. I would not hesitate to recommend this book to others and look forward to continuing with the series.
Initial Thoughts
I enjoyed this re-read. It has been almost 11 years since I first read this book so there was a lot that I didn't remember. The Mythos Academy was interesting and I really liked the characters. I thought that the narrator did a great job with the audiobook. I am looking forward to reading the next book in the series soon.
Book source: Purchased
February 21, 2018
After reading the first book of the spin-off series, I was curious enough to know where the story started so I decided to go back and read this series. I’ve been a fan of Jennifer Estep’s writing for a long time now and I have to say that this series definitely falls in line with the rest of her excellent quality.
Firstly, I was most intrigued about the heroine, Gwen in this series. She’s a whole lot different than Rory and I think that’s a good thing. My favorite thing about Gwen’s character is the fact that she thinks a lot like a normal teenager. These days, I feel like Young Adult books are becoming more Adult in nature. The themes tend to be more complex and are all about great responsibility that you can easily lose sight of the true essence of a Young Adult novel. Gwen’s narration and the trials and tribulations that she goes through in this novel are something a normal teenager can relate to and for me, that’s what makes me love this series so much. It captures the Young Adult essence, but still has the quality of a excellently written novel.
The other thing that I think sets this series apart from others is the variety of paranormal species that are present here. Gwen is a Gypsy, but there are so many other species here that it will cater to everyone. It also gives the author so much room to play. It kind of reminds me of Kresley Cole’s Immortals After Dark but the Young Adult version whereas the writing and school setting reminds me of Richelle Mead’s Vampire Academy. If you’re a fan of both authors, then you’re going to enjoy this one.
TOUCH OF FROST definitely has me intrigued and I will definitely be looking to read more of the books in this series.
May 27, 2016
Schöner Auftakt :)
July 15, 2015
* 2,5 Sterne *
Wo fang ICH, die besondere und einzigartige Vee, denn am besten an mit meiner Review zu diesem Buch an? Eigentlich müsste ich ja jetzt meinen Kapuzenpulli, in der wundervollen Farbe Purpur, aus dem Schrank holen und warten, dass der Himmel die Farbe von purpur-grau annimmt, damit die Dämmerung so richtig zu der Stimmung passt. Oder doch vielleicht einen sexy Rebell mit düsteren Geheimnissen suchen, dessen eisblauen Augen durch die ganze Sporthalle zu leuchten scheinen? Es ist aber auch schwierig, wenn man als einzige Person GANZ ALLEINE nur Probleme hat und die Mutter tot ist. Denn ICH, Vee, habe natürlich keine Freunde, die ich fragen könnte und nur ICH habe eine ganz besondere Fähigkeit, die mich so special macht. Aber erst einmal abwarten bis der Himmel purpur ist.
Stunden später, da ist es auch schon so weit. Der Himmel ist purpur und es erinnert mich an den Tod meiner Mutter, weil NUR ICH Probleme habe.
Okay, ich höre schon mit dem Quatsch auf :D Ich wollte einfach mal nur einen bekloppten Einblick geben, was mich bei dem Buch so genervt hat. Das Buch bestand eigentlich nur aus Wiederholungen und der Farbmischung Purpur-grau.
Kleiner Einblick:("Das Auge hatte eine seltsame Farbe, irgendwo zwischen Purpur und Grau, die Art von Farbe, die einen an die Dämmerung denken lässt, diese kurze Zeitspanne nach dem Sonnenuntergang, bevor die Welt wirklich dunkel wird."; "Ich starrte ihr in die Augen - Augen, die weder purpurn noch grau waren, sondern stattdessen die Farbe der Dämmerung hatten."; "Die geflügelte Fraue blieb vor mir stehen und betrachtete mich aus Augen, die weder grau noch purpurn waren, sondern den sanften Farbton der Dämmerung hatten."; "Die Abenddämmerung kroch über das Gras und die Bäume und badete in sandten Purpur- und Grautönen.")
Dazu machte sich Gwen Frost, die Hauptprotagonistin ziemlich special.
Kleiner Einblick: ("Und alle waren sie reich, gut aussehend und gefährlich. Alle außer mir. Niemand beachtete mich, und niemand sprach mit mir(...). Ich war einfach nur dieses Gypsymädchen und dementsprechend nicht reicht, mächtig, beliebt, hübsch oder wichtig genug, um für irgendwen interessant zu sein."; "(...) aber natürlich hatte ich keine Freunde (...). Ich hatte überhaupt keine Freunde."; "Selbst ich, Gwen Frost, (...)".)
Versteht ihr, warum ich so genervt war am Anfang? Ich habe ja schon einige nervige Buchcharaktere erlebt, aber Gwen Frost ist wirklich special. Ich war auch etwas schockiert, als ich gesehen hab bei der Inhaltsangabe, dass sie schon 17 sein soll. Ich dachte, von ihrem Verhalten her, dass sie 14 sei. Aber gut ... Ach ja, und bevor ich es vergesse: also die Haupthandlung, ne? Was hat sich die Autorin dabei nur gedacht? Das wirkte so kindisch ... aber na ja ... irgendwie habe ich nichts anderes erwartet. Dennoch hat es Spaß gemacht das Buch zu lesen, weil ich ab der Hälfte doch irgendwie davon gefesselt war. Und ich war positiv überrascht, das die Liebesgeschichte kein großen Fokus eingenommen hat. Klar, sie war da und hat auch ihre Momente bekommen - und war manchmal ganz schön dumm, was es irgendwie unterhaltsam gemacht hat, besonders gegen Ende des Buches musste ich deswegen nur lachen - aber es war eben wirklich angenehm.
Und ja, ich werde mir den zweiten Band auch "antun". Es hat mich irgendwie doch gefangen genommen und ab und zu hatte das Buch auch eine gute Message: Der erste Eindruck eines Menschen kann täuschen.
Zur Bewertung: Es tut mir leid, aber wenn das Buch zu 1/3 nur aus Wiederholungen besteht, dann kann ich dem Buch keine 3 Sterne geben. (Wenn man zwischendurch ellenlange Pausen macht, dann ist es ja ganz gut, aber nicht, wenn man es fast an einem Stück durchliest.) Und so eine nervige Special-Protagonistin ist auch auf Dauer ziemlich anstrengend. Aber der halbe Stern ist dafür, dass ich mir sobald es geht den zweiten Band besorgen werde! :D
P.S.: Meiner Mutter geht es gut und sie lebt.
P.P.S.: GANZ VERGESSEN ZU ERWÄHNEN: Ich habe noch nie einen Avengers-Film (oder überhaupt von den Comic-Verfilmungen abgesehen von Spiderman) gesehen, aber beim Lesen hatte ich das Gefühl, dass ich das hätte machen müssen vorher. Loki spielt hier eine große Rolle. Was ich irgendwie komisch fand. Aber ich glaube das Buch ist vor den Filmen erschienen und von daher fiel das nicht in meine Wertung.
Wo fang ICH, die besondere und einzigartige Vee, denn am besten an mit meiner Review zu diesem Buch an? Eigentlich müsste ich ja jetzt meinen Kapuzenpulli, in der wundervollen Farbe Purpur, aus dem Schrank holen und warten, dass der Himmel die Farbe von purpur-grau annimmt, damit die Dämmerung so richtig zu der Stimmung passt. Oder doch vielleicht einen sexy Rebell mit düsteren Geheimnissen suchen, dessen eisblauen Augen durch die ganze Sporthalle zu leuchten scheinen? Es ist aber auch schwierig, wenn man als einzige Person GANZ ALLEINE nur Probleme hat und die Mutter tot ist. Denn ICH, Vee, habe natürlich keine Freunde, die ich fragen könnte und nur ICH habe eine ganz besondere Fähigkeit, die mich so special macht. Aber erst einmal abwarten bis der Himmel purpur ist.
Stunden später, da ist es auch schon so weit. Der Himmel ist purpur und es erinnert mich an den Tod meiner Mutter, weil NUR ICH Probleme habe.
Okay, ich höre schon mit dem Quatsch auf :D Ich wollte einfach mal nur einen bekloppten Einblick geben, was mich bei dem Buch so genervt hat. Das Buch bestand eigentlich nur aus Wiederholungen und der Farbmischung Purpur-grau.
Kleiner Einblick:("Das Auge hatte eine seltsame Farbe, irgendwo zwischen Purpur und Grau, die Art von Farbe, die einen an die Dämmerung denken lässt, diese kurze Zeitspanne nach dem Sonnenuntergang, bevor die Welt wirklich dunkel wird."; "Ich starrte ihr in die Augen - Augen, die weder purpurn noch grau waren, sondern stattdessen die Farbe der Dämmerung hatten."; "Die geflügelte Fraue blieb vor mir stehen und betrachtete mich aus Augen, die weder grau noch purpurn waren, sondern den sanften Farbton der Dämmerung hatten."; "Die Abenddämmerung kroch über das Gras und die Bäume und badete in sandten Purpur- und Grautönen.")
Dazu machte sich Gwen Frost, die Hauptprotagonistin ziemlich special.
Kleiner Einblick: ("Und alle waren sie reich, gut aussehend und gefährlich. Alle außer mir. Niemand beachtete mich, und niemand sprach mit mir(...). Ich war einfach nur dieses Gypsymädchen und dementsprechend nicht reicht, mächtig, beliebt, hübsch oder wichtig genug, um für irgendwen interessant zu sein."; "(...) aber natürlich hatte ich keine Freunde (...). Ich hatte überhaupt keine Freunde."; "Selbst ich, Gwen Frost, (...)".)
Versteht ihr, warum ich so genervt war am Anfang? Ich habe ja schon einige nervige Buchcharaktere erlebt, aber Gwen Frost ist wirklich special. Ich war auch etwas schockiert, als ich gesehen hab bei der Inhaltsangabe, dass sie schon 17 sein soll. Ich dachte, von ihrem Verhalten her, dass sie 14 sei. Aber gut ... Ach ja, und bevor ich es vergesse: also die Haupthandlung, ne? Was hat sich die Autorin dabei nur gedacht? Das wirkte so kindisch ... aber na ja ... irgendwie habe ich nichts anderes erwartet. Dennoch hat es Spaß gemacht das Buch zu lesen, weil ich ab der Hälfte doch irgendwie davon gefesselt war. Und ich war positiv überrascht, das die Liebesgeschichte kein großen Fokus eingenommen hat. Klar, sie war da und hat auch ihre Momente bekommen - und war manchmal ganz schön dumm, was es irgendwie unterhaltsam gemacht hat, besonders gegen Ende des Buches musste ich deswegen nur lachen - aber es war eben wirklich angenehm.
Und ja, ich werde mir den zweiten Band auch "antun". Es hat mich irgendwie doch gefangen genommen und ab und zu hatte das Buch auch eine gute Message: Der erste Eindruck eines Menschen kann täuschen.
Zur Bewertung: Es tut mir leid, aber wenn das Buch zu 1/3 nur aus Wiederholungen besteht, dann kann ich dem Buch keine 3 Sterne geben. (Wenn man zwischendurch ellenlange Pausen macht, dann ist es ja ganz gut, aber nicht, wenn man es fast an einem Stück durchliest.) Und so eine nervige Special-Protagonistin ist auch auf Dauer ziemlich anstrengend. Aber der halbe Stern ist dafür, dass ich mir sobald es geht den zweiten Band besorgen werde! :D
P.S.: Meiner Mutter geht es gut und sie lebt.
P.P.S.: GANZ VERGESSEN ZU ERWÄHNEN: Ich habe noch nie einen Avengers-Film (oder überhaupt von den Comic-Verfilmungen abgesehen von Spiderman) gesehen, aber beim Lesen hatte ich das Gefühl, dass ich das hätte machen müssen vorher. Loki spielt hier eine große Rolle. Was ich irgendwie komisch fand. Aber ich glaube das Buch ist vor den Filmen erschienen und von daher fiel das nicht in meine Wertung.
May 16, 2018
re-read!
War echt wieder gut, natürlich sind mir jetzt eher kleine Fehler aufgefallen aber..ich liebe das Buch immernoch :)
War echt wieder gut, natürlich sind mir jetzt eher kleine Fehler aufgefallen aber..ich liebe das Buch immernoch :)
Shelved as 'kindle-stash'
December 21, 2019I have this hobby where I look for older YA that have gone on sale and then buy them so I can force friends to BR them with me.
This book is currently 99 CENTS! Any takers? ;)
This book is currently 99 CENTS! Any takers? ;)
April 2, 2018
Zum Ende hat es mich gepackt und ich wollte das Buch am liebsten nicht mehr aus der Hand legen.
Aber bis es erstmal so weit war hat es leider zu lange gedauert.
Kann natürlich daran liegen, dass Mythen und so nicht unbedingt mein Lieblingsthema für Bücher sind.
Ich kam anfangs irgendwie so gar nicht in die Geschichte rein und konnte mich mit Gwen nicht anfreunden.
Ich hoffe, dass die weiteren Bände direkt ans Ende von Teil 1 anschließen werden und es nicht wieder erst dauert bis die Geschichte mich packen kann.
Allerdings werde ich nicht sofort weiterlesen,sondern der Mythos Academy erstmal eine Pause gönnen.
Aber bis es erstmal so weit war hat es leider zu lange gedauert.
Kann natürlich daran liegen, dass Mythen und so nicht unbedingt mein Lieblingsthema für Bücher sind.
Ich kam anfangs irgendwie so gar nicht in die Geschichte rein und konnte mich mit Gwen nicht anfreunden.
Ich hoffe, dass die weiteren Bände direkt ans Ende von Teil 1 anschließen werden und es nicht wieder erst dauert bis die Geschichte mich packen kann.
Allerdings werde ich nicht sofort weiterlesen,sondern der Mythos Academy erstmal eine Pause gönnen.
February 8, 2018
Отзыв в моем блоге: http://beautiful-whim.blogspot.ru/201...
Дженнифер Эстеп "Прикосновение Холода" (Мифическая Академия 1/6)
5,5 из 10
Экранизация: нет
Жанр: YA, фэнтези, городское фэнтези
POV: от первого лица
Любовная линия: дуэт (парень-девушка)
Отличительные черты: мешанина мифологии, Боги разных Пантеонов, магическая школа, Избранный и прочие шаблоны
Рекомендовано к прочтению, если вам нравятся: Райчел Мид "Академия вампиров", Рик Риордан "Перси Джексон", Минди Арнетт "Расследование Ночного Кошмара", Дженнифер Арментроут "Полукровка"
РЕЦЕНЗИЯ:
«Прикосновение Холода» не оригинальная книга. В ней нет ничего нового или особенного, она полна штампов и клише, а еще при прочтении постоянно возникает мысль «Где-то я уже это видела». И это так дамы и господа, потому что таких книг действительно много – «Академия вампиров», «Перси Джексон», «Расследование Ночного кошмара», «Полукровка» и т.д.
Рецепт таких книг прост. Одна порция магической школы + главн��й герой (в данном случае юная Гвен Фрост), который не вписывается в социум выше указанной школы. Герой должен быть особенным, чаще всего с редким даром и ПРЕДНАЗНАЧЕНИЕМ, именно вот так, с большой буквы. По ходу книг серии герой сталкивается с плохими ребятами, надирает им зад. В каждой книге герой находится на грани жизни и смерти, ведь зад то он плохишам надирает, но и сам при этом постоянно избит. Ну, и, куда же без банды верных друзей? Естественно есть подруга/друг и ОН (она, оно – подчеркните необходимое) и еще парочка не особо важных и нужных друзей. А еще есть герла (иногда парень, если главный герой у нас мужского пола), которая вроде как играет за хороших, но при этом bitch редкостная (Мия, Катарина, Морган). О и да, последний ингредиент – предатель в рядах добряков.
Знакомый рецепт? Уверена, что вы с ходу назовете книги со схожим сюжетом. И это вроде как неплохо, в конце концов, главное подача. У Дженнифер Эстеп в подаче нет ничего сложного, мир у нее проще, чем у той же «Академии вампиров», язык тоже незамысловатый. Но вот что-то, а читать приятно. Да косяки тут и там, да шаблонность и примитивность, зато расслабляет на ура, да так, что на все закрываешь глаза и просто плывешь по течению.
Из очевидных минусов, которые можно было бы исправить – вечные попытки героини вызвать к себе жалость. «Я белая ворона, мне здесь не место, ай-ай» порядком надоедает на протяжении всей первой книги. Гвен милая, забавная и не дура (не гений, но и нередкостная тупица), но, увы, нытик. Вместо того чтобы постоянно страдать из-за отсутствия друзей, она могла бы хоть раз попытаться их завести, вместо того, чтобы постоянно твердить (нужное подчеркнуть):
- У меня нет бабла, как у остальных;
- У меня нет супер сил, как у остальных;
- Я НЕ такая;
- Я такааааая несчастная, маму убили, папы нет, пожалейте меня;
- Мой дар – мое проклятье.
Но так как, я на таких книгах «собаку съела», то уже закрываю на все эти супергеройские страдания глаза. К тому же, я понимаю, что страдающий герой – это интересно и вызывает больше сочувствия, чем вечно счастливый, но вот хочется хоть немного оригинальности или свежей подачи. Ну да ладно, переживем.
Кстати, в каждой книге серии автор напоминает нам, что идет война Жнецов Хаоса против Пантеона Великих Войнов, злой Бог Локи заточен в волшебной тюрьме, его последователи спешат его освободить. Героиня - чемпион Ники, она победить зло, оставить освобождение злобного Бога и ваще самая крутая деваха на районе. Иногда возникает ощущение, что автор считает, будто у читателей проблемы с памятью, поэтому повторяет весь этот поток информации по два, а порой и три раза.
Но не думайте, что у «Мифической Академии» нет плюсов. Во-первых, как я уже говорила, книги очень легкие, заглатываются на ура. Во-вторых, если у вас ломка по магическим школам, избранным и приключениям, то Гвен Фрост ждет вас. В-третьих, герои хоть и немного шаблонные, но все-таки приятные и не вызывают раздражения. А еще здесь есть Боги! Правда не конкретного Пантеона, а целая мешанина из греческой, римской, норвежской, русской (славные батьки богатыри имеются) мифологии, но я после аниме ко всему привыкла.
Моя оценка: 5,5/10
PS: Оценка низкая, но мне понравилось, просто я объективна
Дженнифер Эстеп "Прикосновение Холода" (Мифическая Академия 1/6)
5,5 из 10
Экранизация: нет
Жанр: YA, фэнтези, городское фэнтези
POV: от первого лица
Любовная линия: дуэт (парень-девушка)
Отличительные черты: мешанина мифологии, Боги разных Пантеонов, магическая школа, Избранный и прочие шаблоны
Рекомендовано к прочтению, если вам нравятся: Райчел Мид "Академия вампиров", Рик Риордан "Перси Джексон", Минди Арнетт "Расследование Ночного Кошмара", Дженнифер Арментроут "Полукровка"
РЕЦЕНЗИЯ:
«Прикосновение Холода» не оригинальная книга. В ней нет ничего нового или особенного, она полна штампов и клише, а еще при прочтении постоянно возникает мысль «Где-то я уже это видела». И это так дамы и господа, потому что таких книг действительно много – «Академия вампиров», «Перси Джексон», «Расследование Ночного кошмара», «Полукровка» и т.д.
Рецепт таких книг прост. Одна порция магической школы + главн��й герой (в данном случае юная Гвен Фрост), который не вписывается в социум выше указанной школы. Герой должен быть особенным, чаще всего с редким даром и ПРЕДНАЗНАЧЕНИЕМ, именно вот так, с большой буквы. По ходу книг серии герой сталкивается с плохими ребятами, надирает им зад. В каждой книге герой находится на грани жизни и смерти, ведь зад то он плохишам надирает, но и сам при этом постоянно избит. Ну, и, куда же без банды верных друзей? Естественно есть подруга/друг и ОН (она, оно – подчеркните необходимое) и еще парочка не особо важных и нужных друзей. А еще есть герла (иногда парень, если главный герой у нас мужского пола), которая вроде как играет за хороших, но при этом bitch редкостная (Мия, Катарина, Морган). О и да, последний ингредиент – предатель в рядах добряков.
Знакомый рецепт? Уверена, что вы с ходу назовете книги со схожим сюжетом. И это вроде как неплохо, в конце концов, главное подача. У Дженнифер Эстеп в подаче нет ничего сложного, мир у нее проще, чем у той же «Академии вампиров», язык тоже незамысловатый. Но вот что-то, а читать приятно. Да косяки тут и там, да шаблонность и примитивность, зато расслабляет на ура, да так, что на все закрываешь глаза и просто плывешь по течению.
Из очевидных минусов, которые можно было бы исправить – вечные попытки героини вызвать к себе жалость. «Я белая ворона, мне здесь не место, ай-ай» порядком надоедает на протяжении всей первой книги. Гвен милая, забавная и не дура (не гений, но и нередкостная тупица), но, увы, нытик. Вместо того чтобы постоянно страдать из-за отсутствия друзей, она могла бы хоть раз попытаться их завести, вместо того, чтобы постоянно твердить (нужное подчеркнуть):
- У меня нет бабла, как у остальных;
- У меня нет супер сил, как у остальных;
- Я НЕ такая;
- Я такааааая несчастная, маму убили, папы нет, пожалейте меня;
- Мой дар – мое проклятье.
Но так как, я на таких книгах «собаку съела», то уже закрываю на все эти супергеройские страдания глаза. К тому же, я понимаю, что страдающий герой – это интересно и вызывает больше сочувствия, чем вечно счастливый, но вот хочется хоть немного оригинальности или свежей подачи. Ну да ладно, переживем.
Кстати, в каждой книге серии автор напоминает нам, что идет война Жнецов Хаоса против Пантеона Великих Войнов, злой Бог Локи заточен в волшебной тюрьме, его последователи спешат его освободить. Героиня - чемпион Ники, она победить зло, оставить освобождение злобного Бога и ваще самая крутая деваха на районе. Иногда возникает ощущение, что автор считает, будто у читателей проблемы с памятью, поэтому повторяет весь этот поток информации по два, а порой и три раза.
Но не думайте, что у «Мифической Академии» нет плюсов. Во-первых, как я уже говорила, книги очень легкие, заглатываются на ура. Во-вторых, если у вас ломка по магическим школам, избранным и приключениям, то Гвен Фрост ждет вас. В-третьих, герои хоть и немного шаблонные, но все-таки приятные и не вызывают раздражения. А еще здесь есть Боги! Правда не конкретного Пантеона, а целая мешанина из греческой, римской, норвежской, русской (славные батьки богатыри имеются) мифологии, но я после аниме ко всему привыкла.
Моя оценка: 5,5/10
PS: Оценка низкая, но мне понравилось, просто я объективна
July 15, 2011
I don't usually read YA fiction, but I am a big fan of Jennifer Estep's Elemental Assassin books... and that is what led me to this first installment of her new Mythos Academy series.
The story centers on a teenage Gypsy named Gwen. She has the give of psychometry, which means she gets psychic impressions from the things she touches. Shortly after the death of her mom, Gwen's grandmother enrolled her in the Mythos Academy, a school for teenagers with special gifts. The halls are filled with Valkyrie, Amazons, Spartans, and other skilled warriors. But Gwen feels out-of-place. She's no warrior and she certainly doesn't come from the privileged background of her peers.
Things go from bad to worse for Gwen when she discovers the bloody body of the most popular girl in school in the library. In the aftermath, she is shocked to see that no one is mourning for the dead girl and no one wants to dig beneath the surface to solve her murder. So Gwen decides she will use her powers to figure out what really happened to Jasmine. The story follows her investigation and people who enter her life as a result.
This book has the same easy and relaxed writing style I've grown to love from Estep. Her books use simple and clear language which allows you to forget about the words and focus on the story. The concept of the series is pretty good, though not entirely groundbreaking. Gwen is a likeable heroine. And Estep does well to advance her story while still leaving the door open for much more in future books.
I liked the book, but I didn't love it. My biggest problem was in the repetition of thoughts we got from Gwen, especially in the first half of the book... her what-if's about her mom, her guilt, her angst, her same questions and reflections over and over. It did peter out before it drove me crazy, but I couldn't quite ignore it. Also, I didn't like how things played out with Logan, the love interest. I know Gwen was supposed to feel jerked around, but dammit, I felt jerked around by his hot-and-cold behavior. And while I know this is an ongoing story, I'm a stickler for an HEA, and I was annoyed by the resolution of this part of the storyline... or lack thereof.
I did enjoy watching Gwen begin her transition into something more than she was at the beginning of the story. I think over the course of the series, she is really going to blossom and that will be what makes the books shine. 4 stars.
*ARC Provided by author for review
The story centers on a teenage Gypsy named Gwen. She has the give of psychometry, which means she gets psychic impressions from the things she touches. Shortly after the death of her mom, Gwen's grandmother enrolled her in the Mythos Academy, a school for teenagers with special gifts. The halls are filled with Valkyrie, Amazons, Spartans, and other skilled warriors. But Gwen feels out-of-place. She's no warrior and she certainly doesn't come from the privileged background of her peers.
Things go from bad to worse for Gwen when she discovers the bloody body of the most popular girl in school in the library. In the aftermath, she is shocked to see that no one is mourning for the dead girl and no one wants to dig beneath the surface to solve her murder. So Gwen decides she will use her powers to figure out what really happened to Jasmine. The story follows her investigation and people who enter her life as a result.
This book has the same easy and relaxed writing style I've grown to love from Estep. Her books use simple and clear language which allows you to forget about the words and focus on the story. The concept of the series is pretty good, though not entirely groundbreaking. Gwen is a likeable heroine. And Estep does well to advance her story while still leaving the door open for much more in future books.
I liked the book, but I didn't love it. My biggest problem was in the repetition of thoughts we got from Gwen, especially in the first half of the book... her what-if's about her mom, her guilt, her angst, her same questions and reflections over and over. It did peter out before it drove me crazy, but I couldn't quite ignore it. Also, I didn't like how things played out with Logan, the love interest. I know Gwen was supposed to feel jerked around, but dammit, I felt jerked around by his hot-and-cold behavior. And while I know this is an ongoing story, I'm a stickler for an HEA, and I was annoyed by the resolution of this part of the storyline... or lack thereof.
I did enjoy watching Gwen begin her transition into something more than she was at the beginning of the story. I think over the course of the series, she is really going to blossom and that will be what makes the books shine. 4 stars.
*ARC Provided by author for review
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