I received this book for free from the library in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Source: the library
Dark Frost
by
Jennifer Estep
urban fantasy in eBook edition that was published by Kensington Books on May 29, 2012 and has 336 pages.
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Other books by this author which I have reviewed include Spider’s Bite, Web of Lies, Jennifer Estep, Venom, Karma Girl, Tangled Threads, Touch of Frost, Spider's Revenge, Kiss of Frost, Hot Mama, By a Thread, Widow's Web, Crimson Frost, Deadly Sting, Midnight Frost, Heart of Venom, The Spider, Killer Frost, Tangled Dreams, Tangled Schemes, Spider's Bargain, "Poison", Spider’s Nemesis, "Wasted", "Web of Death", "Web of Deceit", Black Widow, Poison Promise, Cold Burn of Magic, The Spider's Trap, Dark Heart of Magic, Bitter Bite, Unraveled, "Nice Guys Bite", Bright Blaze of Magic, Snared, Kill the Queen, "Winter's Web", Last Strand, Sharpest Sting, "Unwanted", Dirty Deeds 2, "Heart Stings"
Third in the Mythos Academy urban fantasy series for young adults revolving around the whiny Gwen Frost.
My Take
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know Gwen is a teenager, but must she be such an annoying, whining one? She has brains, Estep should write her using them rather than getting lazy about how to make Gwen feel bad. At least she can have Gwen think!
Hullo!??, the bad guys are everywhere. Hmmm, let me think: Grandma said the Reaper girl had mental powers. Gwen’s been having headaches. And she thinks it’s a good idea to slip out at night. Alone. To retrieve a highly sought-after weapon. Estep lost me on that one.
Where’s all the evidence that Gwen does all this snooping?
Christ, could she stretch out the moment any longer before she touches the damn thing!? It was REALLY obvious with all the clues being dumped, but, no, Estep still had x-number of pages to fill so we had to suffer along.
Gwen’s jealousy of Logan’s irritating fan club just didn’t make any real sense. What? She didn’t notice that Logan wasn’t enjoying it?
Interesting question she throws at Nickamedes. Even more interesting is his response!
Oh, woe is Gwen, woe, woe, cry me a frickin’ river. The idiot should be depressed. She never thinks in this story! Pushing Logan away because of the way she used her power in the end…duh… Has she ever used her power this way before? No. Does she intend to use it on Logan? This was such crap.
The Story
A surprise attack at the museum and Gwen’s sudden attack of honesty really screws up the Gypsy’s week. Now Nike and everyone else need Gwen to find the Helheim Dagger before the bad guys zero in on it.
Between the girl Reaper’s attacks, Logan’s anger, and her other friends shunning her. Well, what’s a girl to do?
The Characters
Gwen Frost is a late-coming student to Mythos Academy and she has a lot of catching up to do. Her power is the magic of touch, psychometry, and she carries a magic sword, Vic, in her role as Nike’s champion. Grandma Frost is a former Nike champion. Now she reads people’s fortunes, although, she still wields a mean sword. Nott is the Fenrir wolf Gwen saved in Kiss of Frost. And she’s pregnant. The wolf, that is.
Daphne Cruz is a Valkyrie and Gwen’s best friend. She’s still seeing Carson Callahan, a Celtic band geek who gets his own major weapon. He causes Daphne’s power to kick in…and, boy, is she angry!
Logan Quinn is a Spartan and fellow student who is hiding a huge secret. His relationship with Gwen teetering between on and off. Oliver Hector and Kenzie Tanaka are fellow Spartans and Logan’s best friends. The one difference is that Oliver is gay and secretly in love with Kenzie. Nickamedes is the head librarian at the Library of Antiquities at the school. He’s also Logan’s uncle and Gwen’s tough and touchy boss.
Other Mythos Academy students include Morgan McDougall, a Valkyrie; Samson Sorenson, Savannah Warren, an Amazon who lost Logan to Gwen — and is she pissed off about it!; Savannah’s best friends are two other Amazons: a second-year student, Vivian Holler, and Talia Pizarro.
Teachers include Professor Aurora Metes (wisdom) was her mom’s best friend, Mr. Llew teaches calculus, Mrs. Banba teaches economics, Coach Lir works with the swim teams, Coach Ajax, and Raven who sells coffee at the library.
Preston Ashton is a Reaper who was caught in Kiss of Frost; the professor has been pushing Gwen to “read” him for weeks.
The Pantheon fought and imprisoned Loki in the Chaos War when he tried to destroy the world. Now his followers, the Reapers of Chaos, are trying to free him.
The Cover and Title
The cover is dark with a close-up of a pensive Gwen,her hair pulled back, wearing the diamond snowflake Logan gave her for Christmas. Far in the background is a misty, glowing cluster of the buildings that make up the Mythos Academy.
The title is about Gwen, the Dark Frost. It’s all her fault.
