Review: Midnight Frost and Spartan Frost by Jennifer Estep

Midnight Frost
(Mythos Academy #5)
Jennifer Estep
Release: July 30, 2013
Add to Goodreads | Buy at Amazon

Here we go again …

Just when it seems life at Mythos Academy can’t get any more dangerous, the Reapers of Chaos manage to prove me wrong. It was just a typical night at the Library of Antiquities — until a Reaper tried to poison me. The good news is I’m still alive and kicking. The bad news is the Reaper poisoned someone else instead.

As Nike’s Champion, everyone expects me to lead the charge against the Reapers, even though I’m still hurting over what happened with Spartan warrior Logan Quinn. I’ve got to get my hands on the antidote fast — otherwise, an innocent person will die. But the only known cure is hidden in some creepy ruins — and the Reapers are sure to be waiting for me there …

Review:

Midnight Frost is the fifth book in the Mythos Academy young adult series. This is a terrific addition to this fun series and I appreciate how recent installments have been slightly darker and more serious with plots that break away from the pattern of the first three books. Estep is really in tune with her characters now and while some still remain slightly flatter than others, the ones that count are fully realized and easy to relate to.

Our heroine, Gwen Frost, is one of these relatable characters. One of my complaints about Gwen from the first two books - the plot device that she overlooks the obvious in order to keep the story moving along - is no longer an issue. Gwen is a completely likable YA heroine that I can relate to and rally behind. Sometimes in a YA book its not believable that the heroine would actually be a heroine, but the Mythos reader can understand why Nike would choose Gwen to be her Champion. Plus, her psychometry power gets cooler with every book in the series.

Logan freaking Quinn, as Gwen likes to call him, was absent from most of this story, so I was thankful that he got his own novella, which I read just prior to starting this book (see more on the novella below). Logan and Gwen together are YA genre gold and like Gwen, he is an extremely affable character. You hurt right along with him as he tries to heal from the emotional scars stabbing your girlfriend in the chest while possessed must leave.

This book is different from previous installments in that here the Mythos gang is on a specific mission for most of the book, and they know this mission will bring them to the Reapers. This is as opposed to earlier books where the gang was going about their life and Reapers intervened. The 'mission' aspect is a nice change of pace and I enjoyed everything that came with it - a new setting, some new characters, and gryphons (especially the gryphons)!

I love this series and where its going. Mythos Academy is the perfect balance between dark and funny and the mythology is always deeply interesting. I highly recommend the series as a whole, and Midnight Frost especially!


Recommended for fans of: mythology, gryphons, young adult adventures, snarky swords, and goddesses.

This review is based on an advance copy of the book provided by the publisher.

    

  4 / 5 stars

Notes on the novella: Sometimes I don't bother with novellas in the series I read, but Spartan Frost focuses on Logan following the events at the end of Crimson Frost when he was possessed by Loki and almost killed Gwen. I felt like this would be an important novella and I was right. Not only do we get a bit of a Logan fix, which I'm glad for since he is not in a huge chunk of Midnight Frost, but we get inside his head. We also get to better understand the dynamic between Logan and his father and Logan and his father's team. I recommend reading Spartan Frost prior to Midnight Frost. Its a very quick novella that can be read in one sitting.

This review is based on an advance copy of the book provided by the publisher.

    

  4 / 5 stars

My reviews of other books in this series:

Touch of Frost (Mythos Academy #1)

Dark Frost (Mythos Academy #2)

Crimson Frost (Mythos Academy #3)

Release Day Review: Wrong Ways Down by Stacia Kane

Wrong Ways Down
(Downside Ghosts #1.5)
Stacia Kane
Release: August 6, 2013
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It’s a thin line between right and wrong. It’s an even thinner one between wrong and dead…

Terrible has always been on the wrong side of the law, living up to the only name anyone ever gave him. As the chief enforcer for Downside’s most powerful criminal, it’s his job to collect debts and protection money by any means necessary. And he’s very good at his job.

But part of that job is also to keep Bump’s various employees safe. So when a street dealer is found dead and a prostitute is brutally attacked, Terrible immediately starts using his fists to hunt down the ones responsible.

He’s determined to find and destroy them. They’re determined to use his desire for the woman he secretly loves to break him.

Review:

Wrong Ways Down is the long awaited novella in the Downside Ghosts series that focuses on Terrible and is from his point of view. Fans of the series who adore Terrible, including this girl, have been desperately wanting to get inside that head of his and I can certainly say we were rewarded for our patience - or lack thereof - with Wrong Ways Down.

First of all, this feels like a Downside book. The mood and themes of the story are the same as all the other books in the series, despite the fact that this is a novella and the story is told from Terrible's third person POV instead of Chess'. Starting a Downside book always feels like coming home and this novella is no different. The novella - we'll loosely call it a novella since its almost the length of a full-length novel - is set in between books one and two in the series, with some overlap into book two.

It is completely awesome to read things from Terrible's side, especially his thoughts and feelings about everything that has gone on between him and Chess up until the start of book two. I almost forgot the incident in book one when Chess was insanely messed up and started making out with Terrible before he realized she was wasted. That incident had both given Terrible hope that she might be interested in him and then completely squashed any hope he might have had. In the novella he still carries that hurt with him.

From Chess' POV we only get what she suspects Terrible might be thinking, and her thoughts are often skewed by her own insecurities. But, one thing is for sure - Terrible is already SO in love with Chess in the novella and we get to see him come to realize this fact. But, he also has no hope that she might want to be with him. I almost want to go back and reread the whole series now, knowing everything I do about his feelings for her and how real they were so early on.

The absolute best thing for me in reading Wrong Ways Down was getting to see Chess from Terrible's POV. After reading all of Chess' self-criticisms, self-doubts, and the shitty image she has of herself, it was refreshing to see her the way Terrible sees her. He sees her as the most beautiful woman in the room all the time, like a breath of fresh air. All the brief moments they shared early on in the series were like little rays of sunshine for Terrible and the way he notices all of the little details about her is beautiful. There's a thought that Terrible has to himself after spotting Chess at Trickster's that was so simple yet really true to how he feels about her:

"What the fuck was wrong with every other man in the room, that they weren't all killing each other just to stand next to her?"

Its also sad to read how below Chess he imagines himself to be and how much he really never thought early on that she would want him. The two of them are just plain idiots early in the series, both feeling the same way about each other but neither thinking they were good enough for the other. And all the ways they hurt each other until they finally come to their senses? Sheesh.  Knowing what I know about them now, five books into the series, I found myself giving Terrible a little knowing smile when he'd be down on himself for wanting her and thinking she was too good for him. A few more books, Terrible, just give it a few more books.

The plot for this novella felt really true to the series as well. There were enough magical elements involved to feel like other Downside books, but the plot was still for Terrible. We get to see Terrible be even more rough and ruthless than we have in the previous books of the series and we also get to learn how Terrible feels about his job as an enforcer for Bump. In fact, we get to learn a little more of his back story including more about his relationship with his daughter's mother and his relationship with Katie, his daughter. All of these things give us a deeper understanding of Terrible and make him an even more complicated and layered character than he was before.

This is another gritty, spectacular, emotional book in the Downside Ghosts series that will more than whet the whistle of readers waiting for the next full-length installment. Fans of Terrible will fall over themselves swooning at his undeniable love for Chess - I know I did. Who wouldn't want to be seen the way he sees her? Even with her emotional baggage and her laundry list of faults he finds her to be perfect. Major swoon.

Recommended for fans of: TERRIBLE!!!

This review is based on an early copy of the book provided by the author.

    

  5 / 5 stars

My reviews of other books in this series:

Sacrificial Magic (Downside Ghosts #4)

Chasing Magic (Downside Ghosts #5)

Blogoversary Day 6 - Laura from Little Read Riding Hood Interviews Me Plus Giveaway!

Wow - two years! That's pretty crazy! I've met a lot of really wonderful bloggers and readers in the past two years and have learned that I'm not the only crazy person who likes to read about things that go bump in the night...and in your bed! I've also met some really cool authors. Some were new favorites who were so down to Earth and others were such big authors to me that I was left star struck!

To celebrate my second blogoversary I thought I'd switch things up a bit. All this week I will be the one interviewed! 

I've asked some of my favorite authors and bloggers to pick my brain and boy did they come up with some interesting questions! Some went the serious route and threw one big question at me, while others wanted to know a series of things about my reading life. Others still - and you know who you are - took a bit of a less serious route.

Here's the schedule for the week:

Mon. 7/29

Author Jenn Bennett

Giveaway: one book in the Arcadia Bell series

(US/CAN)

Tues. 7/30

Blogger Jennifer @ The Book Nympho

Giveaway: Midnight Frost by Jennifer Estep

(US/CAN)

Wed. 7/31

Author Darynda Jones

Giveaway: First Grave on the Right

(US/CAN)

Thur. 8/1

Blogger Jenese @ Readers Confession

Giveaway: Biting Bad by Chloe Neill

(US/CAN)

Fri. 8/2

Author Stacey Jay

Giveaway: Ebook copy Of Beast and Beauty

(INT)

Sat. 8/3

Blogger Laura @ Little Read Riding Hood

Giveaway: Undead and Underwater & Undead and Unsure by Mary Janice Davidson

(US/CAN)

On to day six! Today, Laura from Little Read Riding Hood closes out the week with some questions for me!

Here are Laura's Interview Questions For Me:

1. Name one author you want to meet that you haven't yet

Stacia Kane! She doesn’t do a lot of appearances and she lives in England now so she’s like my white whale of authors! One day, Stacia, one day…..

2. If a fictional character of your choice could be real for 24 hours, who would you pick and what would you do?

Charley Davidson! I’d love to take Cookie’s place for a day. I’d help her with the serious stuff of course…like seriously giving me some alone time with Reyes…but I’d also ask her to make me a killer margarita.

3. What was the last book you finished in one sitting?

The second Vlad book, Twice Tempted. I devoured that thing in one day!

4. We all know you love your shifters, if you were a shifter, what animal would you change into?

Ooh, good question! I’ve actually given this some thought – seriously, who hasn’t? – and while I’d love to say something more practical, I’m going to have to go with DRAGON! I could fly, be a badass, and breathe freaking fire!!!

5. How far into a book before you decide to DNF?

I don’t have a set amount that I force myself to read because there are just so many fantasmagoric books in the world that I can’t waste my time on a book I’m really not enjoying. I will usually try to get to the 30% mark because sometimes books just start rough or have a lot of info dumps in the beginning, but I’ve DNF’ed a book at 9% before and another at 78%.

6. Menage time - what two fictional hotties are you bringing to your bedroom?

That’s tricky because they need to be able to work together but they also need to be complementary. Bones and Vlad.! OMG, that’s just too good. They kind of hate each other but kind of respect each other and they have similar skills in the bedroom. Oh wow, I’m very excited about that duo now! Can we get a ménage novella with them, please Ms. Forst!?!?!?

7. What fictional world would you most like to visit?

Oh, so many! I’d love to live in a steampunk turn-of-the-century London with paranormals like in London Steampunk or Darkest London. Moning’s Fever world would be crazy and magical, but that world would be pretty damn scary! Chloe Neill’s Chicago where vampires live in almost-fraternities would be very cool and very less scary. I could be a House vamp for sure.   

Thank you to Laura for interviewing me!

Enter to win two books by MaryJanice Davidson:

UNDED AND UNDERWATER

and

UNDEAD AND UNSURE

US/CAN only.

 

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Blogoversary Day 5 - Stacey Jay Interviews Me Plus Giveaway!

Wow - two years! That's pretty crazy! I've met a lot of really wonderful bloggers and readers in the past two years and have learned that I'm not the only crazy person who likes to read about things that go bump in the night...and in your bed! I've also met some really cool authors. Some were new favorites who were so down to Earth and others were such big authors to me that I was left star struck!

To celebrate my second blogoversary I thought I'd switch things up a bit. All this week I will be the one interviewed! 

I've asked some of my favorite authors and bloggers to pick my brain and boy did they come up with some interesting questions! Some went the serious route and threw one big question at me, while others wanted to know a series of things about my reading life. Others still - and you know who you are - took a bit of a less serious route.

Here's the schedule for the week:

Mon. 7/29

Author Jenn Bennett

Giveaway: one book in the Arcadia Bell series

(US/CAN)

Tues. 7/30

Blogger Jennifer @ The Book Nympho

Giveaway: Midnight Frost by Jennifer Estep

(US/CAN)

Wed. 7/31

Author Darynda Jones

Giveaway: First Grave on the Right

(US/CAN)

Thur. 8/1

Blogger Jenese @ Readers Confession

Giveaway: Biting Bad by Chloe Neill

(US/CAN)

Fri. 8/2

Author Stacey Jay

Giveaway: Ebook copy Of Beast and Beauty

(INT)

Sat. 8/3

Blogger Laura @ Little Read Riding Hood

Giveaway: Undead and Underwater & Undead and Unsure by Mary Janice Davidson

(US/CAN)

On to day five! Today, Stacey Jay, adult and YA author, is stopping by to ask me a big question!

Here it is:

Does there ever come a point when an author becomes such a friend that you feel awkward giving reviews? As in: giving a negative review feels harsh, or giving a positive review feels biased? And if so, what do you do in those situations?

This must really be a hot topic with authors because another author asked a similar question this week as well! As a blogger, I've made tons of friends through Goodreads, Facebook, and Twitter - some fellow bloggers but some authors as well. Sometimes these friendships between bloggers and authors make reviewing  awkward, even if they are just casual online friendships. There have been times that I've not liked books by authors with whom  I've cultivated friendships online. That's tricky. I still have to be honest about my feelings about the book, but now I worry what that author will think if they read my review. It really makes it that much harder to be honest in my review. This is most common for me when an author I love starts a new series. Sometimes I love that new series but sometimes it just doesn't jive with me like the old series. I've always been truthful when I didn't care for a book, but I do try to focus on what I didn't like about the book and not focus on the author. I typically don't tweet the author or the publisher with a link to my review, like I might have if a gave a book a great review. I kind of sweep it under the rug to be honest! I'll discuss the book with other readers and post my review all the same places I normally would, I just don't mention it to the author at all. 

Thanks so much to Stacey for her question!

Hi! I'm Stacey Jay, author of young adult novels for Delacorte, Flux, and Razorbill books, and adult books for Pocket. Come vist my website at http://staceyjay.com to learn more.

And check out Stacey's books!

   

 

Enter to win any an ebook copy of Stacey Jay's newest release,

OF BEAST AND BEAUTY, for either Nook or Kindle!

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Blogoversary Day 4 - Jenese from Readers Confession Interviews Me Plus Giveaway!

Wow - two years! That's pretty crazy! I've met a lot of really wonderful bloggers and readers in the past two years and have learned that I'm not the only crazy person who likes to read about things that go bump in the night...and in your bed! I've also met some really cool authors. Some were new favorites who were so down to Earth and others were such big authors to me that I was left star struck!

To celebrate my second blogoversary I thought I'd switch things up a bit. All this week I will be the one interviewed! 

I've asked some of my favorite authors and bloggers to pick my brain and boy did they come up with some interesting questions! Some went the serious route and threw one big question at me, while others wanted to know a series of things about my reading life. Others still - and you know who you are - took a bit of a less serious route.

Here's the schedule for the week:

Mon. 7/29

Author Jenn Bennett

Giveaway: one book in the Arcadia Bell series

(US/CAN)

Tues. 7/30

Blogger Jennifer @ The Book Nympho

Giveaway: Midnight Frost by Jennifer Estep

(US/CAN)

Wed. 7/31

Author Darynda Jones

Giveaway: First Grave on the Right

(US/CAN)

Thur. 8/1

Blogger Jenese @ Readers Confession

Giveaway: Biting Bad by Chloe Neill

(US/CAN)

Fri. 8/2

Author Stacey Jay

Giveaway: Ebook copy Of Beast and Beauty

(INT)

Sat. 8/3

Blogger Laura @ Little Read Riding Hood

Giveaway: Undead and Underwater & Undead and Unsure by Mary Janice Davidson

(US/CAN)

On to day four! Today, Jenese from Readers Confession has some great questions for me - some serious and some...not so serious!

Here are Jenese's Interview Questions For Me:

1. Favorite PNR series

Cat and Bones will always be my number one answer, even though that series kind of straddles between PNR and UF. I’m loving the London Steampunk series by Bec McMaster and the Darkest London series by Kristen Callihan though. They both just have that extra something that keeps my attention that most PNRs don’t have.

2. What are your guilty book pleasures?

Honestly, those two series above really feel like guilty pleasures when I read them. Also, anything YA because they are so easy to breeze through.

3. What book had the best sex scene you've read? :-)

I love the scenes between Chess and Terrible in City of Ghosts. First, their hate sex…..then the famous bathroom scene. Two completely different sex scenes that are just crazy intense.

4. Who is the male that you always envision as your hero in books?

Hmm…..I don’t think its really always one guy. My brain takes the details the author gives it, but sometimes I picture the guy a little differently than he’s supposed to look. But it’s a little different with each hero.

5. What are some of your book rituals?

I like to snuggle in on the couch in the living room or the futon in our den. ‘Snuggle in’ includes my dog laying on the pillow my head is on, me completely covered by my favorite blanket, and some sort of drink on the table next to me.  J

6. #1 book or series you ALWAYS recommend?

I try to make everyone I know read Downside, but I also understand that its not really for everyone. I also push the Fever series because its just so epic!

7. Biggest fan girl moment.

Meeting Karen Marie Moning! She did a book signing an hour away from me and my BFF and I went. She was SO kind and incredibly intelligent. She really knows her shit!

Thank you to Jenese for interviewing me!

Enter to win a copy of BITING BAD by Chloe Neill!

US/CAN only.

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