Touch of Frost

Touch of Frost (2011) Jennifer Estep

When I perused the reviews for this story, I almost didn’t get it. Too much sex for a YA the negative review cried. Aw crap, I thought. I hate boinking books, which is one reason why I like YA–much less boinking, and it’s mostly off screen.

But it was only $0.99, so I decided it couldn’t hurt to try.

Let’s clarify the boinking–the main character does not boink–she doesn’t even get kissed–but she is at a private school where other students are doing what 17 and 18 year old kids do. That does not make a boinking book. It’s an acknowledgement that lots of teens are sexually active, whether adults want to acknowledge it or not. But Gwen herself is not, and I think that’s an important distinction the negative reviewer failed to make. After all, any YA book full of kids who are NOT drinking and NOT being sexually active isn’t reality based in our current reality.

So yes, there is an acknowledgement of sex, but that’s all over TV, movies, and everything else. But this is NOT a boinking book.

Thank goodness.

Gwen Frost is a student at Mythos Academy. She was sent there after her mother was killed by a drunk driver, to learn more about her Gypsy gift and the magical heritage of not just herself but of others in the world–Amazons, Valkyries, Spartans–all these exist and a trained to fight Chaos.

I thought the world building here was especially good–because Gwen knows little other than how her gift works, we learn along with her.

Gwen is a typical teen, except for the fact she’s struggling with grief following the death of her mother. The school to which she is sent is NOT full of typical teens, but instead full of very rich, very spoiled, kids with supernatural powers who have grown up knowing they are destined to battle chaos and evil.

The secondary characters are also good–the boy Gwen has a crush on, and the girl who eventually becomes Gwen’s friend are interesting in and of themselves, and were enjoyable to spend time with.

And of course there was the story itself–I like the idea that there are people descended from myth still inhabiting the world, still fighting evil.

Read the short story first, and if you enjoy it, then I believe you’ll enjoy Touch of Frost.
Rating: 7/10

Published by Kensington Books

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