Early Review – Midnight Frost (Mythos Academy, Book 5) by Jennifer Estep (3.5/5 stars)
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Size: 400 pages
Publisher: K-Teen
Release Date: July 30, 2013
ISBN: 978-0758281494
Stand Alone or Series: 5th book in the Mythos Academy series
Source: eGalley from NetGalley.com
Rating: 3.5/5 stars
This is the fifth book in the Mythos Academy series. Last I heard Estep was contracted for six book in this series, the sixth book will be titled Killer Frost and is due out in Feb of 2014.
In this book Gwen and friends must travel to Mythos Academy in Colorado to find the antidote to a poison that the Reapers attacked with. Of course they know it is a trap. They must travel through the Colorado Mythos school to get to the antidote location.
This book has very much of a questing feel to it; the characters must basically journey to the antidote location while dodging traps, acquire the antidote and then journey back. It’s a very simple plot and very predictable. If it’s the “worst and most dangerous course to take” Gwen takes that path immediately…as I said that makes thing predictable.
In this book Gwen is treated a lot better than in previous books, because of her actions in the last book she has risen to more of a celebrity type status. We learn more about Gwen’s dad in this book and the true story behind how he was killed. It adds a bit of depth to Gwen.
Logan is absent for the majority of the story, so Logan fans will be disappointed. He is in the end of the story. I kind of resented his cowardice in leaving Gwen “for her own protection”. Whatever, like he is the one who should make all the decisions in the relationship…rather than actually getting Gwen’s input. This dropped him down a few notches as a character in my humble opinion.
Sadly the best character in the book is Vic, Gwen’s sword. He is funny and witty and just a lot of fun to read about. I also really enjoyed the addition of Griffins to the story; it was fun to have a new mythological animal join the fray. Lastly Gwen gets to interact with another Goddess and that was intriguing.
I am getting a bit frustrated of the repetitiveness of this series. Every book Gwen faces off with Vivian and Agora, and every book the baddies escape Gwen by a hair. This happens multiple times a book and I am beginning to think that our heroes will never get it together enough to actually face off and defeat Loki. I am honestly kind of hoping the sixth book is the last book in this series, I really loved this series in the beginning but the last few books have been a bit slow.
As with previous books this book has a small story that is resolved, of course there is the larger story of finally defeating Loki that continues from book to book. The book is well written and easy to read.
Overall this was an okay book in this series. I have loved previous books in this series and though that this was one of the weakest books in the series yet. All of our characters seem to have lost their backbones, the plot is repetitive and predictable and a bit tired feeling. I did enjoy the inclusion of some new mythological characters though and I enjoyed the background information on Gwen’s father. I will definitely read the next book in this series, but may not read much beyond that if the series remains as stagnant as it has been the last couple books. This series is recommended to those who love YA urban fantasy.
This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
– 100 Books in a Year Reading Challenge
– Paranormal Reading Challenge
– Young Adult Reading Challenge
