Review - Crimson Frost by Jennifer Estep

I can honestly say that I am a huge fan of Jennifer Estep’s writing. Whenever a book in either the Elemental Assassin series or the Mythos Academy series is ready to be released, I jump around like a frog from lily pad to lily pad in anticipation of what is going to happen next.

I love Gin Blanco and Gwen Frost for entirely different reasons. While Gin is a total badass who carries knives, and takes names, Gwen is slowly coming into her own abilities and uniqueness by being Nike’s Champion and fighting the good fight against Loki’s Reapers. Gwen even carries an awesome talking sword named Vic around to help her fight off the dreaded Reapers. She’s learned that she needs to stand up for herself because she has a huge target on her back and everyone wants to destroy her.

What I enjoyed most about this particular book was the mystery and suspense surrounding Gwen’s fate at the hands of the Protectorate lead by Logan’s father Linus! The Protectorate had all but condemned Gwen for letting Loki escape his captivity and even called her out as one of the Reapers! Gwen was literally put through the wringer in an effort to get her to admit that she’s been acting against the best interest of Mythos Academy and the students that attend the school. Jennifer really puts readers into Gwen’s shoes and shows her emotional turmoil as they were happening to her. It isn’t until the end that the truth is finally revealed including a shocking revelation as to the identity of one of the main reapers. I, however, still have questions about Raven that I expect to be answered sometime soon.

The secondary characters once again shine in Crimson Frost. It’s nice knowing that Gwen is no longer alone in her battles and can count on the help from her own Grandmother, Nickamedes, Daphne Cruz, Carson Callahan, and Professor Aurora Metis. There is an introduction of yet another critical character named Alexei who becomes part of the group as well as Gwen’s bodyguard against the Reapers and looks like he will be around for a while.

This book will leave readers with all sorts of emotional baggage once you are done with it. You get the highest high when Gwen and Logan finally go out on a date, and later Logan calls her his girlfriend. You also get the lowest low that left me screaming my lungs out. No way could Jennifer do this again to me again after she ripped my heart out in Widow’s Web!

However, in the end I will allow Jennifer her momentary detour from what I’ve been looking forward to since the beginning of this series as I did with Widow’s Web. I will allow that Jennifer knows exactly what she’s doing with BOTH series since they are her work of arts. I will be waiting patiently for Midnight Frost to be released sometime in August of 2013 so that I can find out what lies ahead for Gwen and her friends at the hands of the Reapers and Loki.

The series so far:

1. Touch of Frost
2. Kiss of Frost
3. Dark Frost
4. Crimson Frost
5. Midnight Frost (August 2013)

Author - Jennifer Estep
Title - Crimson Frost (Mythos Academy # 4)
Publisher - Kesington
Released December 24, 2012
Genre - YA Paranormal