Friday, September 22, 2023

Review: Spider and Frost (Elemental Assassin #19.6, Mythos Academy #6.5) by Jennifer Estep

Title: Spider and Frost

Series: Elemental Assassin #19.6 | Mythos Academy #6.5


| Hearts Stings(#19.5)

Previous books in the Mythos Academy series: First Frost (#0.5) | Touch of Frost (#1) | Halloween Frost (#1.5) | Kiss of Frost (#2) | Dark Frost (#3) | Crimson Frost (#4) | Spartan Frost (#4.5) | Midnight Frost (#5)

Author: Jennifer Estep

Genre: YA, urban fantasy

Publication date: September 26th 2023

Published by: Jennifer Estep

Source: eARC for review from author

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Buy it: Amazon | B&N

Synopsis: New York Times bestselling author Jennifer Estep delivers an epic team-up featuring beloved characters from her Elemental Assassin urban fantasy series and her Mythos Academy young adult series. This crossover novella, Spider and Frost, mixes magic and mythology in an action-packed adventure. Perfect for fans of Ilona Andrews, Jennifer L. Armentrout, and Rick Riordan.

WHEN AN ASSASSIN . . .

My name is Gin Blanco, and I’m on vacation. Sort of. As the assassin the Spider, it’s hard for me to completely relax, but I’m determined to enjoy a scenic train ride and a nice, quiet lunch before heading back home to Ashland.

My plans change when Gwen Frost boards the train. The girl says she’s heading back to Mythos Academy, the fancy private boarding school, but I can’t shake the feeling that Gwen is hiding something—and is in far more trouble than she realizes.

. . . MEETS A CHAMPION

My name is Gwen Frost. I might have saved the world from Loki, the evil Norse god of chaos, but I’m still chasing down Reaper villains. It’s all part of being the Champion of Nike, the Greek goddess of victory.

I’ve been assigned to protect some mythological artifacts that are being transported via train to Mythos Academy, but some Reapers are hot on my trail, and they’ll do anything to recover the artifacts—and kill me.

Also on the train is Gin Blanco, who claims to be the owner of the Pork Pit barbecue restaurant. My psychometry magic keeps whispering that there’s more to her than meets the eye, although I can’t tell if Gin is a friend, an enemy, or something else entirely.

Note: Spider and Frost is a 28,000-word crossover novella between the Elemental Assassin urban fantasy series and the Mythos Academy young adult series. It is told from the points of view of Gin Blanco and Gwen Frost.

Spider and Frost takes place after the events of Last Strand, book 19 in the Elemental Assassin series.

My rating: ★★★★★

I didn't know what sort of trouble Gwen Frost was in, but I was going to help her get out of it.

I cannot express how excited I was for this novella. I love both the Elemental Assassin series and Mythos Academy, so having a story where Gin Blanco meets Gwen Frost is just-


I actually just finished re-reading the Elemental Assassin series in March, and even though it hasn’t been that long, I was already missing Gin 😆 This novella takes place after book 19. In Heart Stings (novella #19.5), Lorelei mentioned that Gin was on vacation... Well, this is that vacation! Poor Gin can’t catch a break. Lol. And in regards to Mythos Academy, it takes place after the original series, and I presume after the spinoff series as well, but not too much time has passed because Gwen is only 18 in this story. And it’s actually been a hot minute since I last read anything Mythos Academy, so I was doubly excited for this!

As I said, Gin was on vacation, but she got separated from Finn, Bria, and Owen when they hit a traffic jam, so she goes on their planned train ride by herself... but not before Finn tells her to try not to kill anybody on her solo trip on the train omg 😂 Oh Finn, if you only knew...

Gwen Frost is a student at Mythos Academy and she was helping transport some important artifacts back to the Academy. Unfortunately, she too is forced to do this solo because her friends and professors are also stuck in the same traffic jam that held up Finn, Bria, and Owen. Doubly unfortunate is the fact that Reapers are also on the train and are in search of the very artifacts that Gwen is guarding.


Gin is an assassin and paranoid as hell, so she of course notices these shady characters lurking around on the train and this teenage girl in the middle of some serious trouble. Gin may be an assassin, but one thing I love about her is that even though she kills people, deep down she’s a good person. She sees this girl, this complete stranger, in some deep trouble, and Gin immediately wants to help the girl. I love her! Gwen though, is weary of Gin. Which is fair—Gin literally kills people for a living. Lol. Not that Gwen knew this, but she definitely felt like there was more to this woman than met the eye...


I adored this book! Every year in December I always have a hard time picking my top ten favorite books I read that year, let alone picking my top favorite book of the year. But this year, I can already tell you that this is going to be my favorite book of the year! It was just so good!!!


Going into this I was beyond excited because I knew this crossover was going to be epic, but I don’t know how Jennifer did it because it was even better than I expected! The story was great, the action was engaging, and the interactions and banter between the characters... it was so freaking good! Gwen and Gin just made an epic team! The fight sequences were SO good, especially at the end because they did a thing and it was SO exciting!


And I loved that it was a dual POV so we alternated between both Gwen and Gin. The Elemental Assassin series is an adult series, so it’s much more gritty than the YA Mythos Academy. But this novella I feel like can be read by a YA audience.

This novella was just perfect. It made me so giddy and happy... I just had the time of my life reading this. Lol. I highly recommend it if you’re a fan of either the Elemental Assassin series or Mythos Academy! It was SO good! I can’t get over it! Lol.


Have you read this book? If so, what did you think about it? If not, what do you think? Does it sound like something you might want to read? Leave me a link to your review or comment below! 😊

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