Author: Jennifer Estep
Release dates: 2011-2014
Published by: Kensington Teen
My Rating: 4 stars
My thoughts: I blew through this series! I bought eBooks 1-3 a few years ago as a bundle that was a great deal and they've been staring at me on my iPad ever since. I finally created a special TBR list for me only on my Goodreads that are the books/series I have all of and therefore should be read next in theory. This strategy has sort of worked and I have actually stayed pretty close to it. This trilogy was one I had on this list. I blew through the first three books over the Thanksgiving weekend and then bought eBooks 4-6 and read them this last week. Wow!
What I loved the most about these and what I have been gushing about to others, is how much they make me think of Harry Potter. When I described it to Reaghan, she said I must like it because I like the show Legacies. Agree to both! Gwen is the MC who has lived her mostly normal life with her mother and her grandmother in Asheville, NC. She's a gypsy like her mother and grandmother before her. She doesn't really understand what that means in the beginning except that each one of them has some sort of ability. Her grandmother can see futures and even does reading out of her home for people as a living. Her mother was a police detective and always knew if someone was telling the truth or not. Gwen has psychometry, which means when she touches things she sees things. It could be a paper, a table, or even a person which she tries to avoid at all costs. In fact, she tries to avoid touching anything this isn't hers as much as she can. Not being able to touch things is always a fascinating twist to make your MC deal with. It immediately alienates them from everyone making for instant drama in the plot. I love it. I get pulled right in.
You first meet Gwen as she begins school at Mythos Academy with the 2nd year students. This isn't an ordinary private school. This is a school for warriors from mythological stories throughout all world mythologies. There are Valkyries, Vikings, Amazons, Spartans, Celts and more. Their first goal is becoming the best warriors they can to beat Loki's Reapers who have been trying to release him from prison since the 1st Chaos War. They know there will be a 2nd Chaos War and they intend to win it again for their Gods and Goddesses. The odd thing is that Gwen is the only Gypsy and no one really knows much about them. How do they fit it? How does Gwen fit in? She isn't super strong or super fast. How is she supposed to be a warrior?
Plus, she isn't rich like everyone else. The rest of the students come from long lines of warriors for Gods and Goddesses who awarded them with treasure many years ago which they have turned into more treasure. Gwen has to work at the library to offset her school costs. For me this would be a dream!! For her it's torture forcing her to deal with snotty privileged classmates who think she's trash and also dealing with the head librarian is awful. He hates her and lives to make her life difficult.
That's the setup. Without spilling anything, my favorite is how she ends up with a best friend who started as an enemy. She falls for THE guy and he falls for her. Perfect! No triangles. The Reapers are after her and she has to figure out why. Just like in Harry Potter, there's a group of friends who would die for each other. They face several mysteries and battles. Not everyone lives until the very end of the series which I hate and appreciate at the same time. There are mythical creatures both good and bad that she interacts with. There's drama in the history of her parents that she learns about and so much more.
I highly recommend this series and will be buying it as soon as possible for our high school LMC!
Have you read these? What did you think?
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