This one didn't hook me like the original Mythos Academy series. Rory is Gwen with boring and standard magic. I'd like to see Rory with the team, acting as PART of a team. This would separate her character from Gwen and the original series. As written it is basically a regurgitation of the OS.

Also the villain is a snoozefest. ( )

Spartan Heart by Jennifer Estep

First in the Mythos Academy spin-off series featuring Rory Forseti. The original series features Gwen Frost and should be read first if you care about spoilers. Young adult paranormal.

It’s Rory’s second hear at the academy and most of the class won’t talk to her because of her parents. In the library, her favorite place, Rory hears a voice coming from a sword in a display case. Soon Rory is fighting chimera, and Reapers knowing her sword is cursed.

An engaging adventure from start to finish. Thrilling.

I alternated between and a paperback copy and the audio version. When I heard on the audio “clash, clash, bang” for the sword fighting, I had to go back to the paperback and see how it was described there. Yep, exactly the same. Kind of amusing.

I will definitely put the rest of this series on my list. ( )

I enjoyed the Mythos Academy series so I was both excited and a little bit apprehensive to jump into SPARTAN HEART. Excited to revisit the world, but a little nervous that I wouldn't love the new feel with different main characters.

Rory's parents were evil Reapers and none of her classmates will let her forget it. I liked her grit and enjoyed her development. I kinda 'saw' that she was going to get a talking sword and become a champion before it happened. I think I would have liked if her talking weapon was something other than a sword better. It would have made her stick out as different from Gwen and set her apart a little bit. The romance in SPARTAN HEART didn't do that much for me. I didn't dislike it, it just didn't make me swoon. I enjoyed the secondary characters and what they brought to the team that Rory finds herself a part of.

I'm super glad that Gwen and Vic made an appearance, but it was way too small of one. I missed their voice in the rest of the book. I think that if Gwen wasn't brought up in thought so much or spoken about while reliving events that took place so much, I wouldn't have missed her and Vic so much.

I enjoyed reading SPARTAN HEART, but in the end I wasn't left overly excited about reading more. I'm glad that I was able to dip my toe in, but I don't think I will take the plunge with the rest of the spin-off.

* This book was provided free of charge from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. ( )