Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout
Series: The Dark Elements #2
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Genre: YA Paranormal
Format: ARC
Release Date: October 21, 2014
Source: Received ARC from Publisher at BEA
Rating: 5 Stars
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Synopsis
from Goodreads:
Every touch has its
price
Layla Shaw is trying to pick up the pieces of her shattered life—no easy task for a seventeen-year-old who’s pretty sure things can’t get worse. Her impossibly gorgeous best friend, Zayne, is forever off-limits thanks to the mysterious powers of her soul-stealing kiss. The Warden clan that has always protected her is suddenly keeping dangerous secrets. And she can barely think about Roth, the wickedly hot demon prince who understood her in ways no one else could.
But sometimes rock bottom is only the beginning. Because suddenly Layla’s powers begin to evolve, and she’s offered a tantalizing taste of what has always been forbidden. Then, when she least expects it, Roth returns, bringing news that could change her world forever. She’s finally getting what she always wanted, but with hell literally breaking loose and the body count adding up, the price may be higher than Layla is willing to pay…
Layla Shaw is trying to pick up the pieces of her shattered life—no easy task for a seventeen-year-old who’s pretty sure things can’t get worse. Her impossibly gorgeous best friend, Zayne, is forever off-limits thanks to the mysterious powers of her soul-stealing kiss. The Warden clan that has always protected her is suddenly keeping dangerous secrets. And she can barely think about Roth, the wickedly hot demon prince who understood her in ways no one else could.
But sometimes rock bottom is only the beginning. Because suddenly Layla’s powers begin to evolve, and she’s offered a tantalizing taste of what has always been forbidden. Then, when she least expects it, Roth returns, bringing news that could change her world forever. She’s finally getting what she always wanted, but with hell literally breaking loose and the body count adding up, the price may be higher than Layla is willing to pay…
My
Review:
How do I even begin
this review that will most definitely be incoherent flailing and fangirling?
JLA is by far, one of my favorite authors. Her ability to write unique and
interesting characters, different and exciting plot lines, and swoony as f***
romance keeps me hooked and craving more. White Hot Kiss was actually the first JLA book I had ever read so I was dying to
read the sequel, which was just as epic as the first.
Stone
Cold Touch was a whirlwind of action, feels and
plot twists. I honestly didn’t remember much from WHK because I have book amnesia, but Jennifer does a great job of
sneaking in little reminders here and there to help the reader orient
themselves and I had no trouble following as things slowly came back to me.
The idea of the
Gargoyles and the Demons is just so original and I loved every second of it.
There are so many unique and inventive creatures, rules and orders in this
series. I loved reading about all of these creatures and the rules by which
they live their lives. The world-building is great. Jennifer gives us all the
information we need without info-dumping. Perfection.
But what really makes
this book and this series are the characters. Layla, our main character, is
hilarious. She’s got this super snarky inner monologue that had me cracking up
several times throughout the book. I relate so much to her because of this. I’m
pretty snarky myself. Phil is constantly telling me to reel in the sass, so I
could totally relate to Layla and I’m pretty sure that we would be best friends
if she was a real person. Layla goes through so much crap in this book. She’s
so unsure of herself and her self-esteem is extremely low. I felt so bad for
this girl, but she’s a trooper and a true badass and I loved watching her work
through all of the trials set before her.
And then we have the
guys. Yes, there’s a love triangle. Yes, it’s epic. Both boys are smoking hot.
Zayne, the gargoyle, is that sweet, boy-next-door with the perfect charm. Yes,
I definitely grew to love him in this book because of how supportive he was of
Layla, even when no one else believed in her. That being said, I’m still
solidly on Team Roth.
BECAUSE OMG ROTH AND I
CAN’T EVEN. HE IS SO SEXY. He is a tortured, smoldering, broken demon with a
full range of snark and emotions. Yes. Snark AND emotions. He’s the bad boy in
this triangle for sure and I am 100% on his team. I love how Roth can have
these brief flashes of vulnerability, but still maintain that “doesn’t give a
f***” attitude. Mmm…I could drool over, I mean read about, him all day.
If you haven’t started
this series yet, you need to and here’s why:
- Hilarious and badass main character
- Not one, but two sexy as hell guys to drool over
- Plot twists galore that will leave you gaping
- A cool pet snake that doubles as a tattoo
Sold? I thought so.
Enjoy!
Have you read this one yet? Which team are you on? Did Layla have you cracking up the whole book as well?
Bought this one today, but I'm going to reread White Hot Kiss first. Love JLA!!!! ~Pam
ReplyDeleteAhhh!! Text me when you start this one so we can talk about all the feels!!!
DeleteOkay I came back to your review because i just finished reading SCT the other day. :) I really enjoyed it, love hte gargoyle world and everything BUT this is actually a love triangle that really bugged me. Love both the guys but every time Layla wants to kiss one and thinks about the other, it drove me freaking insane. I hate that. And it kept happening.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, i do love roth but i think i'm team zayne. it's hard! but I really don't like the vote idea bc I like knowing if my side of the triangle loses that it's bc the author had a reason and not just bc other fans voted. You know? But... it is what it is. Oh well.
Yeah, I definitely agree about her thinking about one while kissing the other was a bit annoying. But I could also see how she was torn. I do feel like she feels more strongly about Roth and is just confused over her feelings for Zayne since she grew up with him.
DeleteYou are not Team Zayne!! Ahhh, I feel like we have the opposite taste in book boys. Lol. We are always on opposite teams. I think the vote idea is really cool, but it does make me a bit nervous. But it's different and JLA's fans are so devoted that I think it's really nice that she's doing something like this. Kind of giving back to her fans, you know?
Haha I can very easily be team Roth!! I love him too. This one was very even for me. To be honest I think it would work better for her to be Roth in the end.
DeletePS: dude you will love daemon!
PPS: no I think the only one we really differ on is warner!! (Ew I mean..what?) :)
And yes, either way I'm sure JLA will make it great :)
Ok take two! :) I feel like I can totally be team Roth on this too, it's honestly very even for me and I actually think layla ending up with Roth works out better. And it's JLA so whatever the vote ends up being I'm sure it'll be amazing.
DeleteAlso we dont have opposite tastes! We only differ on warner. :)
Roth, roth, roth! So since you're not a huge fan of the whole voting thing, did you still cast your vote?
DeleteAnd Seth vs. Aiden. Although I do believe that Alex and Aiden are supposed to be together so I guess we don't really differ there. :)