Stone Cold Touch (The Dark Elements #2)
by Jennifer L. Armentrout
Summary: 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…
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Source: I purchased a Kindle copy.
Review:
I loved Stone Cold Touch! I thought it was a great sequel and was even better than the first book.
It was tough to adjust to Roth being gone, but fortunately, he made a reappearance after awhile, creating a dangerous love triangle. But while love triangles aren’t people’s favorite things in YA fiction, Jennifer L. Armentrout created an awesome one. As much as I hated Zayne and all of his perfectness (I really hate perfect heroes), I found myself hopping on the #TeamZayne train a few times. And then Roth was kind of a jerk, but I was still so clearly #TeamRoth anyway. It was a back and forth mess of emotions, which was the kind of angst and emotional rollercoaster I was looking for. Sometimes, that’s my favorite thing about YA and JLA delivers awesome angst, humor, adventure, and suspense in her paranormal novels.
I really like the conflict of who Layla is. Her mix of demon and Warden made her an outcast to most of the Wardens, who had a strict and rigid view of good and evil. Layla was a bit more evil than they were willing to deal with. Without even realizing it, they raised her to hate herself and her demonic parts. Once Roth came around in the first book, she was able to really let go for the first time, but it left her feeling a ton of guilt for enjoying herself, especially when so much was said to happen if she took a soul and lost her innocence. I think that’s why I liked Roth so much, though, because he wasn’t afraid of her and he wasn’t trying to make her good. In Stone Cold Touch, I liked that he wanted to show her the good side of the “evil” things that demons do.
Stone Cold Touch was a roller coaster of emotions and events and I loved the ride. I can’t wait for more in the series. I like this series even more than the Lux series!
