Review: Toxic - Jus Accardo

When a Six saved Kale's life the night of Sumrun, she warned there would be consequences. A trade-off. Something taken for the life they gained. But Dez never imagined she'd lose the one thing she'd give anything to keep... And as if it's not enough Dez finds her immunity to Kale fading, the Six brought in to help Kale learn to control his killer touch starts drooling on him the moment they meet. Worse than that? Jade can touch Kale. But bimbo Barbie is the least of Dez's problems.

After Dez and Kale got away at Sumrun, her father lost not only his most powerful weapon but an important piece of the Supremacy project. Forced by Denazen to remedy the situation, he poisons Dez and offers her a choice--surrender to Denazen for the cure...or die. Determined to find a solution that doesn't involve being bagged and tagged--or losing someone she loves--Dez keeps the poison a secret. But when a rash of Denazen attacks hit a little too close to home, Dez is convinced there's a traitor among them. Jade.

Sacrifices, broken promises, and secrets. Dez will have to lay it all on the line if there's any hope of proving Jade's guilt before they all end up Residents of Denazen. Or worse, dead...

Denazen Series:
Touch
Untouched (Novella)
Toxic
Faceless (Novella) (November 2012)
Tremble (2013)

Visit Jus Accardo's website for more information

Review:
I'm finding it really difficult to write a review of Toxic, this series is incredibly popular and I seem to be in the minority in the fact that while I like it I haven't been absolutely blown away by it. I think I've had to come to the conclusion that this series just isn't one I'm going to get on with, it seems like the more I read the more irritating I find the characters and the less I enjoy the story. Although Touch didn't amaze me I did like some things about it, I wasn't a huge Kale fan because I found him too sweet and innocent for my tastes (I have a thing for the bad boys!) but after reading Untouched which is written from his point of view he really started to grow on me. I liked Dez but found that she could be incredibly naive and trusting and considering all the things she went through I thought she would have been smarter than that.

Unfortunately in Toxic I really felt like someone had given Dez a stupid pill, she spent the majority of the book either burying her head in the sand and pretending that certain things weren't really happening or acting in a completely crazy way without thinking through the consequences. I'm sure she has developed a death wish when it comes to Kale, considering that she is no longer immune to his ability to kill with a single touch she sure spends a lot of time trying to touch him. Seriously, I get that they're horny teenagers but if the choice is serious pain and possible death every time you touch your boyfriend I'd settle for just being able to spend time together and keeping my hands to myself. The way they started avoiding spending time together made me feel that their relationship doesn't have any real emotional connection - it's all about the lust and when that is taken out of the equation it's not worth the effort. It also annoyed me that Dez kept so many secrets from someone that she supposedly loved and I was really angry that neither of them seemed capable of spending more than 10 seconds together without putting her life at risk by trying to kiss.

I already mentioned that I found Kale a bit innocent for my tastes but I had started to like him more after seeing things from his point of view. I have to admit that my feelings towards him while reading Toxic went from apathy to irritation to downright livid though. I can tell you right now that after his actions towards the end of the book if he had been my boyfriend he'd have ended up with a slap in the face and a boot up his backside as I kicked him to the kerb! I know that they tried to explain his actions away by saying it was just his unique way of looking at the world but there is no way he wouldn't have known what he did was wrong. He's unsure of how to act in social situations but he isn't stupid! Well I was lead to believe he wasn't stupid anyway but now I'm not so sure.

I hated the introduction of a completely pointless love triangle with one of the most vile characters I've ever come across. Every time Jade stepped on the page I wanted to poke my own eyes out just so I didn't have to carry on reading about her. I had figured out who the villain was long before the big reveal was made so the surprise lost it's punch completely even though there was a twist that I hadn't seen coming. I do like the authors writing style and I love the idea of the Sixes and their different psychic abilities but I don't think that has been explored to it's full potential. Unfortunately I don't think I can bring myself to read the next book if it means more of the "relationship" between Dez and Kale. I don't like either of them and I honestly couldn't care less if they end up living happily ever after or if they end up killing each other. I feel like this series had such potential and I'm really disappointed with the way things have turned out but like I already said I am in the minority when it comes to these books - loads of people seem to adore them so don't let me put you off Toxic if you're a massive fan of the earlier books.

Source: Received from Entangled Publishing in exchange for an honest review.

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Review: Untouched - Jus Accardo

Until he met Dez, Kale’s days were filled with violence and death. He was used as a weapon of destruction by the power hungry men of Denazen. He’s a Six. A person with an abnormal ability. Some people call them gifts, but not Kale. Kale’s touch means instant death to anyone.

But now there's Dez, the girl he can touch, and they're hunting down Sixes and warning them about Denazen. Kale is learning about the world outside captivity and trying to put his dark past behind him. But they underestimated how badly Denazen wanted him back.

When Dez sacrifices herself to save the new Six they'd rescued from falling into the corp's hands, Kale is lost. Denazen has brought out its best to get the job done. Samsen, a nightmare from Kale’s past—the only person he’s ever truly feared—has come for them, and it soon becomes obvious he has his own twisted agenda.

Kale will need all his training to get Dez back and ensure they all make it out, free--and alive. But will it be enough?

Denazen Series:
Touch
Untouched (Novella)
Toxic
Faceless (Novella) (November 2012)
Tremble (2013)

Visit Jus Accardo's website for more information

Review:
Untouched is a short novella that picks up the story just after the ending of Touch but this time told from Kale's perspective. Kale and Dez are travelling the country searching for other Sixes to warn them about Denazen but it looks like an enemy from Kale's past has caught up with them and he isn't going to be easy to escape.

I have to admit that while I liked Touch it didn't wow me as much as I expected it to but I'm glad to say I liked Untouched more and am now really looking forward to reading Toxic. As much as Kale is a sweet guy I didn't really warm to him that much in the first book, he is so innocent that he can come across as quite childlike and that isn't really a trait I look for in my heroes. Having part of the story told from his perspective did make him grow on me though. Yes he is very naive when it comes to language and things that happen in the outside world but there is a lot more to him than that and seeing through his eyes helps to show that. I wouldn't mind having more of the story told by him in the future.

I think you would probably be able to jump from Touch straight into Toxic without reading this novella but I would recommend Untouched to fans of the series. It gives us a bit more insight into the things that Kale went through when he was held prisoner by Denazen and it introduces us to a character from his worst nightmares. I would say that if you haven't already read the first story then you'd probably be completely lost trying to read this one though so it wouldn't be a good place to start the series.

Source: Purchased

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Review: Touch - Jus Accardo

When a strange boy tumbles down a river embankment and lands at her feet, seventeen-year-old adrenaline junkie Deznee Cross snatches the opportunity to piss off her father by bringing the mysterious hottie with ice blue eyes home.

Except there’s something off with Kale. He wears her shoes in the shower, is overly fascinated with things like DVDs and vases, and acts like she’ll turn to dust if he touches her. It’s not until Dez’s father shows up, wielding a gun and knowing more about Kale than he should, that Dez realizes there’s more to this boy—and her father’s “law firm”—than she realized.

Kale has been a prisoner of Denazen Corporation—an organization devoted to collecting “special” kids known as Sixes and using them as weapons—his entire life. And, oh yeah, his touch? It kills. The two team up with a group of rogue Sixes hellbent on taking down Denazen before they’re caught and her father discovers the biggest secret of all. A secret Dez has spent her life keeping safe.

A secret Kale will kill to protect.

Denazen Series:
Touch
Untouched (Novella)
Toxic
Faceless (Novella) (November 2012)
Tremble (2013)

Visit Jus Accardo's website for more information

Review:
Dez meets Kale when he literally lands at her feet as she makes her way home from a party. Realising her dad will be home soon she thinks bringing Kale home with her will be the perfect way to annoy him but what she doesn't expect is that the two of them already know each other. It quickly becomes clear that her father is hiding something and he isn't quite the lawyer he has always pretended to be. As Dez gets to know Kale and finds out more about his abilities and the group of "sixes" he grew up with she starts to realise just how dangerous her father's organisation Denazen is. As Dez risks it all to help Kale escape can the pair of them help rescue the other sixes who are caught in Denazen's clutches?

I had seen so many fantastic reviews for Touch that I had high expectations when I picked up my Kindle to start reading it. Unfortunately while I enjoyed the story it didn't wow me as much as I hoped it would. I do think the series has potential though and as this is Jus Accardo's debut novel I'll definitely be trying at least the next book to see how things progress.

Our main character Dez is a seventeen year old girl with a serious grudge against the father who has always been so distant with her. It is Dez's main goal in life to upset her father as much as possible which makes her come across as quite obnoxious when you don't really see the full picture of why she is so mad at him until later on in the book. As the story continues you start to see how her dad treats her and her behaviour becomes more understandable but I still felt that she was too quick to believe what other people told her about him and the organisation he works for. After all a lot of teenagers argue with their parents (I know I did!) but that doesn't mean they'd be so quick to believe that they are capable of murder! For someone who can be so smart one minute Dez is also incredibly naive and trusting the next and she never seemed to question anything that people told her taking even complete strangers at their word.

Kale has been raised inside the Denazen offices and trained to use his ability as a weapon at their demand. He has spent hardly any time out in the real world so can be very innocent and almost comes across as a bit simple at times. He is a sweet character but I find him a little too childlike to be a hero that I can crush over. I would have preferred not to have a love triangle involving Dez's ex-boyfriend Alex too. It just seemed that Dez was a bit too quick to switch her attentions between the guys depending on who she was with at any one moment and I started to dislike her for leading one of them on. One thing that I do find is becoming a disturbing trend in YA novels is the way it is now being portrayed as something sexy when the hero sneaks into the girl's bedroom without her knowledge to watch her sleep. This isn't something that I feel sends a good message to teenage girls and Dez's reaction to the fact that Alex used to sneak into her bedroom made me feel very uncomfortable:

"Alex used to tell me he'd sneak in and watch me sleep. I always knew he was there, though, and feigned sleep, loving the idea of his eyes on me. It gave me a thrill to know he was watching. Occasionally I'd let my bare leg slide from under the blanket, visible all the way to just below the danger zone."

So not only is Dez's reaction to being stalked by her boyfriend excitement she also practically does a strip tease for him while pretending to still be asleep. To make matters even worse this memory is shared with us because Kale (a guy she has known less than two days at this point) has sneaked into her room through her bedroom window and her reaction to his appearance is to push off the blankets and pull the edge of her top up. I would really love to see a heroine in these circumstances to sit up and start screaming for help or at the very least tell her stalker to get the hell out of her room and then proceed to kick his backside on the way out!

If I put aside my reservations about Dez and her behaviour then I am really interested in the idea of the sixes and their abilities. The story definitely has an X-Men feel to it and there is a lot of potential for where the series could go. I think if more time is spent on showing Dez's friends powers and the characters are developed further I should enjoy the next instalment even more.

Source: Purchased

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