Toxic: Giveaway and Book Review

Toxic

By: Jus Accardo

Published by Entangled Publishing

Release Date: October 16, 2012

Genre: YA paranormal

400 pages 

Buy it on Amazon, IndieBound

 or Barnes and Noble
Source: Kindly Provided by Publisher



My thoughts: 

I was so glad I was able to read Touch and Toxic back-to-back. I can imagine that those of you who have been waiting for Toxic have had a hard time being patient! This is not a series that is easily put on hold.

Toxic brings back the same awesome cast of characters from book 1, and adds a few new ones to spice things up. The spiciest is Jade, a girl who is brought in to help Kale learn to control his ability. I wish I could give you a nice introduction to Jade, but I can't think of a single nice thing to say about her other than it is so, so fun to hate her. Dez and I are right there on the same page when it comes to Jade: she is a hateful little beast who deserves a good slappin'. 

Our hero and heroine run into a major obstacle in this book- Dez can no longer touch Kale without feeling pain. It's pretty hard to sustain a romance with a socially naive boy without touching, so their relationship suffers in this plot arc. I have to say, I missed Kale in this volume.

The fact that the relationship was downplayed, however, gave me an opportunity to focus on the author's skill with plot, which is a win. Though I do think there were scenes that could have been condensed or eliminated, the length of the middle section allowed the characters' conflict to develop realistically. I loved being able to focus on the action, as well as being allowed (read: encouraged) to feel Dez's jealousy. It was quite satisfying to indulge my suppressed teen angst. 

Interestingly, As my hate for Jade grew, my hate for Alex subsided. He is revealed in this volume as a decent human being, with a reasonable excuse for what he did. I'd love to read more of Alex's story. 

Denazen and Mr. Cross are the same bad guys we've grown to hate, with a couple of new weapons in their arsenal. One of these newbies is almost a fair replacement for Kale, whom Denazen will still do nearly anything to recover. The drama continues, in the style of most YA paranormal. This is why we love these series, though, right? Every day in these plot lines could be the characters' last.

I have grown quite fond of the world of Denazen and its inhabitants.  I will be joining the wait for volume 3, Tremble, due next spring.

Summary from GoodReads:

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...

Thanks to our friends at Entangled Teen for the following giveaway!

a Rafflecopter giveaway