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4.08 AVERAGE
4.08 AVERAGE
“I would know if a part of my heart was gone.”
How do I start this without raging for 100000 years? THIS BOOK DISAPPOINTED ME VERY MUCH. There you have it. I just had the most mixed feelings and was actually shocked when I found out that this book wasn’t what I thought it would be. I LOVED the first book and was so excited for the sequel. However, somehow I failed to realize that this book would all be about Zayne, who I did not like in the first book, began to despise in this book and never will like at all. It’s safe to say that I was mad, because I did not come into this book, this SEQUEL OF ONE OF MY MOST LOVED 2016 BOOKS to be hit with a major disappointment.
REASONS WHY THIS BOOK GOT ON MY NERVES
• ZAYNE was the most pretentious annoying guy that there is. He’s a) possessive b) pretentious c) annoying d) super jealous + cringy and e) ungrateful towards Roth who saved him from hell f) creepy and controlling and g) selfish. I don’t know how you can even remotely like his attitude and behavior. He betittles Layla all the time and keeps so much from her and still he thinks he’s better than Roth? This is ridiculous and I hated him so much more this book than in the first book. Every scene with him was so annoying and made me roll my eyes since he behaved like THE alpha male 100% of the time, when he wasn’t being a hypocrite or portraying the “good guy” type. The problem was that he was too much in focus and in too many scenes. It’s safe to say that I was going mad, since I a) hated him and b) hated his relationship with Layla so I was here screaming into the void.
• The “romance” with Layla was so not what I wanted. People that like him might be really satisfied and happy with this book but I was not. It’s safe to say that the “romance” was horrible in my opinion and took up so much space in the book. Let’s recap why I don’t like their relationship: a) they feel like brother and sister and have 0 chemistry (in my opinion) b) they grew up together which supports point 1 c) Zayne kept a ton of stuff from her alongside with his family and always betrayed her to his father in the first book. I personally would never trust him again. d) He turns into the hugest creep when it comes to her. Busting into her bedroom while she changes and staring at her? Throwing her over his shoulder and locking her in a room with him, because he wants to not let her go? Grabbing her without her permission? Always dismissing her worries? Zayne does all of those things. e) He’s trying to get into her pants as soon as Roth is a little out of the picture. f) Zayne is always controlling of her, thinking he’s entitled to tell her what to do. There were too many scenes were he felt the need to tell her what she should not do and where she should not go. This all reminded my of those boyfriends that want to control and track the girls steps all the time. At one point it was even acknowledged that he would rather lock her away for her “safety” than let her have freedom g) “She belongs to me” No she doesn’t you idiot, she’s not an object. People don’t belong to people. This is way beyond troubling, especially paired with his non consensual behavior.
• Don’t even get me started on the “I’m staying away from you” trope which only existed to give Zayne a chance. It only made sense in retrospective which was not given for 90% of the book, so for the most parts Layla couldn’t figure things out.. Roth clearly did not mean it (body language is all I’m staying) and even afterwards did stay with her all the time. So yeah at the time I did not know Roth reasoning (future me also wasn’t that impressed with the reason) and thought expect that the author needed a reason to shove Stony into the foreground. If this trope here had been only pulled without Zayne getting all touchy, this would have been fine, because every relationship has ups and downs. But the fact that it was combined with Stony making grabby hands for his raised sister was beyond my acceptance.
• The love triangle was so annoying and pointless, I don’t understand it. As I said above if Armentrout was so afraid of angering fans with who she chose for Layla, that she had to let them decide with a vote, why write a love triangle at all? Why not write Zayne only as the best friend of her, that wants to protect her from getting hurt? He would have been 80% better if his ambitions to protect Layla did come from him not wanting to see her hurt by Roth again and not from wanting to have her for himself.
• All the romance stuff just frustrated me beyond end, so there were many times were I could not enjoy the book at all. In the end I was skimming over the romance scenes involving Zayne and Layla because I was cringing at them and got annoyed whenever they came up.
• The Gargoyle “family” of Layla is also a bunch of horrible people that make her feel unwanted and alone. Abbott is the most annoying in the bunch and his behavior made me angry, since it was very clear that he would never see reason and just wanted to get rid of her.
• The plot was okay, but I agree that the main focus of the book was on the love triangle.
• May my prayers be heard that the next book gets better, because I cannot take another disappointment. Not liking a book in a series that is really dear to you is ten times worse than disliking just any book. My heart is still broken, because I expected to love Stone Cold Touch and was already counting on giving it 5 stars.
ALWAYS LOOK ON THE BRIGHT SIDE OF LIFE
• Roth ♥ because he was the saving grace of this book. He was a new favorite character and I like him eons better than Zayne. In general, Roth did make his fair share of mistakes, especially in the beginning, which I can forgive him, but still his explanation came too late to safe the book. The thing about Roth is that he’s sassy, funny and definitely a strong character that keeps you entertained. His one-liners were beyond amazing as always and seeing him so conflicted had me convinced he was not telling Layla the truth from the right beginning. It was very easy for m as a reader to pick up on that. His scenes saved the book so much, because I actually enjoyed them. I did not have to cringe when he was there and I’m very glad that he did appear in more scenes than I initially thought when it dawned on me where this was going to go.
• When she wasn’t being so indecisive Layla had some good character development. There are a lot of moments when I wasn’t really that happy with Layla, especially when it came to her indecision to the boys. She also bought Roth lie way too easily and there was a little too much lusting after Zayne all of the sudden. Still, I think that she also had strong moments and showed some character development, in scenes were she was being more fierce and stood up for herself. I really hope that this continues in the next book!
• Layla and Roth’s scenes of course were really great. Yes I do ship them, yes this is part of why Zayne infuriated me so much (but there are other striking reasons which I listed above) and Yes I loved their scenes to no end. In the middle part of the book, it almost felt like we were back when things were still good in Book 1. Both working together, sexual tension and lots of teasing. I already said that he did of course make mistakes and that I still think that they were kept apart too long for such a weak reason (it should’ve been soo easy for Layla to see through his behavior). I definitely prefer those two, not only because they have great chemistry but also because Roth actually accepts her for who she is and does not try to change her. While Zayne always dismisses that she has a dark side, Roth wants her to embrace that side too, to be truly herself and not just one part of a puzzle. I really hope that their relationship gets even better in the next book, since the end cleared up things but by no means everything.
• The demon snake and kitten were great as always! I loved them in the first book, still adore them now. Bambi is really great (I really like snakes *channeling the secret inner Slytherin *) and at many points I wished she would just eat certain annoying characters, because that would’ve spared me so much trouble. Her connection with Layla was also cool and unique, I wish I had a pet snake as well. One of my favorite moments was when Layla awkwardly patted her head after she had just eaten an evil man attacking her. The demon kitten only appear shortly but THEY ARE SO CUTE AND YET SO DEADLY. Where are my own personal demon kitten??
• WITCHES! I was living for those witches and really liked them being introcued. I hope we see more of them in the next book, because I was really satisfies with their concept. They are half demon, half human and therefore have powers even though they can specialize in stuff. Makes m wonder if we’re going to explore their magic system a bit more. Oh they also form covens and one of them worships Lilith so that is both cool and creepy. Please more witches in the third book, I need more of them, because I love witches. They were a very pleasant surprise for me because I did not expect any new races to be introduced.
• I really, really like Layla and Stacey’s friendship. I liked it in the first book and I continue to like it now, because their interaction also brightened the books. No their friendship is not without flaws, but I love how Stacey is always teasing her and not getting mad at her disappearing again or having mood swings. They have been friends for so long and you really get to see that. Obviously Layla’s later actions show how much she values Stacey as a friend.
• Cayman captured my interest and I really began to like him. I mean look he is sassy and calls people “sugar” so this kind of is my clue to jump at a character and scream “MY CHILD”. I liked him in the last book, but my love for him steadily grew and now I’m wanting to see so much more of him, he deserves his own spinoff series, or at least some kind of short story, because he is definitely my favorite of the side characters.
• The plot twist and last 10% of the book were so thrilling and good. This is really sad, since I had to struggle through the 90 % before and was getting quite exasperated. Still the ending finally picked up some pace, introduced some action and had an really incredibly twist to it that froze the blood in my veins.
IN CONCLUSION: Stone Cold Touch was the most disappointing sequel that I’ve read so far. While the first book was solid 5 stars, Stone Cold Touch barely scrapes 3 stars, mainly because I love some characters very much + they mean something to me. Still the heavy focus on Zayne – one of my most unlikable characters in the series and his romance with Layla, which made me uncomfortable at times could not be ignored. If you really like Zayne this book will be great for you, but if you don’t really like him, you’ll be annoyed with how much he appears in scenes.
How do I start this without raging for 100000 years? THIS BOOK DISAPPOINTED ME VERY MUCH. There you have it. I just had the most mixed feelings and was actually shocked when I found out that this book wasn’t what I thought it would be. I LOVED the first book and was so excited for the sequel. However, somehow I failed to realize that this book would all be about Zayne, who I did not like in the first book, began to despise in this book and never will like at all. It’s safe to say that I was mad, because I did not come into this book, this SEQUEL OF ONE OF MY MOST LOVED 2016 BOOKS to be hit with a major disappointment.
REASONS WHY THIS BOOK GOT ON MY NERVES
• ZAYNE was the most pretentious annoying guy that there is. He’s a) possessive b) pretentious c) annoying d) super jealous + cringy and e) ungrateful towards Roth who saved him from hell f) creepy and controlling and g) selfish. I don’t know how you can even remotely like his attitude and behavior. He betittles Layla all the time and keeps so much from her and still he thinks he’s better than Roth? This is ridiculous and I hated him so much more this book than in the first book. Every scene with him was so annoying and made me roll my eyes since he behaved like THE alpha male 100% of the time, when he wasn’t being a hypocrite or portraying the “good guy” type. The problem was that he was too much in focus and in too many scenes. It’s safe to say that I was going mad, since I a) hated him and b) hated his relationship with Layla so I was here screaming into the void.
• The “romance” with Layla was so not what I wanted. People that like him might be really satisfied and happy with this book but I was not. It’s safe to say that the “romance” was horrible in my opinion and took up so much space in the book. Let’s recap why I don’t like their relationship: a) they feel like brother and sister and have 0 chemistry (in my opinion) b) they grew up together which supports point 1 c) Zayne kept a ton of stuff from her alongside with his family and always betrayed her to his father in the first book. I personally would never trust him again. d) He turns into the hugest creep when it comes to her. Busting into her bedroom while she changes and staring at her? Throwing her over his shoulder and locking her in a room with him, because he wants to not let her go? Grabbing her without her permission? Always dismissing her worries? Zayne does all of those things. e) He’s trying to get into her pants as soon as Roth is a little out of the picture. f) Zayne is always controlling of her, thinking he’s entitled to tell her what to do. There were too many scenes were he felt the need to tell her what she should not do and where she should not go. This all reminded my of those boyfriends that want to control and track the girls steps all the time. At one point it was even acknowledged that he would rather lock her away for her “safety” than let her have freedom g) “She belongs to me” No she doesn’t you idiot, she’s not an object. People don’t belong to people. This is way beyond troubling, especially paired with his non consensual behavior.
• Don’t even get me started on the “I’m staying away from you” trope which only existed to give Zayne a chance. It only made sense in retrospective which was not given for 90% of the book, so for the most parts Layla couldn’t figure things out.. Roth clearly did not mean it (body language is all I’m staying) and even afterwards did stay with her all the time. So yeah at the time I did not know Roth reasoning (future me also wasn’t that impressed with the reason) and thought expect that the author needed a reason to shove Stony into the foreground. If this trope here had been only pulled without Zayne getting all touchy, this would have been fine, because every relationship has ups and downs. But the fact that it was combined with Stony making grabby hands for his raised sister was beyond my acceptance.
• The love triangle was so annoying and pointless, I don’t understand it. As I said above if Armentrout was so afraid of angering fans with who she chose for Layla, that she had to let them decide with a vote, why write a love triangle at all? Why not write Zayne only as the best friend of her, that wants to protect her from getting hurt? He would have been 80% better if his ambitions to protect Layla did come from him not wanting to see her hurt by Roth again and not from wanting to have her for himself.
• All the romance stuff just frustrated me beyond end, so there were many times were I could not enjoy the book at all. In the end I was skimming over the romance scenes involving Zayne and Layla because I was cringing at them and got annoyed whenever they came up.
• The Gargoyle “family” of Layla is also a bunch of horrible people that make her feel unwanted and alone. Abbott is the most annoying in the bunch and his behavior made me angry, since it was very clear that he would never see reason and just wanted to get rid of her.
• The plot was okay, but I agree that the main focus of the book was on the love triangle.
• May my prayers be heard that the next book gets better, because I cannot take another disappointment. Not liking a book in a series that is really dear to you is ten times worse than disliking just any book. My heart is still broken, because I expected to love Stone Cold Touch and was already counting on giving it 5 stars.
ALWAYS LOOK ON THE BRIGHT SIDE OF LIFE
• Roth ♥ because he was the saving grace of this book. He was a new favorite character and I like him eons better than Zayne. In general, Roth did make his fair share of mistakes, especially in the beginning, which I can forgive him, but still his explanation came too late to safe the book. The thing about Roth is that he’s sassy, funny and definitely a strong character that keeps you entertained. His one-liners were beyond amazing as always and seeing him so conflicted had me convinced he was not telling Layla the truth from the right beginning. It was very easy for m as a reader to pick up on that. His scenes saved the book so much, because I actually enjoyed them. I did not have to cringe when he was there and I’m very glad that he did appear in more scenes than I initially thought when it dawned on me where this was going to go.
• When she wasn’t being so indecisive Layla had some good character development. There are a lot of moments when I wasn’t really that happy with Layla, especially when it came to her indecision to the boys. She also bought Roth lie way too easily and there was a little too much lusting after Zayne all of the sudden. Still, I think that she also had strong moments and showed some character development, in scenes were she was being more fierce and stood up for herself. I really hope that this continues in the next book!
• Layla and Roth’s scenes of course were really great. Yes I do ship them, yes this is part of why Zayne infuriated me so much (but there are other striking reasons which I listed above) and Yes I loved their scenes to no end. In the middle part of the book, it almost felt like we were back when things were still good in Book 1. Both working together, sexual tension and lots of teasing. I already said that he did of course make mistakes and that I still think that they were kept apart too long for such a weak reason (it should’ve been soo easy for Layla to see through his behavior). I definitely prefer those two, not only because they have great chemistry but also because Roth actually accepts her for who she is and does not try to change her. While Zayne always dismisses that she has a dark side, Roth wants her to embrace that side too, to be truly herself and not just one part of a puzzle. I really hope that their relationship gets even better in the next book, since the end cleared up things but by no means everything.
• The demon snake and kitten were great as always! I loved them in the first book, still adore them now. Bambi is really great (I really like snakes *channeling the secret inner Slytherin *) and at many points I wished she would just eat certain annoying characters, because that would’ve spared me so much trouble. Her connection with Layla was also cool and unique, I wish I had a pet snake as well. One of my favorite moments was when Layla awkwardly patted her head after she had just eaten an evil man attacking her. The demon kitten only appear shortly but THEY ARE SO CUTE AND YET SO DEADLY. Where are my own personal demon kitten??
• WITCHES! I was living for those witches and really liked them being introcued. I hope we see more of them in the next book, because I was really satisfies with their concept. They are half demon, half human and therefore have powers even though they can specialize in stuff. Makes m wonder if we’re going to explore their magic system a bit more. Oh they also form covens and one of them worships Lilith so that is both cool and creepy. Please more witches in the third book, I need more of them, because I love witches. They were a very pleasant surprise for me because I did not expect any new races to be introduced.
• I really, really like Layla and Stacey’s friendship. I liked it in the first book and I continue to like it now, because their interaction also brightened the books. No their friendship is not without flaws, but I love how Stacey is always teasing her and not getting mad at her disappearing again or having mood swings. They have been friends for so long and you really get to see that. Obviously Layla’s later actions show how much she values Stacey as a friend.
• Cayman captured my interest and I really began to like him. I mean look he is sassy and calls people “sugar” so this kind of is my clue to jump at a character and scream “MY CHILD”. I liked him in the last book, but my love for him steadily grew and now I’m wanting to see so much more of him, he deserves his own spinoff series, or at least some kind of short story, because he is definitely my favorite of the side characters.
• The plot twist and last 10% of the book were so thrilling and good. This is really sad, since I had to struggle through the 90 % before and was getting quite exasperated. Still the ending finally picked up some pace, introduced some action and had an really incredibly twist to it that froze the blood in my veins.
IN CONCLUSION: Stone Cold Touch was the most disappointing sequel that I’ve read so far. While the first book was solid 5 stars, Stone Cold Touch barely scrapes 3 stars, mainly because I love some characters very much + they mean something to me. Still the heavy focus on Zayne – one of my most unlikable characters in the series and his romance with Layla, which made me uncomfortable at times could not be ignored. If you really like Zayne this book will be great for you, but if you don’t really like him, you’ll be annoyed with how much he appears in scenes.
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I liked this one better than the first book - still pretty cheesy and predictable but it was entertaining nonetheless. Layla is a little annoying, and I don't care for Zayne that much. Roth, I like.
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Holy tension Batman. This book really brought it and I loved it even more than White Hot Kiss. The plot starts to get juicy, the characters start to blossom, and we get more delicious tension in our favorite love triangle.
Whereas I wanted to smack Zayne in White Hot Kiss, Roth is about to get slapped in this one. However... I'm still team Roth all the way.
Layla is growing into herself more in this one and I enjoy seeing her character develop. I can't wait to start the next one!
Whereas I wanted to smack Zayne in White Hot Kiss, Roth is about to get slapped in this one. However... I'm still team Roth all the way.
Layla is growing into herself more in this one and I enjoy seeing her character develop. I can't wait to start the next one!
Those plot twists... I wasn't expecting those! And I've finally appreciated Zayne here, though I'm still on Roth's side
WHAT. WHAT. WHAT THE FUCK THE WHAT???!?!!,!!(!!(?!,(' WHAT!!!!!!!!!!
What the Hell?!?!?!?!?! I was so not expecting that!!!! What?!?!?!
Why did it take me so long to read this series!
On a major JLA kick right now.
Keep the hits coming!
On a major JLA kick right now.
Keep the hits coming!
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced