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annakuenstler's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
eesh25's review against another edition
3.0
3 Stars because holy shit! this book pissed me off something fierce. It took every once of patience (which I don't have in the first place) to continue reading it and not skip ahead.
The plot wasn't much of a problem. It's just that there wasn't much of it there. Half the book including the Lilin situation, the Wraiths, finding out more about the world, the Abbot situation, any fighting, Layla's abilities and basically everything relevent, while the other half was the Love Triangle.
This is the third series by Jennifer L. Armentrout that I'm reading and each one that I've read has included a love triangle. One series I hated. The second one's love triangle kinda made sense and this one, while I don't hate the series, is infuriating.
Seriously, a 450 freaking pages book and all you do is find out who the lilin is?! What the fuck were you doing the entire time, Layla?! Oh wait! you were trying to decide which guy to bone.
I apologise if I'm being crass (no, I don't), but very I'm angry.
Moving on...
I liked Zayne in the previous book. He was a nice guy and a cool characters. But in this one, he wouldn't stop being a jealous prick. And then we found out what we did near the end and his likability was blown to bits. Now, I'm not even sure I'd care if he died. Well, I don't think I would had a problem with him dying before a certain revelation if it would just get rid of the STUPID LOVE TRIANGLE!
By the end, the only two people I like were Roth (because he's fun and because of what happened near the end) and Sam (because he's cute and spouts unusual facts and because of what happened in the end).
So yeah, if it wasn't for the laser focus on the Love Triangle, this could have been a really good book. I would even have liked Layla. But that did not happen. Hopefully, the next book will be better...
The plot wasn't much of a problem. It's just that there wasn't much of it there. Half the book including the Lilin situation, the Wraiths, finding out more about the world, the Abbot situation, any fighting, Layla's abilities and basically everything relevent, while the other half was the Love Triangle.
This is the third series by Jennifer L. Armentrout that I'm reading and each one that I've read has included a love triangle. One series I hated. The second one's love triangle kinda made sense and this one, while I don't hate the series, is infuriating.
Seriously, a 450 freaking pages book and all you do is find out who the lilin is?! What the fuck were you doing the entire time, Layla?! Oh wait! you were trying to decide which guy to bone.
I apologise if I'm being crass (no, I don't), but very I'm angry.
Moving on...
I liked Zayne in the previous book. He was a nice guy and a cool characters. But in this one, he wouldn't stop being a jealous prick. And then we found out what we did near the end and his likability was blown to bits. Now, I'm not even sure I'd care if he died. Well, I don't think I would had a problem with him dying before a certain revelation if it would just get rid of the STUPID LOVE TRIANGLE!
By the end, the only two people I like were Roth (because he's fun and because of what happened near the end) and Sam (because he's cute and spouts unusual facts and because of what happened in the end).
So yeah, if it wasn't for the laser focus on the Love Triangle, this could have been a really good book. I would even have liked Layla. But that did not happen. Hopefully, the next book will be better...
kathydavie's review against another edition
3.0
Second in The Dark Elements urban fantasy series for young adults that is set in Washington D.C. The focus is on Layla, Zayne, and Roth.
In 2014, Stone Cold Touch was nominated for the Romantic Times Reviewers' Choice Award for Young Adult/Middle Protagonist.
My Take
Hunting down the Lilin is the lesser conflict in this with the confusion and pull Layla feels over Zayne and Roth the major conflict. It's Roth's crushing news that devastates Layla, which makes it all the more confusing [for the amazingly clueless Layla] when he needles Zayne — yep, it's the self-sacrificing trope.
It's an interesting dichotomy between Abbott of yesterday and of today, as well as that amongst the Wardens in Stone Cold Touch and raises questions for me. I would like to know why Abbott did keep Layla alive. I'd also like to know the reasons for those differing Warden choices at the end. Why is Abbott so nasty and vicious when others aren't? I swear, if one of the Wardens got a hangnail, Abbott would blame it on Layla. Is it strictly because Zayne loves Layla or is there something underlying this?
Layla has made promises to Zayne, she's lied to him in the past, she knows she's attracted to Roth which angers Zayne, and yet she makes these annoying choices. Why does she put her relationship with Zayne, whom she claims to want, in jeopardy? Of course, Roth was damned annoying as well the way he was pushing at Zayne ALL. The. Time. To be honest, this conflict feels so contrived.
I do like that Roth trusts Layla to take care of herself. Wrongly, as Layla continues to make stupid choices.
Cayman has an interesting point about the humans who make it down to the demon bar about their being sinners. He reckons demons do a service by getting them out of the gene pool.
We finally get a bit of history on how the Wardens found Layla.
Hmmm, Layla is somewhat demonic. Look at how she's affecting Danika's outlook about action in the field.
The Story
Now that Layla knows that most demons are harmless, she's stopped tagging them for the Wardens. Of course, when she loses her ability to see auras, souls, she can't do it anyway. And Layla worries that this shift in what the Wardens sense about her, may mean a change for the worse.
It doesn't help when the Wardens learn a Lilin is on the loose. It will force an uneasy alliance between the demons and Wardens with all the evidence pointing to her.
The Characters
Layla Shaw is a seventeen-year-old high schooler who is half-demon and half-Warden and struggles constantly with the need to drink down souls. Bambi is the demonic snake tattoo, the familiar, Roth pushed onto her. Mr. Snotty was the teddy bear Zayne had given her when she first arrived. Stacey and Sam are her best friends.
Layla has been in love with Zayne, a Warden, for the longest time. Roth calls him "Stony".
Roth, a.k.a., Astaroth, is a Crown Prince of Hell and had sacrificed himself in White Hot Kiss, 1. Cayman is his wingman, an infernal ruler as a sort of middle management demon who works as a bartender. Bluebelle and Flower are Roth's hellhounds; Nitro, Fury, and Thor are his demon kitten tattoos.
Wardens are…
…gargoyles who can look human and were created by the Alphas to battle demons and Lilin. Abbott is their leader, Zayne's father, and he has been a father figure to Layla whose real dad is Elijah, another Warden, who kept trying to kill Layla. Petr, another Warden, had been her half-brother. Well, until he died in White Hot Kiss. Morris is the clan chauffeur and handyman who treats Layla nicely; Nicolai; and, Geoff is the resident techie who's into gadgets.
Some of the Wardens in D.C. are visiting from the New York clan. Jasmine (a healer) is married to Dez; they have two-year-old twins, Drake and Izzy. Danika is her younger sister whom Zayne is supposed to marry. Tomas, the one who won't listen; Maddox; and, Donn are more of the New York Wardens.
School
Mrs. Cleo is the biology teacher; the hot and young Mr. Tucker is her substitute. Mr. Blunt is the principal. Coach Dinkerton is hopeless with the football team. Gerald Young is a janitor and a witch with information. Fellow students include Dean McDaniel (his mom is worried), Keith, Eva Hasher is one of the mean girls, and Gareth is Eva's on-again, off-again boyfriend.
The Lilin are demons, Lilith's first and most powerful children, who steal souls with a single touch, turning them into wraiths that will linger on Earth, stuck, with an increasing hatred for humans. Lilith is also Layla's mother. Seems witches keep under the radar as they have some demonic blood, and the Wardens would kill them if they found them. The crone has good, if obtuse, information for Layla and Roth. Paison is the demon from White Hot Kiss who loved Lilith and wanted her free.
Poser demons have a bad habit of biting people; Fiends like to mess with things; Hellions; Nightcrawlers carry a venom they spit which paralyzes their victims; Rack; and, Terriers are a cross between an ostrich and a raptor. Ricky is obsessed with Angela who wants him to be financially stable. Sister and Brother are a succubus and incubus seducing Layla. Roth calls 'em Sucky and Inky.
Alphas are mean-ass angels who will wipe out the Wardens if they don't think the Wardens are doing their job. Khaki Guy is one of the really nasty Church of God's Children fanatics. Vanessa Owens was the first human whose soul Layla fed on.
The Cover and Title
The cover is pure in its white background with its turquoise shading, creating Layla and Zayne in a touching embrace, Layla looking away, her hands on his chest while Zayne gazes at her with love, his forehead touching her.
I think the title is about Zayne and what the Warden clan does to Layla, for it's a Stone Cold Touch that destroys her world.
In 2014, Stone Cold Touch was nominated for the Romantic Times Reviewers' Choice Award for Young Adult/Middle Protagonist.
My Take
Hunting down the Lilin is the lesser conflict in this with the confusion and pull Layla feels over Zayne and Roth the major conflict. It's Roth's crushing news that devastates Layla, which makes it all the more confusing [for the amazingly clueless Layla] when he needles Zayne — yep, it's the self-sacrificing trope.
It's an interesting dichotomy between Abbott of yesterday and of today, as well as that amongst the Wardens in Stone Cold Touch and raises questions for me. I would like to know why Abbott did keep Layla alive. I'd also like to know the reasons for those differing Warden choices at the end. Why is Abbott so nasty and vicious when others aren't? I swear, if one of the Wardens got a hangnail, Abbott would blame it on Layla. Is it strictly because Zayne loves Layla or is there something underlying this?
Layla has made promises to Zayne, she's lied to him in the past, she knows she's attracted to Roth which angers Zayne, and yet she makes these annoying choices. Why does she put her relationship with Zayne, whom she claims to want, in jeopardy? Of course, Roth was damned annoying as well the way he was pushing at Zayne ALL. The. Time. To be honest, this conflict feels so contrived.
I do like that Roth trusts Layla to take care of herself. Wrongly, as Layla continues to make stupid choices.
Cayman has an interesting point about the humans who make it down to the demon bar about their being sinners. He reckons demons do a service by getting them out of the gene pool.
We finally get a bit of history on how the Wardens found Layla.
Hmmm, Layla is somewhat demonic. Look at how she's affecting Danika's outlook about action in the field.
The Story
Now that Layla knows that most demons are harmless, she's stopped tagging them for the Wardens. Of course, when she loses her ability to see auras, souls, she can't do it anyway. And Layla worries that this shift in what the Wardens sense about her, may mean a change for the worse.
It doesn't help when the Wardens learn a Lilin is on the loose. It will force an uneasy alliance between the demons and Wardens with all the evidence pointing to her.
The Characters
Layla Shaw is a seventeen-year-old high schooler who is half-demon and half-Warden and struggles constantly with the need to drink down souls. Bambi is the demonic snake tattoo, the familiar, Roth pushed onto her. Mr. Snotty was the teddy bear Zayne had given her when she first arrived. Stacey and Sam are her best friends.
Layla has been in love with Zayne, a Warden, for the longest time. Roth calls him "Stony".
Roth, a.k.a., Astaroth, is a Crown Prince of Hell and had sacrificed himself in White Hot Kiss, 1. Cayman is his wingman, an infernal ruler as a sort of middle management demon who works as a bartender. Bluebelle and Flower are Roth's hellhounds; Nitro, Fury, and Thor are his demon kitten tattoos.
Wardens are…
…gargoyles who can look human and were created by the Alphas to battle demons and Lilin. Abbott is their leader, Zayne's father, and he has been a father figure to Layla whose real dad is Elijah, another Warden, who kept trying to kill Layla. Petr, another Warden, had been her half-brother. Well, until he died in White Hot Kiss. Morris is the clan chauffeur and handyman who treats Layla nicely; Nicolai; and, Geoff is the resident techie who's into gadgets.
Some of the Wardens in D.C. are visiting from the New York clan. Jasmine (a healer) is married to Dez; they have two-year-old twins, Drake and Izzy. Danika is her younger sister whom Zayne is supposed to marry. Tomas, the one who won't listen; Maddox; and, Donn are more of the New York Wardens.
School
Mrs. Cleo is the biology teacher; the hot and young Mr. Tucker is her substitute. Mr. Blunt is the principal. Coach Dinkerton is hopeless with the football team. Gerald Young is a janitor and a witch with information. Fellow students include Dean McDaniel (his mom is worried), Keith, Eva Hasher is one of the mean girls, and Gareth is Eva's on-again, off-again boyfriend.
The Lilin are demons, Lilith's first and most powerful children, who steal souls with a single touch, turning them into wraiths that will linger on Earth, stuck, with an increasing hatred for humans. Lilith is also Layla's mother. Seems witches keep under the radar as they have some demonic blood, and the Wardens would kill them if they found them. The crone has good, if obtuse, information for Layla and Roth. Paison is the demon from White Hot Kiss who loved Lilith and wanted her free.
Poser demons have a bad habit of biting people; Fiends like to mess with things; Hellions; Nightcrawlers carry a venom they spit which paralyzes their victims; Rack; and, Terriers are a cross between an ostrich and a raptor. Ricky is obsessed with Angela who wants him to be financially stable. Sister and Brother are a succubus and incubus seducing Layla. Roth calls 'em Sucky and Inky.
Alphas are mean-ass angels who will wipe out the Wardens if they don't think the Wardens are doing their job. Khaki Guy is one of the really nasty Church of God's Children fanatics. Vanessa Owens was the first human whose soul Layla fed on.
The Cover and Title
The cover is pure in its white background with its turquoise shading, creating Layla and Zayne in a touching embrace, Layla looking away, her hands on his chest while Zayne gazes at her with love, his forehead touching her.
I think the title is about Zayne and what the Warden clan does to Layla, for it's a Stone Cold Touch that destroys her world.
13_dear_reader_13's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
4.5
yodamom's review against another edition
5.0
Layla is stupid ! There I put it out in the universe, it's now a known fact. She is just so immature and idiotic some times. ARGUH ! Layla who has two super powered hotties loving her, two ! Maybe I'm a bit jealous. Moving on..
So I binge listened to this, ignoring my family and friends for a couple days. They'll get over it, I hope. Layla has found trouble at school, trouble at home, trouble in her heart and trouble in her mind. Layla is coming into her own, our little brat is growing up. Well sort of, she still dips her toes into TSTL moments. Her, Zhane's and Roth's lives are going to change majorly. Everything builds to this horrendous mountain of OH Shiitake What Will They DO, then the book ends ARGUH !! Thanks the gods for Amazon, click I have book 3. :D See yah
So I binge listened to this, ignoring my family and friends for a couple days. They'll get over it, I hope. Layla has found trouble at school, trouble at home, trouble in her heart and trouble in her mind. Layla is coming into her own, our little brat is growing up. Well sort of, she still dips her toes into TSTL moments. Her, Zhane's and Roth's lives are going to change majorly. Everything builds to this horrendous mountain of OH Shiitake What Will They DO, then the book ends ARGUH !! Thanks the gods for Amazon, click I have book 3. :D See yah
soulsbooks23's review against another edition
4.0
4,5/5⭐️
En ella primera parte de este libro no pasó nada interesante pero estaba tan engancha en la lectura que no poda parar de leer. En la segunda parte todo se puso mucho más bueno y no podía creer lo que estaba leyendo.
Este segundo libro en cuanto a revelaciones a sido un poco mejor que el primero pero sigo prefiriendo este último, ese final me dejó con ganas de más y obviamente voy a arrancar el 3er y último libro, aunque no quiero decirles adiós a Roth ni a Layla.
Stacey es una muy buena amiga y Zayne me cae muy bien, necesito que Danika sea una diosa empoderada en el último libro.
Les recomiendo un montón esta trilogía. Ya leí una saga (Saga lux) de esta autora y presiento que voy a continuar leyendo sus libros. Todo lo que escribe esta mujer es una JOYA.
En ella primera parte de este libro no pasó nada interesante pero estaba tan engancha en la lectura que no poda parar de leer. En la segunda parte todo se puso mucho más bueno y no podía creer lo que estaba leyendo.
Este segundo libro en cuanto a revelaciones a sido un poco mejor que el primero pero sigo prefiriendo este último, ese final me dejó con ganas de más y obviamente voy a arrancar el 3er y último libro, aunque no quiero decirles adiós a Roth ni a Layla.
Stacey es una muy buena amiga y Zayne me cae muy bien, necesito que Danika sea una diosa empoderada en el último libro.
Les recomiendo un montón esta trilogía. Ya leí una saga (Saga lux) de esta autora y presiento que voy a continuar leyendo sus libros. Todo lo que escribe esta mujer es una JOYA.
smithrachaelynn's review against another edition
4.0
Okay this book was 3⭐️ for me right up until the end and the ending of this book was so intense that I gave it another ⭐️. I didn’t enjoy the love triangle becoming more intense in this book. But I thought the plot was interesting and I can’t wait to see what happens next!
elaine_1604's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
magencorrie's review against another edition
5.0
5 stars
I just love this series. (Though I hate the back and forth between Roth and Zayne. Girl, it's gonna be Roth. Don't even play)
I just love this series. (Though I hate the back and forth between Roth and Zayne. Girl, it's gonna be Roth. Don't even play)