Review: Stone Cold Touch

Title: The Dark Elements #2: Stone Cold Touch

Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout

Date of Publication: October 21, 2014

Formats Available: Paperback, E-book

Buy This Book: Amazon

Synopsis: 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…

My Review:

After how much I enjoyed White Hot Kiss I had big expectations for this novel, however the farther I along I got in Stone Cold Touch the more I realized this was not going to be the novel I was expecting. Though I knew there was a minor love triangle going on I wasn't prepared for how intense the love triangle was going to get in this novel. A huge portion of the plot was devoted to creating one of the biggest love triangles I've witnessed in YA lit in a long, long time and I'm not going to lie, I wasn't a fan.

I'm not a huge fan of love triangles and this one was no exception. Zayne drove me absolutely insane, he's so cheesy and perfect that I had a really hard time taking anything about him seriously at all. Layla has built him up to be so much in her mind that she can't see any of his faults, which honestly he has plenty. Though his rival Roth does have his share of issues, the main one being that he's the Crown Prince of hell, he's a much more believable love interest in the sense that Layla can see his faults and still likes him anyway.

Though I still hate Stacey (can we please have a best friend character that isn't sexed up and a terrible influence) I ended up enjoying most of the other main and secondary characters. I was sad to see Roth playing less of a role in this one but I guess Zayne needed his time to shine. The relationship between Layla and Danika took an interesting turn and I'm eager to see how everything between them is going to play out, especially after how much the romance between Layla and Zayne heated up. Abbott also took on a more of a villainous role in this novel and its definitely going to be interesting seeing what he does next.

The best part about this novel was, hands down, the plot. I was fascinated by the development of the Lilin and what that meant for Layla, Roth, and Zayne. The effects of the Lilin were devastating and after watching characters die one after the other I began to wonder who was next. There was plenty of excitement and intrigue to hold my interest but the love triangle kept driving me insane at ever turn. Layla wasn't as strong of a character in this novel and she was constantly running back to Zayne every time something happened. However the cliff hanger ending has me definitely signing up for the next novel (with the hope that Roth gets much more action the third time around)!

The Dark Elements is a good series, however most of the plot is dependent on a major love triangle so love triangle haters might want to take a pass on this series. Though I can't stand all the back and forth between Roth and Zayne I'm excited to see where the series goes next!

4/5