Touch (Denazen #1)

Touch (Denazen #1) by Jus Accardo

Rating: 4 stars

Touch is something of a guilty pleasure of mine. I took out the book and sat there on Sunday morning thinking that maybe I would like this book, and should give it a go, taking a break from all the Greek mythology I had been reading (I was reading Dreamless by Josephine Angelini and I will do a review on that shortly). However, I found myself glued to the pages in my hands and pretty much devoured the whole book with my eyes before I put it down. I finished the whole book in one day and then ended up re-reading most of it that day too (I'm one of those people who re-reads books I liked). Afterwards though, I thought that maybe I really shouldn't have liked it that much, but I did. According to the style of writing and the sort-of typical YA plotline, I really shouldn't have liked it THAT much. But I guess I was just in the mood of a book like that to relax my thoughts and drown in some action. It was quite exciting and fast-moving. 

Like I said, I shouldn't have liked it that much because of the typical YA plot line. It wasn't that bad, and some things were still rather original, but the whole story just yelled out the word "typical", especially the synopsis. But it's one of the only typical books I enjoyed. As typical as it seemed, it wasn't predictable (Thank God!). I didn't know what was going to happen and was bursting to know what's coming next. It was almost as if the author had turned me into the adrenaline junkie the main character Dez was, wanting to feel every rush and high that came with the twists and turns of the story and the emotion. The writing was alright, not too bad but not too descriptive either. But it described the details just enough for me to imagine and experience the story with the characters. I can imagine the characters and their surroundings just right, I can visualise every move they make and every twitch in the environment. I could actually connect with the central characters and feel their feelings, which is something I found quite important in a book personally. If I can't feel their emotions, it would be like there's always an invisible wall between the characters, their emotions and intentions, and me. Touch, however, pulled me right in and took me along for the ride.

Another reason why I really liked the book and couldn't resist branding it as a guilty pleasure was because of the main guy character Kale. I loved this central character. He was so sweet! Even though he was taught and brought up one way, he isn't the cold-blooded weapon he believed himself to be. His innocence and his love for Dez was adorable and he would go to the ends of earth to protect her and be with her. I also really liked Dez who is the main character and whose perspective the reader was reading in. She was strong and full of spunk, but not really the invincible kind either. She needed to have others there for her at hard times, which is understandable, but she was also very determined and stubborn, quote: "I rein as the Queen of Stubborn". Kale and Dez's relationship is something I would root for, it was so sweet! Unlike a lot of other YA pairs, where the guy always says he loves the girl but he's bad for her, and tries to push the girl away, Kale and Dez understood how precious what they had was, and they treasured it. They didn't ever try to hurt each other that way, it was awesome to finally read a YA with a straight forward relationship!! Please please Jus Accardo, do not change that in the next book! I would get seriously mad if that happened... 


This book was full of double-crossings.  I loved to read about double-crossing and see how the characters work their way through them and their reactions when they find out about them. It also involved a lot of logical thinking to solve problems. Problem solving with logic was used plenty by Dez to figure out some intense plots against them. It was fun to try figuring out problems before the characters did.


Just thought I would mention that the synopsis of the book really doesn't tell you much. All of that happened like in the first few pages of the book. The book was way better than its description sounded. It was quite a fast paced action-packed book. I loved the idea of "Sixes" and their abilities, but Dez's Dad freaked me out a bit, I absolutely hated him! (It's ok, I'm not ruining anything, he's supposed to be the bad guy like from page 1). And I really didn't like Alex. I won't say anymore, you can go figure that one out yourselves! 


I can see why some people thought it might be similar to Shatter Me from reading the synopsis, but seriously, they are two totally different book. If you didn't like Shatter Me, please don't judge Touch by it, it would be such a shame. Yes, they might have a tiny bit of similarity in the idea of a death touch, but the similarity ended there. 


Well, that's about it for my rant today, now that I've read Touch (I was hesitanty about it before I started reading), I am really excited for Toxic to come out at the end of this year. More Kale and Dez will be super awesome! XD But Jus Accardo, please don't ruin my contentment with the way you wrote this book with the next one. No useless bad boys personas, no love triangles, no predictable boring plots and no weak, whiny main characters!!


Synopsis from Goodreads


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.