Review : Toxic by Jus Accardo

Summary (from Goodreads)

Title : Toxic (Denazen #2)
Author : Jus Accardo
Publisher : Entangled Teen
Publication Date :
Goodreads - The Book Depository

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...


Personal Thoughts

Having read and absolutely loved Touch, the first book in the Denazen series, I was overjoyed to finally dive into Toxic. Needless to say, I had high expectations from the book. In retrospect, I should have hated this book because it had so many elements that usually drive me crazy in YA books, but I was surprised to find myself being thoroughly entertained throughout the book.

Toxic starts off where Touch left off. Dez was warned by the Six who saved Kale's life that there would be a consequence of some sort for saving him. Never did she imagine that it would mean that she could lose one of the most important things in her life. To top it all off, she finds herself being not able to touch Kale as before. Turns out her immunity to him is slowly starting to fade away. What's even worse is that Ginger introduces a new Six, Jade, who has her eyes set on Kale, to Kale so as to help him control his deadly ability. Soon, Dez is poisoned by a weapon of Denazen, and her father provides her with an ultimatum : If she comes book, he'll give her the cure to the poison.

In Touch, Dez was a spunky, sarcastic and very brash character. Yet, I found myself really loving her because she was refreshing. She was also this brave and fearless girl who wasn't afraid to endanger her life for the good, even if it meant going against her own father. In Toxic, readers get to see a different side of her character, her insecure and jealous side. With the introduction of Jade into the story, Dez was bombarded with strong feelings of animosity towards the other girl. She saw Jade as a threat to hers and Kale's relationship. Her jealousy was so extreme that she was rooted to her belief that Jade was secretly spying for Denazen. In a certain way, her behavior was understandable. She had been hurt a few times by Alex, her ex and her dad previously and it was probably in her nature to feel so apprehensive. Also, she knew that Kale was the innocent guy who could easily be fooled by others. Dez went through a lot in Toxic. I can't really say that I approve of her decision to hide everything going in her life from her friends and family, but I attributed that to her stubborn nature. Dez was the kind of character who liked being independent and finding solutions to her problems on her own. She didn't want to involve anyone in her troubles in fear of putting them at risk from Denazen. That's definitely an admirable trait of hers, but I still wished she had confided in someone. I will admit that a lot readers will find Dez to be a little frustrating. Kale was still the innocent and loveable guy that he was in Touch, but the reader does get to see a little growth on his part. His integration into the normal society was proceeding albeit at a slow pace. He was still at times confused by expressions and sayings, but he slowly started becoming accustomed to them. Part of me missed his goofy and adorable innocence. It's clear to the reader that not being able to touch Dez was harsh on him. He even said so himself. He was also very much plagued by fears that he could kill Dez. It was heart-breaking to see him go through what he did in Toxic and my heart just swelled for him at the end. Now, I cannot talk about the characters in Toxic without mentioning Jade. The red-head was the sort of character that you love to hate and whose hair I would have very much loved to rip off. Her manipulative and bitchy attitude drove me nuts, but like I mentioned above I loved hating her.

Plot-wise, Toxic was still as action-packed as Touch. From start to finish, I was assailed by chasing, running and fighting scenes that left me breathless. The fast pace of this series has always been the high point for me and I was glad that it continued in this book too. However, at a certain point the book slows down but rest assured that it never got boring. One thing I'm upset with is that the book ended in a cliffhanger that has me craving for the next book in this series. Unfortunately, that's going to be a very long wait for me! The relationship between Dez and Kale faced some constraints with Jade in the picture. Her constant butting in was incredibly annoying and I was simply waiting for Dez to punch her in the face. Jade tried all that she could to try and separate Dez and Kale by turning Kale's attention on herself, but Kale was way too enamored by Dez to let that happen. His love for her was so palpable that I couldn't help myself from falling further in love with his character, especially with the absolutely adorable and honest things he would tell Dez. Towards the end, he did something that took me by surprise. I was extremely mad at him, but when you get to the last chapter written in his POV, you realize what he was trying to achieve. Still, as much as I hated Jade, I felt that she strengthened Kale's and Dez's relationship by the end. Jus Accardo has the ability to write books that are absolute guilty pleasures. She hooked me in from the very first line refusing to let me go until the very end of the book. Even then, she managed to make me impatient for the release of the next book. I blame that on her addictive and amazing writing style. All I can say is, Jus Accardo has earned a good spot in my favorite authors list!

All in all, for me, Toxic was a fantastic sequel that lived up to my expectations. The growth of the characters, the strengthening of the bond between Dez and Kale and the action-packed scenes made me very happy! All I can hope for now is that May 2013 comes fast so I can finally get my hands on Tremble, the third book in the series!

Rating

Cover : 4/5
Plot : 4/5
Characters : 4/5
Writing : 4/5