Stone Cold Touch by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Series: The Dark Elements Saga (bk. 2)

Genera(s): Paranormal Romance/Urban Fantasy

Subjects: supernatural, gargoyles, demons, love, good vs. evil

Setting: Washington D.C.

POV/Tense: 1st person POV, past tense: Layla

Age/Grade Level: Teen

Length: 448 pgs.

HC/PB: Paperback

List Price: $9.99

Publisher: Harlequin Teen

Summary/ product description: “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:  I have no words for how amazing this sequel is. I just loved it so much. I love the characters, hot guys, the romance, the paranormal mythology and well written plot. This is my favorite kind of paranormal romance. Heroines with special powers that make them kick-ass and hot guys to pine for. This series is fun and entertaining and sexy. It’s just so much.

So here’s my spoiler free explanation of what occurs in the book: Layla’s ability to see souls/auras disappears and crazy things start happening at her school. When Roth suddenly shows up again in her life, he’s acting like what they had meant nothing, and making smart-ass comments. Roth thinks a Lilan has been born with Layla’s and Lilith Blood and is causing the strange occurrences at school. Zayne loves Layla, but Layla won’t let herself get close to him because she’s afraid she’s take his soul. Layla still has Bambi, a snake tattoo familiar, on her and it kind of weirds Zayne out, but he accepts it. Even if Zayne and Layla can’t kiss, doesn’t mean they can’t be together in other ways, or so Zayne hopes.

Roth tries to pull her back to him again and still has a habit of using sexual innuendos. He’s back in school and makes her skip and takes her someplace where something happens. And then more crazy stuff happens as they try to discover who the Lilan is. The very end of the book is epic because I knew the answer within the first half of the book. Yay me, and my ability to predict stuff that happens in books.

Layla transforms into her gargoyle-demon hybrid forma a few times. I really wish I could picture it. Someone needs to provide us with the character concept art. I want to make fanart!!! I love that this series has creatures that are rarely seen in Paranormal Romance. Gargoyles are made out to be a kind of angelic being, like the Nephilim or Watchers. They’re called Wardens. I love both Roth and Zayne. I would have a hard time choosing between them if I was Layla, but I guess I’d go with Zayne because he’s not a demon. Roth is not that bad for a demon. He’s just kind of annoying. I like him in the way that I like Damon Salvatore from the Vampire Diaries, Patch form Hush, Hush, or Warner for Shatter Me. Hot bad boys that can show they have a good side, going against their dark nature. I just want to make them good.

I have only read one other in a different series from this author, and that was Half-Blood (which was too much of a Vampire Academy knock-off for me). I want to read Obsidian. I’m sure that that Daemon has something in common with the guys in this book. I recommend this book series to those who enjoyed any of the following books/series: The Dark Light Series by Darynda Jones, The Beautiful Ashes by Jeanine Frost, Lailah by Niki Kelly, Embrace by Jessica Shirvington, and other books about angels, demons and gargoyles.

Cover Art Review: Layla and Zaynes are on the cover this time. The guy model is very hot. I love the opal/iridescent paper used for the cover.

Undead with Benefits by Jeff Hart

Series: Eat, Brains, Love (bk. 2)

Genera(s): Paranormal Romance/Dystopian/ Horror/Humor

Subjects: zombies, cannibalism, psychic ability, psychics, telepathy, government conspiracies, government officials, love, fugitives

Setting: Starts out in Illinois and then they have to figure out how to get to Iowa. Mostly set in Des Moines, Iowa

POV/Tense: 1^st person POV, past tense, rotating between Jake and Cass

Age/Grade Level: Teen

Length: 406 pgs.

HC/PB: Paperback

List Price: $9.99

Publisher: HarperTeen

Summary/ product description: “The living dead are living it up in this hilarious and surprisingly romantic sequel to Eat, Brains, Love, which Kirkus Reviews called “one hell of a road trip...funny, gross, and scary in equal, alternating measures."

Jake and Amanda are in love, on the run—and undead. They've teamed up with Cass, who’s ditched her former job as shady government psychic zombie-tracker, and they're headed across the border into Iowa, where there’s rumored to be a zombie cure.

Armed with a trunk full of guinea pigs (aka zombie snacks), they're ready to take on the Midwest’s first undead warlord, the psycho psychic out for their blood, and their own superawkward love triangle. But the virus is spreading faster than you can say "zombie apocalypse," and Jake, Amanda, and Cass have to find the cure—if it even exists—before the whole state of Iowa goes up in flames.

With its heartwarming blend of guts, romance, and spot-on teen humor, this road trip–ready paperback original is perfect for fans of Isaac Marion's Warm Bodies and AMC’s The Walking Dead. Readers will devour Jeff Hart's fresh, funny, and irreverent take on love and life (well, unlife) in an eat-or-be-eaten world.”

My Review:  When I read the first book, Eat, Brains, Love, I was not expecting a sequel. It seemed like a standalone until near the end. I am really happy that there is a sequel and Undead With Benefits is a very good one. It continuous this hilarious zombie story and takes us to the state of Iowa. It’s such a unique take on zombies. The zombies turn normal after they eat flesh and back into zombies when they are hungry. It’s like werewolves, but were-zombies.

Jake, Amanda and Cass are on the hunt for the cure to being a zombie. They have a lead that it’s in Des Moines. Once in Iowa things get rough. It’s pretty much a post-apocalyptic environment with all the body parts lying around and ghouls looking for food. Jake joked about the Midwest along the way and all that corn. He never expected Iowa to be so gruesome.

I love the twisted humor and the characters. Jake is a gamer like my brother, except Jake was a pot head. He’s lazy and nerdy and still sometimes act like his zombie life is a video game. He still can’t believe that Amanda likes him. The books start out with him and Amanda having sex and he calls it Jake Day. This book is pretty much a goofy comedy. I really wish this was a movie because it would be so fun and hilarious to see. Except for all the gory stuff.

Also, I like that the story includes a psychic as a main character. Cass can read mind and control people and dream walk. She worked for a government agency that tracked down zombie outbreaks and contained them. She joins up with Amanda and Jake; helps then steal some useful stuff before going into Iowa. Jake makes a gamer friend. Reggie is African American and has a place where he plays video games and hangs out. Reggie’s got a bit of an alter ego too. He and Jake become friends, and they get stoned with Jake’s pot. It’s weird guy bonding.

I recommend this book to people who enjoy anything zombie, especially funny zombie movies, like Zombieland, Warm Bodies, and Shawn of the Dead.

Cover Art Review: The title is made with food and on what looks like the hood of a silver car. Really creative and gross. The perfect cover for this funny zombie story.

Atlantia by Ally Condie

Series: Standalone? Companion Series?

Genera(s): Dystopian Sci-fi/Fantasy

Subjects: sea colonies, sirens, abilities, secrets

Setting: Atlantia, a sea colony

POV/Tense: 1^st person POV, present tense: Rio

Age/Grade Level: Teen

Length: 298 pgs.

HC/PB: Hardcover

List Price: $18.99

Publisher: Penguin: Dutton Juvenile 

Summary/ product description: “Can you hear Atlantia breathing?

For as long as she can remember, Rio has dreamt of the sand and sky Above—of life beyond her underwater city of Atlantia. But in a single moment, all her plans for the future are thwarted when her twin sister, Bay, makes an unexpected decision, stranding Rio Below. Alone, ripped away from the last person who knew Rio’s true self—and the powerful siren voice she has long hidden—she has nothing left to lose.

Guided by a dangerous and unlikely mentor, Rio formulates a plan that leads to increasingly treacherous questions about her mother’s death, her own destiny, and the complex system constructed to govern the divide between land and sea. Her life and her city depend on Rio to listen to the voices of the past and to speak long-hidden truths.”

My Review:  Atlantia was an interesting and lyrical dystopian-fantasy mash up. It’s almost a dystopian retelling of the Little Mermaid, but very different, and about sirens. There’s some unique world-building. It’s set in a seas colony. There are some people who live there that have abilities to control and manipulate people with their voice and are called sirens. They are not mermaids, but this ability does seem more magical than psychic. Rio herself is a siren, but she hides it. She has an aunt who’s a siren and it’s unusual to have more than one siren in a family line. How they actually do it is never fully explained, but they believe it’s a miracle from the gods. Also, these people have their own religion based off some statues in a temple. Atlantia is more utopia than dystopia, but it’s a secluded world that has it’s own set of rules to follow. Rio and Bay’s mother was the minister and she died. The new minister is a man named Nevio.

Rio is an interesting character. She talks with a dull voice so no one knows her abilities. Rio loves the city but wants to go Above to be with her sister. She does some risky things in this book She’s determined and doesn’t give up. Rio used to work in the temple until she’s given a job repairing drones. Rio does swimming races and performances for money. There’s this guy named True who help her along the way and they have a bit of a romance. True’s friend went Above as well. I like True. He seems sweet.

There’s a lot of secrets and deception within the walls of Atlantia. Who killed Rio’s mother? What could her aunt be hiding? What is the new minister hiding? Atlantia may be on the verge of falling apart. Read and find out. I recommend this book to fans of Cinder, Glitch by Heather Anastasiu, Renegade (The Elysium Chronicles) by J.A. Souders, and Dark Life by Kat Falls. Dystopia retellings of fairytales, or books set in a sea colony or underground colony.

Cover Art Review: Love the semi-metallic cover. Teal green is a lovely color. The shell fits with the story.

Don’t Let Go by Michelle Gagnon

Series: PERSEFoNE (bk. 3)

Genera(s): Realistic Fiction/Action Thriller

Subjects: hackers, technology, diseases, adventure, fugitives, conspiracies

Setting: Contemporary times, Throughout the USA

POV/Tense: 3^rd person POV, past tense: Noa, Peter, Daisy and Teo

Age/Grade Level: Teen

Length: 335 pgs.

HC/PB: Hardcover

List Price: $17.99

Publisher: HarperTeen

Summary/ product description: “In this pulse-pounding final installment of the Don’t Turn Around trilogy, which in a starred review Kirkus called “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo for teens,” Noa and Peter race across the country in their search to destroy Project Persephone before time runs out.

After a devastating loss, Noa Torson is out of options. On the run with the three remaining teens of Persephone’s Army, she is up against immeasurable odds. The group is outnumbered, outsmarted, and outrun. But they are not giving up.

When Noa and Peter realize they can’t run anymore, and that Noa’s health is failing, they know they must go back to where this began. But when they come face-to-face with the man who started it all, the question becomes, can they win?

This riveting final book in the Don’t Turn Around trilogy ratchets up the action as Noa and Peter confront the evil that has chased them and won’t let them go.

My Review:  This is the first book in this trilogy that I was fully able to enjoy. Maybe I was just in the right mood for it this time. The first two books just didn’t have the epic amount of action and adventure that this book did. There was some romantic stuff, but it wasn’t the most important thing. I really liked that Noa and Peter were back together for this book. They are both amazing hackers (and Zeke was too). They have great dialogue. Also Teo and Daisy are so cute together. All their dialogue is lovey-dovey and funny.

Don’t let go had a dystopian-esque feel to it. It was very much a thriller. It’s a little on the sci-fi side with Noa’s implanted thalamus and the made up disease of PEMA. This book is so much fun, but there’s also some questionable subjects. Kidnapping and organ trafficking and murder and whatnot. You can discuss it. The book leads into an epic conclusion and we finally discover what PEMA really is.

I’d compare it to the Unwind series, but instead of unwinding AWOLs, street kids were being kidnapped to be experimented on and used to find a cure for a disease called PEMA. I love to hacker stuff. I always feel like hackers have superpowers because they can manipulate technology (but hackers can be bad when they use their powers to steal you information). /ALLIANCE/ is a hackivist group that Noa and Peter are apart of. It is like the real hackivist group, Anoymous. I watch Agents of SHEILD and Skye is a hacker, and I also watch Scorpion on CBS, another great TV show about hackers. Anyone who’s a fan of those shows or thriller maybe enjoy this series.

Cover Art Review: I like the silhouetted hand and fist and the title. The color scheme is good. It’s a sticking cover. Wish it were metallic.