SBLC Reviews: TOXIC by Jus Accardo
TOXIC
Denazen Series
By: Jus Accardo
Published by: Entangled Publishing, LLC
Reviewed By: Kelly H.
Publisher’s Blurb: 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…
My Review: Last year, when I read TOUCH, the first book in the Denazen series, it left me anxious for more. This year, now that I’ve read TOXIC, I feel the exact same way and I gotta say, the novel definitely did not disappoint.
It seems with this series the books just keep getting better and better and harder and harder to put down.
For me, TOXIC was much darker than TOUCH, and it showed us just how real the Denazen threat is to Dez, Kale, and her group of Sixes with all the attacks, Dez’s poisoning, and the threat of a traitor in her group. Not to mention the fact her 18th birthday is looming in the distance and she knows what happens to Supremacy kids when they turn eighteen. They go crazy.
That said, it still was full of comedic moments – which gave balance to the dark — like when Dez and Kiernan, using Kiernan’s invisibility power, spied on Kale and Jade in the ice cream shop. I won’t go into detail about the scene, but I will say hilarity ensued when someone decided to sit in the booth they were sitting in. It got even funnier later on in the ice cream shop’s bathroom.
And that’s just a couple scenes; there were many, many more that were just as funny, keeping the book balanced and keeping it easy to read, despite all the impending doom and despair.
Now, I have to admit, as much as I loved this book and love Dez, there were moments I wished I could reach into the book, grab Dez and shake her. I wanted to yell at her and call her an idiot. This was mostly because she decided to keep her poisoning a secret from everyone around her.
What the hell was she thinking?
Anyway, though, that’s just Dez. She’s strong, stubborn, and a total spit-fire and although that may lead her to stupid decisions, it often allows her a lot of room to grow – which I think she did in this book.
Overall, I loved TOXIC and gave it five out of five stars …
And I’m officially counting down the days till the next installment. Really, I’m hoping it arrives early in my inbox … hint … hint … wink … wink … Entangled Publishing.
Disclaimer: I was provided an electronic galley of this book by the publisher and everything I have said is of my own honest opinion. I have not been paid to review this book.
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