Touch

Jus Accardo

Jun 2012 · Denazen Book 1 · Sold by Entangled: Teen

About this eBook

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.

The Denazen series is best enjoyed in order.
Reading Order:
Book #1: Touch
Book #1.5: Untouched (novella)
Book #2: Toxic
Book# 2.5: Faceless (novella)
Book #3: Tremble

Ratings and reviews

3 stars — You know what? This one started out pretty strong. Dez was sassy, if a little edgy. Kale was strangely adorable. The action was fast-paced, the mystery intriguing. But it started going downhill, it picked up speed, and I just couldn’t suspend my disbelief anymore. Seriously, I initially looked at my 3 stars and thought, not higher? Then I started thinking about it and suddenly 3 seemed too high…but I’m sticking with my gut. Let me preface this by saying that I totally get not everyone is going to have these same problems with this book, this is genuinely just how it worked for me. So yeah. How many ways did this book jump the shark…well, let’s start with our main character. Dez was different, and I appreciated that to a degree. But after awhile, she seemed kind of oblivious and unobservant, and I grew increasingly frustrated with her. At first I appreciated that she (unlike many YA heroines) actually liked her body, and herself. It was refreshing. But then we had that “used to be okay, but isn’t anymore” subtle girl shaming in the story. Bummer. Though it could have been worse (and I have read worse). But honest to goodness, I don’t know how she survives when she throws herself into situations, doesn’t question enough things, seems to think she’s smarter than everyone else, even though she only *just* found out about this new world…*sigh* OK stop Lenore. Kale was actually pretty solid. As far as characters go, I really kinda loved him, and kept loving him. He doesn’t have a POV, and he’s not always there, but he kept pretty much to the guy I thought I was getting to know. And there was definitely a connection between the two of them, some super cute moments, and some super fast to the steam moments (mostly fade to black, hence mature YA). The plot? The plot was all over the place! The pacing was breakneck speed! At first I thought it was nice, b/c I got sucked in fast and it was intriguing…but I think the author doesn’t understand the purpose (and for me necessity) of breaks and pauses and transitions. I started to get confused about how we got from one scene to another, and how quickly. And then there were the holes…holes everywhere! (though, they were probably just potholes, not like sinkholes) And besides all of that, there were all the times I just could not suspend my disbelief over what was happening — was it a small town or not? If it was a small town, then why didn’t they have people watching all the places? ARGH. I won’t go into more, because a) I don’t want to spoil, and b) I’ll just get frustrated and try to convince myself to lower my rating. Needless to say, I will *not* be continuing in this series. I guess there’s that, I don’t have to find time and space for it — silver lining?

This story has had me hooked from the start. The details are amazing and I can picture the events happening, I am in love with this book.

About the author

Jus Accardo is the author of YA paranormal romance and urban fantasy fiction. A native New Yorker, she lives in the middle of nowhere with her husband, three dogs, and sometimes guard bear, Oswald. When not writing, Accardo can be found volunteering at the local animal shelter or indulging her passion for food. After being accepted to the Culinary Institute of America, she passed on the spot to pursue a career in writing and has never looked back. As far as she's concerned, she has the coolest job on earth, making stuff up for a living.