Thursday 30 October 2014

Miniviews #17: Stone Cold Touch & Sublime

Stone Cold Touch by Jennifer L Armentrout
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Publication Date: October 21st, 2014
Pages: 446
Series: The Dark Elements #2
Source: Purchased
Rating: 5/5
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Guys! This book! You should know that White Hot Kiss is one of my favourite reads of this year. Also my favourite JLA book to date. Obviously, I couldn't wait to get my grabby little hands Stone Cold Touch. Especially after the ending of WHK. Then before the release, JLA throws out that she doesn't know who Layla is going to end up with, so she's leaving it up to her readers. WHAT? What a unique idea; letting her readers decide. So obviously that meant that Stone Cold Touch was really going to throw Zayne into the mix. Which is fine, but really didn't matter to me. There will only ever be one option for Layla. Roth. Roth is just perfection. #TeamRoth
SCT sees Roth come back with some very unsettling news. Turns out that everything that went down, even Roth sacrificing himself, didn't completely stop hell from seeping into Layla's life. Layla also finds her powers evolving and changing. She's finding herself even more of an outcast among the gargoyles. It also doesn't help that Zayne has finally noticed that she's no longer a little girl.
I still love Layla. She's really growing up and becoming more sure of herself. Her life is all over the place, clearly, she's still scared about what her demon side could do to the ones she loves. But that doesn't stop her kicking ass. Zayne is the good guy. He's handsome, whole and nice. And if Roth wasn't in the picture I totally would have fallen for Zayne. There just isn't any competition. This is also a case of being too late. I feel like Zayne has really only taken notice of Layla because of Roth. He's had years with her. His motivation for wanting Layla just doesn't sit right with me. I have no doubt he loves her. Just not as much as he probably thinks he does. Nor in the way she deserves. But Roth. *sigh* Okay, Roth had his jackass moments(he's a demon prince after all). There were times I wanted to punch him for pushing Layla away even though it was obvious that was far from what he wanted to be doing. He clearly thought he was doing it for her own good. His inner turmoil was real. But I never wavered from knowing that even for a demon, Roth loves Layla completely. His actions never matched with to his words. I will forever and always be #TeamRoth.
I really think that this trilogy is JLA at her best. The dialogue is so snappy and organic. Not only does it give us Roth(swoon), but also Layla. And really all the other characters are fantastic. JLA really knows how to write a paranormal romance that gives its readers every aspect that we could want in a paranormal romance. I may have guessed what was going to go done/be revealed at the end of SCT but that didn't stop me from gasping(I was really hoping I was going to be wrong). Needless to say, Every Last Breath is going to be an explosive series ender.
Oh, and guys, Bambi gets, even more, epic this time around. I could use a Bambi in my life. 


Sublime by Christina Lauren
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Publication Date: October 14th, 2014
Pages: 336
Source: Purchased
Rating: 3.5/5
Sublime is one of those books that you're thoroughly devouring and thinking this is great as you're reading along. Then a few days go by and you realize all the plot holes and maybe it wasn't what you thought it was. I'm glad I left this one to review. I still enjoyed it. Just thinking back it really wasn't all it promised to be. Sublime is a romance novel. It just so happens the romance is between a living boy and a ghost. There were some really good paranormal elements thrown into the story. There is definitely some spooky and eerie moments.
Lucy suddenly appears in the forest and she has no recollection of why. As she finds her way to the school it quickly becomes apparent that people aren't seeing her. Kind of like she's invisible. Expect she's not because there are a few that notice her. One of them being, Colin. She knows she's here for him. Colin is instantly drawn to Lucy. As they start to unravel the mystery behind Lucy's death, Colin also comes to the conclusion that the closer he comes to death the closer she can get to Lucy. Which in turn is making Lucy become stronger. Something doesn't seem right there. There's a lot of questions raised about why Lucy came back and why it's Colin she came back for. And unfortunately, I found the ending pretty pointless. Nothing was explained. It wasn't unsatisfying. Just kind of an alright it is what is ending. Sublime is a shortish book and a stand alone. It really could have used an additional 50 pages to just fill in all the plot holes. Like I said, I really enjoyed the story and was fully invested and turning pages. Having read all of Lauren's romance books, I know they can do the romance. It was nice to see them branch out with their writing. I would just recommend going into Sublime thinking of it as an eerie but fluffy YA romance. Something quick to read on a rainy night.

Happy reading!

Brittany   


1 comment:

  1. Your review of Sublime made me laugh a bit! I've read so many books like that where I think that was great as I finish it but then when I try to explain it there are giant gaping holes and parts don't make any sense. I'm curious about the Armentrout series and like how she's doing the ending. Hopefully it goes the way you want it too! Both of these look like fun reads!

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