Touch
Author: Jus Accardo
Publisher: Entangled Publishing
Age Group: Teen
Source: Library
Good Reads | Amazon
Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
Summary from GoodReads:
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.
My Thoughts
When I first heard of Touch, I thought this one would be awesome. A mysterious boy, and kick-ass main character, and an agency up to no-good. All elements to an awesome story. Unfortunately, they didn’t mesh as well as I was hoping, at lease not the way Accardo pieced them together.
The main character, Deznee (seriously, if that isn’t the most ridiculous name, I don’t know what is) is definitely tough. She is no push-over. In fact, we first meet Dez when she skateboards off the roof of a barn. It’s great that she’s kick-ass, but I was never able to really care that much about her. And I didn’t like her waffling between two different guys. I just don’t like that shit. Sorry for the foul language. I just couldn’t completely understand her. Why she was an adenaline junkie, why did she love to give her dad a hard time (don’t get me wrong, her dad is an ass, but she didn’t know that at the time). I just didn’t get her.
I did really like Kale. I loved seeing his reaction to things that we all see everyday. I thought he was an interesting character, and his personality was really well-developed. But despite how much I liked Kale, I still could really care too much about the story.
The whole plot was a little far-fetched. And there was definitely way too many conveniences for my taste. I mean, all this stuff happened at just the right time. Like how Dez found that hotel to stay in. Or the whole thing with Dez’s cousin Brandt. Or the secret Dez has been keeping. Or the whole thing with Alex. And how Ginger showed up at just the right time. I also found the action scenes poorly written and a bit confusing, too.
Overall I wasn’t a fan of this book. There was too much eye-rolling for my tastes, and I just couldn’t connect to any of the characters. I definitely won’t be read any more in the series. Have you guys read this one? What did you think of it?
I wish the whole story was about Kale and from his POV. Then the back and forth between Dez and her Dad wouldn’t bother me so much. I was so confused by her choices when it came to her dad. The waffling only bothered me because the author gave us this awesome vulnerable character, Kale, then she threw in this other guy I would have loved to connect with too, but not in the role he played.
Sounds like a pass for me! Though I liked the sound of it!
I liked your honest review, and quite frankly a far-fetching plot is one of the things that I find frustrating in a novel too. I won’t be putting this one on my list