Toxic by Jus Accardo Review

Toxic by Jus Accardo
(Denazen, #2)
Release Date: October 2, 2012
Publisher: Entangled Teen; 400 pages

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...

Thank you to Entangled Teen for asking me to be a part of the Toxic blog tour (I'll be posting on November 1 an interview with Jus Accardo) & supplying me with an eARC of Toxic. I am very excited for this opportunity as I am a very big fan of this series!

I fell in love with the first book, Touch and even the novella, Untouched. I can’t get enough of Kale, not to mention that Dez is just so kickass and chill. The whole book had this X-Men feel to it and I love X-Men, so I absolutely needed more. Thankfully, I was not disappointed with Toxic at all.

The title is very appropriate for the book, in more than one way. Dez is poisoned, curiosity of her loving and adoring father and he’s given her an ultimatum. Turn herself over to Denazen in exchange for the poison remedy or die. She goes through the majority of the book alone because she knows what would happen if she told Kale; he’d sacrifice himself for her life. She doesn’t want him to go back there so she works alone. She’s also insecure seeing Kale spending a lot of time with Jade, who was brought in to help him get his power under control, but she throws herself on him every chance she gets. Dez is convinced Jade is working for Denazen as it’s obvious there’s a spy in the mix and she’s the newest addition of sixes.

Throughout this book, I hated Jade as much as Dez did and maybe even more, which is really hard to do because Dez basically wants to kill her. Not to mention, I even want to kick Ginger’s ass, which is just wrong because she’s old but I really really really wanted to…many times.

I know I should dislike Alex for all that he’s done but I really can’t. There’s just something about him that’s so appealing; I can’t help but like him. He cares so much about Dez and of course, that’s a problem for both Dez and Kale. The tension between Alex and Kale is so strong it’s amusing. These two hate each other maybe as much as they hate Denazen so that shows you just how deep that hatred runs. But it’s entertainment for the reader, even if the reader is torn on the guys. I’m not torn on who should be with Dez, I truly believe that’s Kale but I adore both guys, as individuals.

I am scared. Actually, no – I am terrified for what’s to come in the next book. Things got real serious in Toxic but it’s only going to get worse in the next book, especially with the last thing said in the book. Talk about a cliffhanger…it’s not so much having you hanging on for what’s to come – I actually feel it does the opposite, which is fantastic. It makes me crave what’s to come but at the same time, I’m afraid when that book comes out, of turning the pages. I feel like tissues will be mandatory while reading. You probably won’t understand until you read the book…

This is a series I highly recommend. It’s full of humor, action, drama, tension and powers; what more could you ask for? Dez’s inner monologue is probably the most entertaining aspect of this book, mostly geared at Jade! Kale has learned a lot so he’s not as clueless as he was during Touch but he still has his moments and you just find yourself shaking your head at him. It’s his innocence that I love. You could never find someone like him in real life, which is a shame, but he’s such a great character. Not to mention, he’s like a ninja. Ninja’s are awesome. Pick up Touch then when you’re done that, make sure to Untouched (the e-novella) then dive right in to Toxic. Fall in love with Kale like every reader has.