White Hot Kiss
Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout
Series: The Dark Elements #1
Genre: Fantasy, paranormal, romance, urban fantasy, YA
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One kiss could be the last.
Seventeen-year-old Layla just wants to be normal. But with a kiss that kills anything with a soul, she’s anything but normal. Half demon, half gargoyle, Layla has abilities no one else possesses.
Raised among the Wardens—a race of gargoyles tasked with hunting demons and keeping humanity safe—Layla tries to fit in, but that means hiding her own dark side from those she loves the most. Especially Zayne, the swoon-worthy, incredibly gorgeous and completely off-limits Warden she’s crushed on since forever.
Then she meets Roth—a tattooed, sinfully hot demon who claims to know all her secrets. Layla knows she should stay away, but she’s not sure she wants to—especially when that whole no-kissing thing isn’t an issue, considering Roth has no soul.
But when Layla discovers she’s the reason for the violent demon uprising, trusting Roth could not only ruin her chances with Zayne… it could brand her a traitor to her family. Worse yet, it could become a one-way ticket to the end of the world.
I want a snake tattoo. Now.
Seriously, look me in the eye and try to tell you don’t want a familial after reading this book.
Jennifer L. Armentrout is growing on me as an author. Her books are never ‘the best’ (as in Throne of Glass Level), but she does write some of the better (if not the best) entertaining books.
She has this ability to make a series grow on you, more than I ever know possible. I felt the same way too when I was reading the Lux series. It’s like it always starts off as another good, entertaining romance book, but as it progresses, you start to realize that you’re enjoying it more and more, and before you know it you had already bought the entire series and listed in the top 5 best hate-love relationships I have ever seen.
Speaking of which, if you’re a reader who finished the Lux series, really enjoyed it, and is desperately looking for another series that is like it, I strongly suggest this book (series). You will not disappoint.
Our main character, Layla, is a hybrid half-breed. An abomination. She is half-warden, half demon. A combination that is actually impossible because the two breeds really hate each other, no less mate.
We see how she struggles with her identity, and how she suffers the discrimination from her clan members and those who is the closest that she has to family. And how it pains her that she would never fit in either, because she’s half in both.
In this book, I personally like Zayne better than Roth as a character. Roth is…not that well written actually. I don’t know how to describe it. Astaroth, crown prince of hell, is a little bit of a disappointment. He didn’t live up the hate/love relationship like I imagined (because he kept arrogantly trying to hit on Layla), but that also makes him the idea second-guy. But I see room for improvement, and hopefully in the next book I’ll like him more. And we didn’t get to see much (if not none) of any scenes where we get a glimpse into his true self. Remember: it’s the rare depth of emotions that we see from these second guys that get us to fall in love with them in the first place. Hopefully, Jennifer will put more of these scenes in the next installment.
However, despite the slight disappointment I felt with Roth, both Roth and Zayne were well-written and likable enough that I find myself into a soon-to-be-really-severe-case of a triangle love. But currently, since it is literally not possible for Layla to kiss Zayne without sucking out his soul, I’m intrigued to see how Jennifer’s going to pull that relationship out.
I also really loved Layla. Again, Jennifer has proved herself again and gain how she is really good at mastering the creation of kick-ass heroines which sassy-as-hell is there middle name. She can fight, she’s independent and strong, and most importantly: she knows when to spare a life and when not to, basically, not overly soft to the point that she’s annoying. The characters all felt real; even Roth’s arrogance and dickishness are realistic (and attractive).
I really, really liked this book. I feel like if I paid for it, I wouldn’t be exactly disappointed. The love-relationships are very enjoyable, and for fans of second-guy romances, this is the series to go for you. Although it’s choose-the-second-guy romance, and not that much on the hate/love relationship, I still urge fans of the Lux series to check out this book. We all know Jennifer’s writing style, so if you enjoyed her other books, you’ll definitely love this one too.
Rating: 4/5
# 1 New York Times and # 1 International Bestselling author Jennifer lives in Charles Town, West Virginia. All the rumors you’ve heard about her state aren’t true. When she’s not hard at work writing. she spends her time reading, watching really bad zombie movies, pretending to write, hanging out with her husband and her Jack Russell Loki. In early 2015, Jennifer was diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa, a group of rare genetic disorders that involve a breakdown and death of cells in the retina, eventually resulting in loss of vision, among other complications. Due to this diagnosis, educating people on the varying degrees of blindness has become of passion of hers, right alongside writing, which she plans to do as long as she can.