Title: White Hot Kiss
Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout
Pub Date: February 25th 2014
Publisher: HarlequinTEEN
Page Count: 304
Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout
Pub Date: February 25th 2014
Publisher: HarlequinTEEN
Page Count: 304
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.
Buy Links
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My Thoughts
Armentrout's ability to write a steamy scene is perfection. Her ability to spin a story is beyond that. What better title to this action and romance-packed novel than White Hot Kiss? - Nova @ Musings of a Blogder
Initially, I was a little wary on the topic of Gargoyles because I haven't seen it done before in YA. I wasn't sure I'd like it or it would be too much for me. I'm not too far into high fantasy, but instead, I was surprised at how normalized it was yet not too bad.
The Gargoyles are referred to as "Wardens". They've also been told to reveal themselves to humans. Basically, (from the book; from Roth) they're His mistake and then given a pure soul. Drawing parallels, I like to think of them as Shadowhunters from Cassandra Clare's Mortal Instruments series. The Wardens keep the demon population under control. Unlike Cassandra Clare's books, in White Hot Kiss, the demons have a say too. The perspective isn't one-sided.
Seeing as the Wardens and Demons are like sun and moon, this is where Layla comes in. Layla is half of each. This meaning that she has a lot of power and a lot of danger. She's somewhat considered an abomination because she's both.
I sympathized with Layla throughout the story. She was always kept in the dark by people that supposedly loved her. I liked Layla as a character because even though it took some time, she finally accepted who she was and used her abilities to help the people she loved.
Now Roth. Roth is someone I had a problem with. Oh Nova, he's a hot bad boy! What more do you want? I don't know what it is, but I loved Roth in a way where it made me mad. At myself. He was well built, loyal, funny and easy going. Sound like someone we know from Jennifer L. Armentrout? I found him way too much like Daemon Black from the Lux series. They are kind of the same and share the same attribute that they have like no flaws. Roth is nice, fun, good at fighting, good looking, treats Layla well... is that like a non-human thing or am I just unlucky with guys. How many guys actually act that way?
Now let's say I've never read the Lux series: I love Roth. There; Capisce.
The story was freaking insane. I started out with the mindset of: demons are evil! Demons are evil! and then left with: those Wardens are such assholes! Why did this happen? A lot of this story is told from dual perspective, even though it's only through Layla's point of view. This makes it fantastic. I hate a story where the "bad guy" is just bad in black in white. In this story, we see how Roth is a demon and yet he's kind to Layla. He's nothing like what we're told all demons are. The idea of perspective and how the Wardens had their share of evil (even though they're supposedly pure creatures) fascinated me. It's something that'll leave a lasting remembrance on me.
All in all, I had strong thoughts on how good the plot was. Jennifer's writing is excellent, as always. She wrote with flowing descriptions, natural dialogue and a beauty that's definitely natural. Despite having personalities that I found recycled from her other books (which I equally enjoyed), I still loved this book a lot.
The Gargoyles are referred to as "Wardens". They've also been told to reveal themselves to humans. Basically, (from the book; from Roth) they're His mistake and then given a pure soul. Drawing parallels, I like to think of them as Shadowhunters from Cassandra Clare's Mortal Instruments series. The Wardens keep the demon population under control. Unlike Cassandra Clare's books, in White Hot Kiss, the demons have a say too. The perspective isn't one-sided.
Seeing as the Wardens and Demons are like sun and moon, this is where Layla comes in. Layla is half of each. This meaning that she has a lot of power and a lot of danger. She's somewhat considered an abomination because she's both.
I sympathized with Layla throughout the story. She was always kept in the dark by people that supposedly loved her. I liked Layla as a character because even though it took some time, she finally accepted who she was and used her abilities to help the people she loved.
Now Roth. Roth is someone I had a problem with. Oh Nova, he's a hot bad boy! What more do you want? I don't know what it is, but I loved Roth in a way where it made me mad. At myself. He was well built, loyal, funny and easy going. Sound like someone we know from Jennifer L. Armentrout? I found him way too much like Daemon Black from the Lux series. They are kind of the same and share the same attribute that they have like no flaws. Roth is nice, fun, good at fighting, good looking, treats Layla well... is that like a non-human thing or am I just unlucky with guys. How many guys actually act that way?
Now let's say I've never read the Lux series: I love Roth. There; Capisce.
The story was freaking insane. I started out with the mindset of: demons are evil! Demons are evil! and then left with: those Wardens are such assholes! Why did this happen? A lot of this story is told from dual perspective, even though it's only through Layla's point of view. This makes it fantastic. I hate a story where the "bad guy" is just bad in black in white. In this story, we see how Roth is a demon and yet he's kind to Layla. He's nothing like what we're told all demons are. The idea of perspective and how the Wardens had their share of evil (even though they're supposedly pure creatures) fascinated me. It's something that'll leave a lasting remembrance on me.
All in all, I had strong thoughts on how good the plot was. Jennifer's writing is excellent, as always. She wrote with flowing descriptions, natural dialogue and a beauty that's definitely natural. Despite having personalities that I found recycled from her other books (which I equally enjoyed), I still loved this book a lot.
Author Info
# 1 NEW YORK TIMES and USA TODAY Bestselling author Jennifer lives in Martinsburg, 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, working out, watching really bad zombie movies, pretending to write, and hanging out with her husband and her Jack Russell Loki.
Her dreams of becoming an author started in algebra class, where she spent most of her time writing short stories….which explains her dismal grades in math. Jennifer writes young adult paranormal, science fiction, fantasy, and contemporary romance. She is published with Spencer Hill Press, Entangled Teen and Brazen, Disney/Hyperion and Harlequin Teen. Her book Obsidian has been optioned for a major motion picture and her Covenant Series has been optioned for TV.
She also writes adult and New Adult romance under the name J. Lynn. She is published by Entangled Brazen and HarperCollins.
This one sounds interesting. I haven't read anything from this author though I see her work all over..maybe I should give this one a try. :)
ReplyDeleteI'm also wary of the gargoyle thing but I love most of JLA's stories so I'm going to go with it. Glad you enjoyed it!
ReplyDeleteI love JLA so I'm definitely reading this one. Glad you liked it. The only other book I've read with gargoyles is The Beautiful and the Cursed by Page Morgan, which I loved. Great review! ~Pam
ReplyDeleteEveryone's been loving this book so I'm kind of interested to see how JLA's done gargoyles. I remember when I met her that she was talking about her gargoyle series and I remember being totally captivated. I haven't been a very big fan of her most recent stuff, though, so I'm not sure if I'm going to read it, although the positive feedback has definitely bolstered my confidence. Great review!
ReplyDelete