Stone Cold Touch

Dark Elements, Book 2

By: Jennifer L. Armentrout

Narrated by: Saskia Maarleveld

Length: 15 hrs and 1 min

Publisher's Summary

Layla Shaw is trying to pick up the pieces of her shattered life - no easy task for a 17-year-old who's pretty sure things can't get worse. Her impossibly gorgeous best friend, Zayne, is forever off-limits thanks to the mysterious powers of her soul-stealing kiss. The Warden clan that has always protected her is suddenly keeping dangerous secrets. And she can barely think about Roth, the wickedly hot demon prince who understood her in ways no one else could. But sometimes rock bottom is only the beginning. Because suddenly Layla's powers begin to evolve, and she's offered a tantalizing taste of what has always been forbidden. Then, when she least expects it, Roth returns, bringing news that could change her world forever. She's finally getting what she always wanted, but with hell literally breaking loose and the body count adding up, the price may be higher than Layla is willing to pay. Contains mature themes.

©2014 Jennifer L. Armentrout (P)2014 Tantor

Disappointing

First off let's put this out there, I ABSOLUTELY LOATHE love triangles and harem style books. I mean do any of the love interests in these books have any pride, chasing after someone like a desperate dog hoping that she will show you love only for her to say "Hmmmm i don't know, this other dog has spots..." I'm also not a huge fan of drama queen protagonists constantly whining that they are evil (when its completely obvious their not), or that they want to be "normal" (i.e. human) as if they would never have problems that are as bad as the main characters if they only had different genetics, because human problems are so small, simple and insignificant compared to them. I find these kinds of books anoying and intensely frustrating, (will someone just talk some sense into them already!!!!)
I knew this was going to be one of those highly insulting "angsty teen books" when i first looked at it but it is one of the first books i have found about Gargoyles, sense i watched the AMAZING Disney series. so i did have a bit of idiotic hope that it might be good. it's not, it is pretty much everything i hate plus add useless protagonist who just stumbles around blindly and has or doesn't have powers based on the randomness of of the plot, and constantly emotionally and physically cheats on both her "love" interests. DISAPPOINTING

love it

Story is well written but I wish Layla would be less apologetic about things not under her control. Her adoptive father may have sheltered and provided for her but she was starved of affection, love, trust, and honesty. At no point was he ever completely forthright. She was raised to believe very little about her worth and nearly pushed into fulfilling prophecy. A fatal blow was inflicted without proof of guilt and she was blamed for all ill events despite her denial of conscious involvement. She was kept not raised.

Hate love triangles!

The only reason I read this series is because a lot of the reviews said it wasn't much of a love triangle but is this isn't much of a triangle than I would hate to read a full on love triangle. Ugh! I don't understand how people can read them. I felt so bad for Zane because I really liked him but knowing she was going to choose Roth just made it hard. The narrator did a great job but just couldn't handle her going between 2 guys.

OH MY GAWD!!!!!!

Ever since White Hot Kiss I have been #TeamRoth but there were moments in SCT that made me doubt my loyaltt, cuz Zayne in this book? Wow. Deep down i knew there was a reason why Roth said and did what he did and when he finally came clean about it my heart went boom 💘❤️💔
I cant wait for Every Last Breath!!!! 😍😍😍😍😍

ugh

Why do the female leads have to be so dense! Get control of your powers and dont be a freaking victim. Try giving souls back eh? If you can take it why cant you return it? As for Roth, you can feel feelings! Zayne! You claim to love him, you have absolutely no control over your baser instincts, then he belongs with Danika duh! Wah wah whiney whine. Two gorgeous guys to choose from, superpowers, beauty! Wah wah

Team Zayne or Team Roth? Either is hot!!!!

I fell in love with the two same guys that Layla has...hmm, must be in the water. I lean more towards one team, but I won't force you to listen to me chant his name.

Just know that both "men" represent something different to her and her life. Layla is trying to reconcile her heart and mind after a painful break.

But things are only getting worse both in life and love...or are they?

Whether you're Team Roth or Team Zayne, both break your heart at some point in the series. You just have to decide like Layla, who...


I bought the audiobooks on a whim. I recently have been devouring my faves while I do housework. it was awesome to hear it come to life.

Promising but not quite.. there yet.

Like with the first title of this series, I like the setting— it has potential. It’s still interesting enough for me to continue the series.

However, the quality of the story, writing, characters/character development is definitely not on par with other series in the same genre (eg Blood and Ash, Throne of Glass). It’s still very teenage-y and the characters are stereotypical, eg male leads being tall and muscly and driving fancy cars/bikes and calling them “my baby”. That actually made me cringe. I feel like most characters are one-dimensional.

The narration is generally okay but needs some work. I had trouble distinguishing some of the male characters from each other. And because of how his tone and voice is portrayed, Roth sounds like a real douche which kind of takes the fun out of it since he’s the most interesting character..

Annoyances

The narrator didn't differentiate between male voices very much. At times, the voices also ran together so that Layla's thoughts would be in Roth's voice for example. It made listening confusing.

The plot was fine enough but the "hip lingo" and catch phrases were cringey after a while.

Too whiny

I’m tired of books where the main character is so whiny and stupid. Layla had it good and then messed it up for no reason. And the story jumps around too much. I won’t be reading the last book. And will be returning this. I I couldn’t even finish it.

Love these books.

great story line. easy to get into the book. love the characters and the heart stopping moments. it brings out all the great and sad emotions.

The story takes a whole new level.

After the 1st book I was looking forward to this book, but did not expect it to enjoy it as much as I did. I can't wait to go on to the next book.

Dragging a bit

I was looking forward to the next chapter in Layla's story and even though I cannot fault the storyline, I felt that this second book was dragged out too much. There was long chapters that didn't add much to the story, nor were they particularly interesting or exciting, almost like JLA was trying hard to make up the page count. It's a pretty long book, and I would have preferred 4 hours less listening at a faster, more captivating pace. I've also noticed mistakes: wrong names used, inconsistencies in the story, which proves rushed writing and poor editing. Probably my least favourite JLA novel even though the story itself is good and obviously I'm still going to listen to the last book. On the plus side, the emotional evolution of the characters is well done. Bonus chapter at the end was also a nice touch.