Review: Touch by Jus Accardo

Title: Touch
Author: Jus Accardo
Publisher: Entangled Publishing (November 1, 2011)
Source: NetGalley

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.

I was excited to read Touch by Jus Accardo because it seemed dark and sexy, two amazing qualities in a book if you ask me. ;) Unfortunately, I didn't end up liking it as much as I hoped I would.

Now, I'll preface my review by saying that I think there are readers who will really enjoy this book. There are definitely some good qualities to Touch. For example, the characters. Dez has a straightforward, tells-you-exactly-what-she's-thinking voice that helps the reader understand her immediately. The voice pulled me into the story right away. Definitely good stuff. Plus, Dez isn't a typical YA female heroine. She drinks, skateboards, and (gasp!) isn't a virgin. I love that she's different.

There were a lot of other cool characters too. Dez's cousin Brandt is another of my favorites, though he doesn't play a huge role. Alex is interesting. Can't say he's a favorite because of his relationship with Dez, but he was pretty intriguing. Anyway, I think you get the point, characters = goodness.

The plot is interesting too, even if the basics are pretty common in YA fiction. Big evil corporation/government is doing big evil things to people who happen to have special abilities. (Which, FYI, can sum up the plot for the story I'm writing too, so I clearly don't have anything against it.)

I think my biggest problem is that the story and writing didn't seem developed enough to me. I'm having a hard time being more specific than that, but I can comment on one part of this: Kale. For some reason, Kale didn't resonate as realistic (as realistic as a sheltered person who's touch kills people could be). There was just something about his character that didn't feel well-rounded. I still liked him, but it irked me that he didn't seem complete.

Overall, I'd say check out the summary, the first few pages, and some other reviews to decide whether or not Touch is for you. It wasn't my favorite book, but I wouldn't say it was bad either.

Final thoughts: Borrow, if interested.