Review: White Hot Kiss (The Dark Elements #1) by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Title: White Hot Kiss
Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout
My rating: 4,7 hearts
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Paranormal Romance
Release date: February 25, 2014
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Summary: Seventeen-year-old Layla is very different. She’s raised with the Wardens (also known as gargoyles)meant to protect humanity from demons, but she isn’t one herself. At least not completely. She’s half Warden, half demon, and as such, she is one of her kind. She can see souls, and with only a kiss, take them, too. Which makes it very hard to get close to guys.

Then she meets Roth, the hot demon who seems to know more about her than she does. She knows it’s not a good idea trusting him, especially as it would mark her a traitor to her family, but when she find out secrets about her past, she might not have a choice.

My thoughts: I was a little disappointed in this book, actually. I’ve loved all of JLA’s books so far, and I had hopes of something a little better than this. I may or may not have to high expectations of this author because of her previous books. That’s not saying I didn’t love this book. I was having trouble breathing through 85% of this book, and I had to finish it in a day, because I needed to know what would happen. It just wasn’t as great as her other books.

So, let’s start with Layla. She a half Warden, half demon, and has been taught all her life to hide her demon side. She has a huge crush on her best friend, Zayne, who is a Warden, only problem is, she can’t act on it, since she can’t kiss anyone with a soul. Layla knows nothing about her past, only that her mother was a demon and her father a Warden, and she’s lived with the Wardens since she was found by them when she was a kid.

Zayne, the best friend since childhood that she has a major crush on, is always there for her. He’s the perfect best friend, but, at times, I thought he was a little boring. In the beginning of the book, he’s very boring, and, sadly, he doesn’t get more exciting until towards the end. He’s also completely oblivious to the fact that Layla has a crush on him.

Then there is Roth, the überhot demon. He shows Layla that the world might not be as black-and-white as she previously thought. And, with him being a demon with no soul, the no-kissing thing is not an issue.

I have to say this; I love Roth. One of my favorite parts of this book is probably the conversations between him and Layla, because they are never boring. He’s flirting a lot with Layla, and he always says things that make her embarrassed. I actually don’t really know how to describe him, more than that he’s a bad boy, which is kind of obvious throughout the book.

And, as unimportant as this may be, I always laugh when he calls Zayne “Stony”. I’m definitely Team Roth.

Right after Roth, my favorite character is Bambi, the demonic snake that lives on Roth’s skin as a tattoo, most of the time. Then sometimes, she tends to “jump off his skin”. I don’t really know why, but I love her, and her very ironical name.

The book is pretty boring, and it doesn’t happen so much in it until later on in the book, but I think the good characters (especially Roth and Bambi) makes up for it. I hope the sequel gets more exciting and that JLA adds some action scenes, because with that, it would be a nearly perfect book.

I would definitely recommend you to read this, and give it a chance, because it gets better later on.

 

Favorite quote:

"There's sweetness in evil", he said. "And remember, looks can be deceiving."