Jus Accardo

There are a lot of things to admire about TOUCH, the first book in Accardo's Denazen books. Our main character, Deznee Cross is a sassy, quick-witted girl who takes no gruff and gives (almost) as good as she gets. Dez is brassy and just this side of reckless, just mature enough to make you believe (most of) her actions, but still with that hint of vulnerability that teenagers often have. Dez wants everything the world is offering, that's pretty much how you can sum up her character. She has her problems with it, but by in large she wants to experience everything life has to offer with very little worry about the future.

Kale, the catalyst for everything, by comparison was very inexperienced. He didn't understand some pretty common sense things and genuinely found interest in the ordinary, everyday things we take for granted (DVD's, pictures, music). Their juxtaposed ideas about life make for an intriguing and engaging way to understand the book's world.

Action is never in short supply either. Accardo gives a definite feeling of energy and urgency, though there comes a point when I started feel exhausted and wondered where Dez and Kale got their energy from. Every stumbling block they overcome is hiding an even bigger one which inevitably is hiding an even bigger one. Dez's judgement at times also seemed atypical for her. Not quite out of character or extraordinarily weird, but definitely worth pausing over and wondering if given a bit more time she would have come to a better solution. The tense pace of the plot also left me sometimes overwhelmed trying to keep up. During a scene between Dez and her father I swept right by it without really seeing it. It was only after I re-read it I realized how important the interaction was the central plot of the series.

I appreciated that Accardo kept the romance age-appropriate, especially given Dez's experience vs. Kale's inexperience. This never strays into the squick area or tries to emulate the bodice-ripper romances without the explicitness; the romance feels genuine, feels like a natural progression. There's a little competition for Dez's affection, but Accardo makes it pretty obvious how things are meant to end up.

In the end I enjoyed the novel and I'm looking forward to reading the next adventure Dez goes through, though I sincerely hope that the intensity of the novel dials down a bit. I'm not used to having to catch my mental breath at the end of a novel.

(originally this review appeared on Night Owl Teen)… (more)

I listened to the audible and I gave it an overall 3 star rating for the following reasons, I feel like somewhere along my listening time I may have got distracted and lost pace of what was going on, I don't know maybe I just got a bit bored or maybe I just wasn't in it, which is weird because at first I was really liking it and towards the end it got really interesting but whatever, I will definitely listen to it again or maybe read the physical book. I did like the narrators however whenever either of the narrators actually did the laughing it sounded so force and fake that it literally made me cringe, I wish they didn't laugh at all just say they did other than that I would definitely listen to anything else they narrate.

If you like fantasy you would enjoy this.
I wouldn't say it's an enemies to lovers but it does involve fae and human bonding/connection
Betrayal
Ruler drama… (more)

7/10, looking back at this book I realised that it had some flaws but it was still an enjoyable read overall despite them since there were some positive aspects to compensate for that. Infinity by Jus Accardo is a unique novel about Kori Anderson discovering a secret United States Government project which was that they were working on travelling to different dimensions and I thought that would be a great book but alas, it was just an ok book due to its execution. The characters were fine and got the job done and they were just neutral and the antagonist named Dylan was in the background most of the time but that built up some suspense which I liked. The pacing was mostly slow despite the book being just 320 pages but at least there were some cool action scenes here and there within it like the ending and jumping between dimensions. The only thing that changed between them were the people and the buildings which now that I look back other books have done this type of thing before so now it's not that original anymore. I think there are two more books in the series but I doubt that my library would get them but I would gladly read them if they got them. If you like books about travelling to different dimensions this one is for you.… (more)