Origin (Lux #4) by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Caution, this review may contain spoilers for this book and any previous installments in this series. Particularly heavy spoilers in this review. What has been read cannot be unread. You have been warned.

As I'm sure you are aware, this is the fourth book in the Lux series, and the most recent one (as of January 2014). I was really nervous about this book, as I strongly dislike it when the leading lady and her love interest are forcibly kept apart (since Katy's situation at the end of Opal) and I'm also not keen on the captured-by-enemies-and-tortured scenario either. However, those bits didn't last very long, and, I have to say, I enjoyed this book the most out of the four in this series so far.

What I Liked:

• Dual POV. This literally saved the beginning of the novel. I honestly cannot get through the separation of the couple in most of my books. Having Daemon's POV literally allowed me to read this book. I always looked forward to his chapters at the end of the book more than any other part, so having his perspective in such large quantities was awesome. 
• Blake's death. He had it coming. The scene where he shoves Katy in the bathtub and soaks her to be a dick? Oh, he had it coming. No moral conundrum whatsoever over Blake's death. 
• JLA's willingness to hand out the death card. I really liked when Dawson killed Matthew. It was swift, it was immediate, and it was not lingered upon. And, I mean, Paris, Andrew, Ash...this isn't like some YA novels, where only the bad guys die, and they die off-screen, and the character mopes about it for the rest of the book. I feel like JLA was really brave with this, and it made the final confrontation scene in Vegas so much more palpable and heart-pounding for me, since death really was on the table for significant characters. 
• The back story on Daedalus. I adore world-building, and JLA does it so well. Everything about the origins, and, okay, I'm not going to like, the fact that male Luxen and female hybrids can make origin babies...I want to see mini-Daemons. I just do. I said it, and I will not take it back. 
• Daemon's description of Katy when he first saw her inside Daedalus. That melted my heart. That is why I read YA fiction. It's like JLA has a magnifying glass into my soul or something. What I wouldn't give to have a guy think something like that while looking at me. I'd implode on the spot, so it's good I don't, haha. 
• DB. The little alien plushie thing Daemon bought Katy and how cute he thought she looked with it also melted my heart. I was pretty much a puddle of heart goop during this whole book. It was just so sweet and vulnerable a thing amidst the chaos, and I loved it so much.  
• Going to the chapel, and we're gonna get maaa-aaa-rrr-ied! (That's a song, btw.) I genuinely teared up when Daemon thought about proposing and then did it. Words cannot express how much my heart melted with joy and love and asdfghjkl at that moment. I honestly cried. It was so sweet and so perfect and so wonderful and nothing, nothing, so great has ever been done in the world of YA fiction. Seriously, JLA has broken a frontier, blazed a trail, whatever. It was just the most romantic scene I've ever read in my whole (very long) reading life. I'm still tearing up right freaking now. Having both of their perspectives, and just the love, the feelings, the romance...it was so poignant and touching and it never, ever came close to melodramatic or sappy or anything negative. Gaah!
• Daemon and Katy. They were beyond belief in this book. Their love scenes, their relationship, their marriage, their thoughts on each other. God almighty, it was perfect. Truly. This is the kind of love people dream about. Everything I ever want in a YA relationship was right here. 
• Dawson and Beth. They're so sweet. They just are so adorable! Awwww!
• The ending. I feel like this was an excellently executed ending. There was enough resolution, and Katy and Daemon were in a good place, but there were also lots of open ends, like Dawson and Beth's baby, and the whole cavalcade of random Luxen...so excited for the next one!

What I Didn't Like: 

• Again, not a criticism, but I wanted more on Archer. I feel like his relationship with Luc is deeper than we know, and I want his perspective on the outside world and if anything is really going on with Dee. 

Final Thoughts:

• I really feel like Origin is my favorite book in the series so far! 
• Daemon and Katy are officially my favorite couple in YA fiction. They are the best written, the most romantic, and the one that evokes the most feeling from me. 
• I CANNOT wait for the next installments in this series, Opposition, which is apparently also the last. 
• AAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! Seriously, I was so into this book in the last hundred or so pages... this reminds me why I love reading so much!

Opal (Lux #3) by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Caution, this review may contain spoilers for this book and any previous books in the series.

This is a sequel in the series, so I don't feel the need to tell you to read this or tell you what it is about, as, by the third book, I'm sure you know. I powered through this in a little less than two days (like,  two calendar days, not two solid days' worth of reading time), and I really enjoyed reading this book. I have lots of thoughts, and they're kind of jumbled, but that's basically why I write this blog, to sort out my feels over books!

What I Liked:

• The developing relationship between Daemon and Dawson. When we first saw him in Opal, I had fears that this was going to end up like The Vampire Diaries, i.e. brother fighting with brother over girl. However, Katy really seemed to enhance their relationship as opposed to put them at odds. (Props to Jennifer L. Armentrout, hereafter abbreviated JLA, for that breath of fresh air in YA fiction.) I also found their marathons of ghost hunting programming incredibly heartwarming, as well as Dawson's feelings over Beth and how he expressed them to Daemon. It fuzzies all around. 
• Dee's righteous anger with Katy in the beginning. I was still annoyed with Katy, so I was very pleased that Dee still blamed her, and the whole thing wasn't swept under the rug. 
• That said, I also enjoyed the girly shopping trip. I'm conflicted, because I'm still simmering with frustration for Katy's poor decision making, but I also liked the forgiveness themed scenes. I don't know how I feel here, other than that JLA has written a very nuanced relationship between Dee and Katy. 
• The almost sex scene after their plan was foiled by the onyx. That was nicely written. I much prefer it when books leave some to the imagination, and sort of dance around the obvious and vulgar. I want my love scenes to be about a magical connection, not bodily fluids. It was sweet and heartwarming, and I just got all warm and fuzzy. 
• In that vein, I also really, really adored their actual sex scene. It was basically what I look for in my love scenes; the connection between Katy and Daemon was depicted really vividly, and it made me smile, you know? I just liked it a lot, and I think that JLA has a real talent for writing these scenes in such a way as to remain true to the characters, yet still emphasize the change that Katy feels she has undergone. 
• Likewise, Daemon's after-prom surprise for Katy (Are you sensing a pattern here?). Also well-written, also charming, and also why I prefer fiction to reality every day of the week and twice on Sunday.
• The surprising/shocking appearances of Carissa and Will. I remember thinking something was up when Carissa got the flu, but I didn't remember it at the forefront of my mind for the whole rest of the book, and I certainly didn't expect her to be unstable or anything that actually went down, so, props again to JLA for the shocker. I certainly did expect Will to return, but I definitely didn't expect him when he did show up. I thought the cliffhanger was going to be Will showing up and shooting/killing someone after the successful mission, and we'd have to wait to see if they pulled through when the next book came out, so I was surprised there, too. I think I was just off my game in terms of suspicion with this book. 

What I Didn't Like:

• Katy. This isn't really a critique of the book, as, like I said, I thoroughly enjoyed it, but I was very frustrated with Katy during this installment. She continually argues with Daemon about how strong and competent she is when a) she trusted Blake and got Adam killed last book and b) she trusted Blake and got herself captured and their only piece of opal stolen this book. I just think she's not as good at being an alien super spy as she thinks she is, so it really annoys me when she gets on her high horse and claims that. Also, she just doesn't learn. She lies to Daemon about Blake (again), by not telling Daemon about his feelings for her and the fact that he is sleeping in her bed, and, lo and behold, Blake's not to be trusted (again), and the sh*t has hit the fan because of him and Katy's trust in him (AGAIN). 
• Blake. Someone could have killed Blake so many times. (I'm fairly ruthless when it comes to fictional deaths, btw)

Final Thoughts:

• The Daemon and Katy in this book was out of this world, it really was. I did miss the chapter from Daemon's perspective in the back of this book, but the scenes in the text really made up for it. Once Katy quit being difficult, they were sweet and charming and fun and everything a YA romance should have. 
• I enjoyed the arcs of secondary characters like Dee, Ash, Andrew, etc. It's easy to lose sight of people like that when something like Mouth Weather happens, but JLA did a wonderful job fitting those sorts of things in with the rest of the plot. 
• I highly recommend this installment in the Lux series to anyone! I've got Origin on my end table right now, and I'm so excited for it!

Onyx (Lux #2) by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Caution, you may see spoilers below for this book and all previous books in the series.

Second books in series are usually the bane of my existence. You know the standard YA trilogy formula, where the girl loses her guy at the end of the first novel, and the second one is all about her misery and potentially introducing the other boy in their love triangle and you're just so frustrated because you know no girl in the fictional world ever ends up with second-book guy. However, Onyx is the exception, and I enjoyed it very thoroughly.

What I Liked:

• The Daemon/Katy in this installment. When Daemon celebrated Thanksgiving with Katy...I died, it was so sweet. Also, when he asked her if he could stay over...gah, I just love when Daemon nuzzles Katy while he's still asleep. (Don't act like you don't think the same!)
• The development of Blake's character and Katy's relationship with him. I typed in my draft, after the scene with the three of them after Blake took out the Arum in the diner, "I really suspect Blake, I just do." First off, we know that Katy has to end up with Daemon, so the love triangle boy, if you will, has to be nixed somehow, so I was already prepared to dislike Blake. However, I really, really loved Jennifer Armentrout's characterization of him; it was such that I had my suspicions of him, but I didn't quite have him figured out. For example, when he drove her away and was really rude at the restaurant, we all pretty much knew he was bad news, but I totally expected them to pull up next to a member of the DOD right then and there, and him having her fight an Arum was not what I expected. 
• Will. Will totally blew me away. I didn't have the slightest suspicion of Will whatsoever, right up until the bowl of potatoes that Katy knocks over and thinks she sees him watching her. I certainly didn't like him, but I kind of viewed him like Ash, an annoyance to Katy, but not a major problem. I really like that I was able to be suspicious of Blake and then have the satisfaction of seeing precisely how he was a bad guy, yet there was also the character of Will that really blindsided me.
• Daemon! I just loved Daemon in this. I hate to admit it, but I am one of those girls that thinks jealousy and being angry because he's hurt are the most attractive things ever. (I would never do this to a guy in real life, of course, supposing one noticed me, but it's nice in fiction.) Also, his love for Katy despite her total lack of judgment was just so noble. Oh, and the last section, their declaration of love from his perspective: I could not stop grinning. I look forward to his perspective the most, and this addition did not disappoint. I really, really applaud Jennifer Armentrout for portraying Daemon's feelings (in his words, being a "pansy") without seeming out of character with his general attitude. 

What I Didn't Like:

• Katy. This isn't a criticism of the book itself, this is more something I'm frustrated with in the characters in an in-universe way. I'm still kind of annoyed with Katy's poor judgment in this installment. Like I said, Blake threw up red flags for me, but, okay, Katy's trusting, but she doesn't say anything even after he takes her to see the Arum? And after she realizes he's with the DOD? Ugh. I could have smacked her. I still want to. I'm just not over that yet. Especially the way she said she did it was so she could be equal to Daemon and help and everything, and all she's managed to do was ruin everything. I'm interested to see how Dee handles Adam's death in terms of Katy's culpability, because I sure won't be forgiving her. 
• I'm also frustrated with the number of bad guys that are now just running around. Will and Blake, most obviously...but also that Nancy woman, and who knows which side Bethany is on. I mean, obviously there's a sequel, but I generally get annoyed when character's leave an enemy live for moral reasons. You know they're going to somehow play a future part. 

Final Thoughts:

• The Daemon was just out of this world in Onyx. Seriously, it was actually hot. Like, in real life. I cannot adequately tell you how desirable Daemon was in this book. 
• This definitely avoided the usual dragging of the second book in a series, but I think I preferred Katy in Obsidian, though, like I said, Daemon was incomparable in this one. 
• I'm looking forward to Opal and I would like to wish everyone a Happy New Year! (It's like 8 minutes left right now.)

Obsidian (Lux #1) by Jennifer L. Armentrout

CAUTION: Here, there may be spoilers. You have been warned.

Obsidian is the first book in the Lux series by Jennifer L. Armentrout. This is my first book by Ms. Armentrout, and it certainly will NOT be the last. I received this book for Christmas, and I am kicking myself that it was not the first book from my Christmas haul that I read. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and I'm reading the sequel (Onyx) right now.

What I Liked:

• Katy. I LOVE Katy. First off, she's a book blogger! How cool is that? Second, she's one of the most relatable yet realistic heroines I've encountered in YA fiction. She's feisty, intelligent, and awesome, but she's not a Mary Sue at all. She's someone I would want to be and/or be friends with. 
• Daemon. It must be a law of the universe that all guys named this are incredibly sexy. (Damon from The Vampire Diaries anyone?) He's got that perfect blend of badassery, jerkface-ness, and emotional vulnerability that make a YA hero swoon-worthy. (Seriously, I've been having a hard time swooning over books lately, mainly because I read so much that characters start to seem contrived, but, no, I swooned.) Plus, moody guys are hot. 
• Daemon and Katy's relationship. You'll see a lot of people comparing the Lux series to the Twilight Saga. Yes, a human girl moves to a small town where a non-human boy rescues her from a moving vehicle and by so doing reveals his non-humanity to her, much to the chagrin of his non-human relatives who hate her, except for his bubbly sister. However, what I think of the Twilight series notwithstanding (*cough* not much *cough*), it's hard to argue that Daemon and Katy's relationship isn't much, much hotter. 

What I Didn't Like:

• Honestly, I'm not partial to aliens. I much prefer a more folklore/mythology based bent to my YA supernatural/paranormal romance. Nothing against the book, but keep in mind, this is a bit of a sci-fi novel. 

Final Thoughts:

• I would unreservedly recommend this book to fans of YA romance. It has everything, yet it still managed to stand apart and, for the most part, above the rest. 
• Seriously, Daemon is swoon-worthy. 
• Jennifer Armentrout makes cultural references in this book! I love that!