lux – Zakiya N. Jamal

In answer to my question in my review for the first book of this series, I’m not sure if this series is going downhill or not but maybe I’ll figure it out by the end of this review. Let us begin.

First, my feelings about Katy were very up and down throughout the novel. This is the second book in Jennifer L. Armentrout’s Lux series and last time we left off Daemon told Katy he was going to make her fall for him and of course she said that’s ridiculous and he said:

And as we see early on, he means business. Flowering Katy with gifts and attention Katy has to force herself to not believe he has feelings for her which is ridiculous because he clearly does. However, she is in thorough denial blaming their new alien connection for his feelings. In conclusion, she’s crazy.

Needless to say when a new, human guy comes in the picture Katy is all too happy to jump on that train in hopes that she can forget all about Daemon and aliens and just be normal. Sadly, for Katy this guy, Blake, is anything but normal. Rather he might just turn out to be her worst nightmare.

Despite Katy’s annoying disbelief in her clearly budding relationship with Daemon, I still like her as a character. She can be very sassy when she wants to be and definitely doesn’t stand for Daemon’s crap which is great.

Even so, I really love Daemon. He’s so flirty, snarky, protective, and attractive and it’s heartbreaking to watch him put his heart on the line and Katy still not believe it’s real. Daemon is what really kept me reading. And Katy when she wasn’t discussing her blog so much which is ironic since I have my own blog and know exactly what she’s talking about when she says she’s going to write four book reviews in one sitting. I feel for you girl. However, I’d rather hear about your alien drama rather than all the books you read.

What’s also great about this novel is Katy get’s her own powers. For the first time she’s not completely defenseless (although she could handle her own in the first book as well). Learning how to control these powers, however, causes Katy and Daemon issues, especially since they’re keeping her powers and their new alien connection a secret from everyone, including Dee, putting a strain on their friendship.

Overall, I’d have to say that I did enjoy this novel more than the first in the series. There’s way more sexual tension between the two main characters, Dee gets some action as well, and the alien drama gets even more crazy as the Department of Defense (DOD) makes a big appearance in this novel. With so many threats, secrets, and romance around, this novel was an exciting book to read. Yes, there were still some parts that I could do without (mostly Katy’s inner monologues about her feelings about Daemon and her books) but overall this book was good enough for me to buy the third.

Stars: 4out of 5. Good but not OMG amazing.

Borrow or Buy: Borrow. This one isn’t as cheap as the first one and although I’ll definitely be rereading some parts at some point, I don’t think it’s something I needed in my Kindle library.

I am a creature of habit so when I find an author I love I read all their books until there’s no more left and I don’t stray. I’m also pretty stuck up about the books I read. Not to say I only read classics and NY Times Bestsellers but I only read novels that I deem to be “worthy”. That being said, rarely do I ever take a chance on an author I’ve never read/heard of before. But this time since it was only $2.99 on my Kindle and I was desperate to read something new I had to take a chance and I’m very glad that I did.

I don’t know where Jennifer L. Armentrout has been hiding this whole time but I am now officially hooked on her Lux series. The series focuses on Katy Swartz, a 17 year old girl, who moves to a small town in West Virginia with her mom a few years after her dad died. Both her mom and herself are looking for a fresh start and although Katy is not at all thrilled with her mom’s choice of location she attempts to take it in stride for the sake of her mom.

That is until she meets her next door neighbor, Daemon Black, who seems to hate her from the moment she meets him, and Katy has no idea why. All she knows is he’s a douche bag that she hates but is also kind of attracted to. Talk about awkward. Daemon’s sister, Dee, is his opposite however, as she quickly befriends Katy, despite her brother’s warning. The more Katy spends time with the Blacks the more she realizes that there’s something strange about the Blacks that she can’t quite put her finger on. It’s not until Daemon saves her life that she learns the truth: they’re aliens.

By saving Katy’s life Daemon leaves an alien trace on her that puts her in danger of being found by other aliens that won’t hesitate to kill her. This forces the two to spend more time together than either of them bargained for as Daemon feels obligated to protect her and get rid of the trace that also puts himself and sister in danger. This of course leads to multiple fights, a lot of sexual tension, and the learning that they may have more in common than they originally thought.

I’ll admit the beginning started pretty slow with Katy constantly talking about how much she missed writing on her blog and me thinking, “Nobody cares; get to the good stuff!” However, the novel then quickly picks up once she meets Daemon and starts hanging out with the Blacks on a more regular basis.

What makes this novel great is although it relies on the classic “girl meets guy who turns out to not be a human” trope it differs because although we all know they’re probably going to end up falling for each other it doesn’t start off that way. Katy knows she wants Daemon sexually but that doesn’t change the fact that he’s a dick to her and what’s great about Katy is she doesn’t stand for it, not even when she finds out the truth about him and what he could do. Armentrout produces a character that’s not afraid to say what she’s thinking and is willing to stand up for herself no matter how attractive and mysterious a guy is. That’s awesome.

Additionally, Armentrout is a saint and adds two chapters in Daemon’s point of view at the end of the book so we can know exactly what he was thinking in those moments. While you’re reading you’ll understand why this is such a God send. Daemon is such a hard character to read and always leaves us wondering, “Does he like her or not?” It’s frustrating but so fun to read as well.

I plan to read the whole series over my spring break so I’ll have many reviews to let you know whether the series get’s better or worse from here but I’ve read the first two chapters of the next book and I’m very excited to see what happens next.

Stars: 4 out 5. Though I think the novel is great over all, the beginning was too slow for me.

Borrow or Buy: Buy. It’s so cheap, why not? Plus it’s really good and you’ll definitely want to reread it at some point.

Tag: lux

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