Opposition by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Title: Opposition

Series: Lux #5

Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout

Publisher: Entangled Teen Publishing

Date Published: August 5, 2014

Genre: YA fiction, sci-fi, supernatural, action

Pages: 306 (ebook - not the Special Collectors Edition)

Age Range: 13+



Summary


Katy knows the world changed the night the Luxen came. She can’t believe Daemon stood by as his kind threatened to obliterate every last human and hybrid on Earth. But the lines between good and bad have blurred.

Daemon will do anything to save those he loves, even if it means betrayal. But when it quickly becomes impossible to tell friend from foe, and the world is crumbling around them, they may lose everything to ensure the survival of their friends…and mankind.


 Review


I think this cover is the least cheesy out of the series! My favorite cover is still from the first one (Obsidian) but this one is nice too. 

So many things happened in the last 50 pages of this book and it was...intense. Like, wow. Was not expecting some of them to happen and others were just flat out shocking and horrible. But, before I talk about the ending, let me start with the beginning and middle. There will be spoilers here and there.

We see a lot more Archer in this book and it's awesome! I love him as a character and I wish there was more of him! I want more Archer! He's a very reserved character that has a fantastic sense of humor. He shows up in the first few pages and pokes fun at Katy. He really strengthens as a character in this book and even ends up with one of the most important characters in the book!

Speaking of Archer ending up with one of the most important characters... Even though I knew Dee would be back to her normal-self before the book was over, I was really nervous about her. I was worried everything that happened would affect her badly. I think having a connection with Archer kept her grounded.

Again, I really liked being able to read from not only Katy's perspective but also Daemon's. It gave us a lot of insight for what was going on and to get an understanding for what both of them were feeling and thinking throughout the book.

Okay! So the ending.

I feel like we should have gotten more closure with Nancy. Her death was too said-and-done. I wanted more. After everything she did, I wanted more of a show-down or more of an actual death-scene.

DAEMON WAS SHOT! HE WAS SHOT AND KATY AND DAEMON AREN'T CONNECTED. KATY WOULD HAVE GONE ON IF HE HAD DIED AND THAT'S TERRIBLE!

I wasn't too worried but I was not expecting Daemon to get hurt. He doesn't really get hurt in the series so it was rather shocking when that happened. I was pretty sure he wouldn't die but I was worried that there would be some sort of harmful outcome other than death. 

What happened to Katy's mom was something I was not expecting. I really thought that she was okay. I thought there would be some sort of huge reunion, but as soon as everyone got out of the car and they sensed that there was a Luxen near by, I immediately knew that something was up. Although, I was not expecting what was actually waiting for Katy...

The ending to this series was nice! I was happy that Beth and Dawson finally got their "happy ending"--that they could relax and finally be together without struggle. I loved Katy's reference to Twilight. She was holding Dawson and Beth's little girl and said that she was tempted to call her Nessie. Aaaaahh! This series has been a lot like Twilight (in a good way. I felt that a lot of things were better) but to have Katy actually mention something from Twilight saga's Breaking Dawn was funny!

Very nice ending...BUT I WISH THERE WERE MORE!!

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Origin by Jenniger L. Armentrout

Title: Origin

Series: Lux Series #4

Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout

Publisher: Entangled Teen

Date Published: August 27, 2013

Genre: YA fiction, sci-fi, supernatural, action

Pages: 400 (paperback)

Age Range: 13+



Summary


Daemon will do anything to get Katy back.
 

After the successful but disastrous raid on Mount Weather, he’s facing the impossible. Katy is gone. Taken. Everything becomes about finding her. Taking out anyone who stands in his way? Done. Burning down the whole world to save her? Gladly. Exposing his alien race to the world? With pleasure.

All Katy can do is survive. 

Surrounded by enemies, the only way she can come out of this is to adapt. After all, there are sides of Daedalus that don’t seem entirely crazy, but the group’s goals are frightening and the truths they speak even more disturbing. Who are the real bad guys? Daedalus? Mankind? Or the Luxen?

Together, they can face anything.  

But the most dangerous foe has been there all along, and when the truths are exposed and the lies come crumbling down, which side will Daemon and Katy be standing on? And will they even be together?

Review


Aaaand we're back to cheesy book covers *fake applause* This is a book cover Daemon would make fun of. I can picture him cracking jokes about the guy being shirtless, and--ironically--Daemon is on the cover...shirtless! I poke fun at the covers for this series but I really do feel like they go with the series. The covers are very fitting, in a good way!

Now, let's get down to it.

Let's get all of the boring stuff out of the way first. The writing was amazing, as usual! I think this book was more intense than the others! It was action-packed from beginning to the end! Once I started, I could not put it down! I can't believe I ever put this series on my "paused" shelf, but I'm glad I'm finishing it now! 

The last book (Opal) left off with a major cliff-hanger where Katy is captured by Daedalus. Things are intense from the moment you pick up this book. Katy is scared, fierce, and unsure of how exactly things are going to play out. She fights back against the people that are holding her there and refuses to cooperate from day-one!

Meanwhile, Daemon is locked up as well. But that only lasts for a few pages because he's awesome and manages to break out of the place so he can go find Kat. He ends up giving himself over to Daedalus and makes a deal with the groups evil leader, Nancy, in order to see Kat. As soon as he gets there, Kat is happy and relieved, but, at the same time, totally horrified that he's turned himself over and is deciding to go through this with her.

Not long after their little reunion, Daedalus start their experiments. A lot of things are revealed that I wasn't expecting and there's a lot of terrible deaths involved.

This book was fun even when things were supposed to be series. I feel like Daemon's sense of humor helped ease some of Katy's tension while they were in Daedalus. I think there were only 2 things that kept Kat from breaking down sooner.
1. Daemon's presence and not wanting him to see her lose it. She wanted to stay strong for him.
2. She didn't want to give Daedalus's the satisfaction of seeing her break down.

I could feel that Katy got stronger in this book. Physically and mentally, she grew as a character. I also loved reading from Daemon's perspective. I really enjoyed reading from both their point-of-views!

We had a bunch of new characters introduced but my favorite has to be Archer. I find Archer very intriguing and I can't wait to see what else he brings to the table. I feel like he will be a big asset in the next book. Which, I'm downloading to my iPad right now. As I type this. And I'm going to start reading it right after I finish this review...It's done downloading so.....BYE

4.5 STARS

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Oblivion by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Title: Oblivion

Series: Lux series #1.5

Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout

Publisher: Entangled Teen

Date Published: December 1, 2015

Genre: YA fiction, romance, sci-fi, action, supernatural

Pages: 352 (paperback)

Age Range: 13+


Summary

Experience the epic love story of OBSIDIAN as told by its hero, Daemon Black…
 
I knew the moment Katy Swartz moved in next door, there was going to be trouble. Lots of it.
And trouble’s the last thing I need, since I’m not exactly from around here. My people arrived on Earth from Lux, a planet thirteen billion light years away. Plus, if there’s one thing I know, it’s that humans can’t be trusted. We scare them. We can do things they only dream about, and honestly, we make them look weak as hell. ‘Cuz they are.

But Kat is getting to me in ways no one else has, and I can't stop myself from wanting her—or wanting to use my powers to protect her. She makes me weak, and I’m the strongest of our kind, tasked with protecting us all. So this one simple girl…she can mean the end for us. Because the Luxen have an even bigger enemy—the Arum, and I need to stay on my game.

Falling for Katy—a human—won't just place her in danger. It could get us all killed, and that’s one thing I’ll never let happen...


Review


This series is keeping to the cheesy/fun book cover theme and like it! The cover actually reminds me of one of the book covers Daemon was teasing Kat about.

It was great reading--basically--Obsidian from Daemon's perspective. It answered a lot of questions I had while reading Obsidian. Now I know he's not such a jerk. He did what he had to do, even though he had crazy mood swings. He really did like Kat from the start and tried to do right by her by trying to keep her away. He went about it the wrong way (by being a total jerk face half the time) but he felt like he needed to drive her away so I can understand to an extent. Yet he couldn't keep from being pulled toward her.

Reading from Daemon's POV was very steamy...and shocking a few times. I wasn't expecting a few things to happen but...it was good otherwise lol. I was reading from a guy's POV so I guess such things should be expected (totally kidding lol).

I still love Daemon and Katy's banter. It's cute and, now that I've read from Daemon's point-of-view, I know they both really did genuinely care about each other during the first book. It wasn't one-sided on Kat's side, and it almost happened immediately. Daemon was drawn to Katy just like Katy was drawn to Daemon.

Daemon's arrogance might aggravate you a few times (or possibly more than a few) and the way he reacts to Katy sometimes is upsetting because he's reacting the wrong way for the right reasons. 

This is a rather short review but it's because I've already reviewed Obsidian so I don't feel the need to talk about the characters. The writing was good, naturally. Armentrout always writes spunky-fun and steamy books and writes them beautifully. Daemon and Katy always make me laugh. If you're a fan of the Lux series, I would recommend picking up this book. It will answer any questions that you had while reading the first book from Katy's perspective and it was very enjoyable and fast read.

Though, I will admit that I was hoping for a little more action and insight to Daemon's life and the Luxen. Didn't really get much outside of what we originally read in Obsidian. 

So, I haven't finished the rest of the books in the Lux series BUT I'M GOING TO NOW. I have 2 books left to read but now I'm back into it and excited to get my hands on them!

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New Allegiant Trailer

New Allegiant trailer has been released!!

From what I've heard, the Allegiant book wasn't that good but that won't stop me from checking this movie out. I haven't read the book because I've heard it's bad but I want to finish watching the movies to know what happens.

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Every Day by David Levithan

 Title: Every Day

 Author: David Levithan

 Series: Everyday #1

 Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers

 Date Published: August 28, 2012

 Genre: Contemporary, Fantasy?

 Pages: 338 (Hardcover)

Age Range: 12+




                                                                     Summary:

     Every day a different body. Every day a different life. Every day in love with the same girl.
     There’s never any warning about where it will be or who it will be. A has made peace with that, even established guidelines by which to live: Never get too attached. Avoid being noticed. Do not interfere.

     It’s all fine until the morning that A wakes up in the body of Justin and meets Justin’s girlfriend, Rhiannon. From that moment, the rules by which A has been living no longer apply. Because finally A has found someone he wants to be with—day in, day out, day after day.

                                                                       Review:

     From the flap, I was really interested in reading this book. That personal hype started around two years ago, and since then, it hasn't abated much. So, I read this book, aware of all the hype surrounding it, expecting (for once) to fall in love with this bit of hype, and get some amazing message to walk away with, and cherish in my heart forever. Instead, I was left with a bit of a sour taste, and a ton of lovey-dovey fluff that I didn't want anywhere near this story. I know the flap practically screams I'm a Romeo and Juliet kind of scenario but I was praying for something a bit more unique. What did I get? A Romeo and Juliet scenario.

     A's predicament was fascinating. Sure, it was never fully explained, it was kind of half thought out, and it had a plethora of rules that were just too convenient, but I liked it. I thought it was kind of original, and I wasn't that bothered by how convenient the rules were- well, I wasn't bothered at first. Then, I realized that we were never going to get a full background of this... traveling thing. And since I couldn't have that, I wanted everything to stop being so darned easy for A. Like, just because he finally meets someone he wants after about four hours of instalove does not mean that he can suddenly start screwing with rules that were set in stone before, just so he can stay near the object of his desires. All of that said, I did like A, and- dare I say it?- I actually felt pretty bad for him.

     Rhiannon, on the other hand... not so much. I'm just going to come straight out and say that I didn't feel as if she's good enough for A. A is actually a really good guy stuck in an unfavorable set of Life's Cards, and Rhiannon is a girl who sticks around her crummy boyfriend because she can. Honestly, we don't get a lot of character development for this girl, and what we do, is pretty negative. Her boyfriend isn't the best, but he also doesn't hurt her or anything, and sometimes he can actually be really great, and she's kind of an outcast because of her gloominess. Maybe I missed something with her, but I just din't feel like she was good enough for A.

     The plot was something that could have been shortened drastically, and had something of major relevance happen. Besides a weird outside threat, and a "will they, or won't they" kind of drama, nothing really happens besides some super cool body changing from A. I think something else that made this book drag its little feet is the writing. I actually thought the writing was very pretty, but a little too flowery in many parts. I feel like a bit more an action-packed writing style would've worked better.

    I don't even know what book two is about, so I don't know if I want to read it. I think I do, but if it's from Rhiannon's POV, or mainly about her, I'm passing. I want a lot more A in book two, and I want more background from his childhood.

                                                 

I'll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson

 Title: I'll Give You The Sun

 Author: Jandy Nelson

 Publisher: Dial Books

 Date Published: September 16, 2014

 Genre: Contemporary

 Pages: 400 (Hardcover)

 Age Range: 15+









                                                                        Summary:

     At first, Jude and her twin brother are NoahandJude; inseparable. Noah draws constantly and is falling in love with the charismatic boy next door, while daredevil Jude wears red-red lipstick, cliff-dives, and does all the talking for both of them. 

Years later, they are barely speaking. Something has happened to change the twins in different yet equally devastating ways . . . but then Jude meets an intriguing, irresistible boy and a mysterious new mentor. 

The early years are Noah’s to tell; the later years are Jude’s. But they each have only half the story, and if they can only find their way back to one another, they’ll have a chance to remake their world.

                                                                           Review:

     I have siblings, and I'm really close to them. Because I am more than five years older than my sister, the second oldest in the family, we are not as close as Noah and Jude are assumed to be in this book. Noah and Jude are supposed to be incredibly close- the flap even says so! They are supposed to be the same soul split into two bodies- inseparable, similar, etc. But I really wasn't feeling it. There was absolutely no evidence that these two were as tightly-knit as everyone claims, except for references to things that they did together that the reader never gets to see. The book opens to a tragic scene, and quickly dissolves into the two twins being incredibly divided. Never do we see loyalty, love, or camaraderie between the two protagonists- at least not until a page or two away from the end, in my opinion. In fact, they really seem to hate each other, and to blame each other for everything wrong in their own life. And I just didn't want to deal with that. I got really tired of hearing Noah complain about Jude, and Jude complain about Noah. In fact, I was done before I finished reading the first chapter.

     Any other relationship that these characters had with any other character, was dwarfed by the "terrible" loss of losing each other. Both twins apparently fell into disrepair, barely even functioning. Instead, they both fell into the pits of fake depression and floundered in their own self-pity. I wanted nothing more than to shake both of them and tell them to just talk, or, because I couldn't be bothered to care, to grow a pair and move on with life.

     I feel like my very negative reaction to the book wouldn't be so bad if I had liked any aspect of the book. But I didn't. Why, you are probably wondering. I disliked every part of this book because I HATED the writing. It felt amateurish, slow, very boring, and I didn't like the writing style. It was meant to be artistic and profound, but nothing worked. It was sloppy, stupid, and grated on my already-thin nerves. Because I didn't like the writing, I didn't like the plot, the characters, or any aspect that author tried to throw at me as a reader.

     The only thing that this book has going for it, is its gorgeous cover. I won't lie, the cover is beautiful. But that's the only thing that I actually can find to praise about this travesty. Just stay away. I don't think I can make myself read Jandy Nelson's other book(s) even though they were widely acclaimed.