Welcome to the first installment of Mini Reviews! Today I’m going to be sharing my thoughts on the first books I read this year, The Time Machine by H. G. Wells and Oblivionby Jennifer L. Armentrout.
The Time Machine by H.G. Wells – ★★★☆☆
A Time Traveler details the events of his travels to his skeptical friends. I was fully prepared to enjoy this book, especially since the first few pages fondly reminded me of discussions that I’ve had with friends from a philosophy class I took. However, the majority of the book was description-heavy, the only dialogue being the Time Traveler’s explanation of his adventure, which was tiring to read. The rare breaks in dialogue were almost a relief, and I didn’t find much of the main character’s adventure exciting, with the exception of a few events in the last half of the story. Although I was pleasantly surprised by the ending, I’m not sure if it made it worth the read. While I love stories about time travel, this one isn’t a favorite.
Oblivion by Jennifer L. Armentrout (Lux #1.5) – ★★★★★
A retelling of Obsidian, the first book in the Lux series, in the point of view of another character. My 14-year-old self adored this series, and while the writing was slightly cheesier than I remembered, Oblivion is just as exciting to read as the rest of the series, immediately capturing my attention. It’s a super easy book to read, and often I’d find myself reading large chunks of it in one sitting without even realizing it! I think I still prefer Katy’s POV, but it was cool to see what went on when Katy wasn’t around. Overall, this was a really fun book to read, and it definitely has me looking to read more from Armentrout!
What books did you read to kick off the new year? Let me know what you thought of these books!
Summary: Katy knows the world changed the night the Luxen came.
She can’t believe Daemon welcomed his race or stood by as his kind threatened to obliterate every last human and hybrid on Earth. But the lines between good and bad have blurred, and love has become an emotion that could destroy her—could destroy them all.
Daemon will do anything to save those he loves, even if it means betrayal.
They must team with an unlikely enemy if there is any chance of surviving the invasion. But when it quickly becomes impossible to tell friend from foe, and the world is crumbling around them, they may lose everything— even what they cherish most—to ensure the survival of their friends…and mankind.
War has come to Earth. And no matter the outcome, the future will never be the same for those left standing. -Goodreads
Review
**Warning: This rambling review will contain spoilers. It may also be jumbled, because I literally just finished the book. Mah feelz, man.**
I knew I would love this series when I read the first book, Obsidian. I read the book in about a day, as it was during a time when my internet access was very limited. But, man, that was a good book. And so were the books that came to follow.
I’ve been waiting for Opposition for a pretty long time. I was lucky enough to read the series when the first four books had been released, but I’ve been waiting since February for Opposition. That’s a long wait for a Jennifer L. Armentrout book.
Finding the book early, though? That just made me so freaking happy. So happy. Let’s just cut to the chase, though. This’ll be a gif-y review, which I haven’t done in a while…
Before I started reading the book, I decided to read the last chapter of Origin to refresh my memory on what had happened. And oh boy, was it chaos.
We were reminded of the deaths from the previous book, which was pretty hard to think about. We lost quite a few great characters. Gahh.
Beth reminded me of Bella from Breaking Dawn, all pregnant and scary. If you’ve read (or seen) Breaking Dawn, you know what I’m talking about. You know. That can’t go unseen. *shudder* Actually, I think JLA might have made a Breaking Dawn reference on page 345, which is toward the end of the book. I’m not sure, though, so check it out, and let me know. Beth and Dawson named their child after Ash, which was just incredible. I loved that. She kind of had Renesme qualities, so maybe it had been a BD reference.
Is it bad that I was kind of shipping Archer and Katy for a second? Don’t answer that, I know it was bad. I love Daemon, don’t get me wrong, but Archer and Katy are so freaking hilarious.
This is probably literally the only thing that annoys me about Armentrout’s writing: the constant description about how someone’s eyelashes lowered or lifted, rather than saying, “she looked up at me,” she would say, “her thick lashes lifted.” And that’s cool, nothing wrong with that. Unless you’re using the lashes thing throughout the entire series.
“Leighton’s thick lashes rolled…” I can’t even. xD
Something similar went on every time there was a description of Daemon smirking or something. “The corner of his lips kicked up,” or something similar to that description.
Okay, when Katy found Dawson, thinking he was Daemon, and then he attacked her, I was like, “OMG, WHAT’S GOING ON, WHAT DID HE DO TO HER, IS SHE DEAD?”
That last one was illogical, but this is why I needed to reread a bit of Origin, because I’d kind of forgotten some details.
I knew I didn’t like Sadi the sadist, and Rolland the moment we met them. Especially when Sadi was all over Daemon.
When Daemon found Katy for the first time since leaving her… THE FEELS. And he was healing her and everything. *dreamy sigh*
KATY IS THE QUEEN OF COMEBACKS, I SWEAR, I WISH I HAD HER MOUTH.
I couldn’t believe what had happened to Dee. She was, like, taunting Katy about Sadi the sadist and Daemon, and I was like, “Nooo, what happened?!” But, when Katy and Dee were full on having a girl-fight, and Katy kept trying to talk to Dee (she made Harry Potter references, too—”Jesus. It’s like I’m a muggle to your pure-blood or something.”) and Dee snapped out of her evil trance, it was just so… so heartbreaking because of the way Dee felt, but Katy was such an amazing friend to put her life at risk so Daemon didn’t have to hurt his own sister, and so she could hopefully remind Dee of who she was. Amazing. (You can find this scene on pages 260-261.)
And when Katy called out to Daemon in the meeting room… and he ignored her. Like, no. Just—no.
So when Sadi the sadist had her hands all over Daemon, Katy was like, “Get your hands off him,” even though Daemon had “rejected” her seconds before. Okay, that was really heartbreaking, I don’t know about you…
I was so shocked when we found out that Sadi the sadist was an origin. Like, what?
Okay, so when Katy was in the limo with Sadi and Rolland, and she realized that her thoughts were being read… the twerking thing… I DIED. XD
When Luc (he was one of my favorite characters) said Nancy Husher had to tell Daemon and Katy something, I thought it was going to be that Katy might be pregnant, because there had been some speculation about that, especially since we found out that Beth was pregnant. But it turned out that instead of Katy dying when Daemon died (or vice versa), I think it was that even if one of them died, the other would still live. I’m not sure if I got that right though, as there were a few moments during the book when I was a bit confused.
I loved the squabbling that went on between Daemon and Archer. Daemon was obviously jealous of Archer (though he’d be jealous if Katy hugged a tree—’cause he’s needy like that. xD), but their conversations were so hilarious. They argued about The Walking Dead and all sorts of random stuff, and I loved it. Even Katy said Daemon and Archer had a bromance that would end all bromances (p. 269)! It totally lightened the mood of the book, despite the fact that their situation was grave. The book actually kind of reminded me of Angelfall, though Opposition isn’t futuristic. Throughout the book, it feels apocalyptic, but in the end, the conclusion I came to was that it wasn’t apocalyptic. It was like… the anti-apocalypse.
**Spoilers for The Syrena Legacy by Anna Banks… and a rant alert should be inserted here…*
“If we really are safe here, you’d leave this to go into a nest of vipers to get my sister out?”
“Do you really have to ask that question? You know I would.”
Daemon walked to where I sat. “I wouldn’t want you to put yourself in danger.”
“I’m sure as hell not staying behind if you run off to go find her.”
One side of his lips kicked up, and it was amazing how a simple half smile could twist my insides. “I didn’t think you would, and I wouldn’t leave you here. Where I go, you go, and vice versa. You’re not getting rid of me for any length of time that easily.”
“Glad we actually agree on that.” Not too long ago, Daemon would’ve tried to shelter me, but I think he’d learned that didn’t work out very well. -p. 141-142, Katy’s POV
In my review of Of Neptune, I talked about how I didn’t like the relationship between the main characters Emma and Galen. There are some similarities between that relationship and Katy and Daemon’s. The girls are very sassy (though I think Katy’s sassier), sarcastic, don’t take crap, etc. The guys are more on the possessive side. There are even some similarities about the characters in general: Emma and Katy both lost their fathers, Galen and Daemon are apart of entirely different races (to put it simply, fish and alien, respectively), and in the end, there’s a bit of hesitation about whose side they should stand on when the war comes along: their own people’s, or beside the girl they love.
Both Emma and Katy believe themselves to be “rare.” They’re not totally a different species, but they’re not entirely human, either. They both think they’re one of the few people like them, when in reality, there are a lot more than they think.
The difference between the romantic relationships of Emma and Galen and Katy and Daemon is that Galen saw and treated Emma like a “damsel in distress,” like she couldn’t take care of herself. This went on throughout the series.
Daemon did this, too, but he backed off tremendously as the series progressed. There are several times when Katy is fighting and Daemon stands back (or is doing his thing while fighting) in awe, Daemon is impressed, he recognizes that Katy is fully capable of doing a lot.
I appreciate that.
“You’re not weak, Kitten. You’ve never been weak, before or after the mutation.“ -p. 143
**End of spoilers for The Syrena Legacy**
LET’S TALK ABOUT THAT WHOLE SCENE WITH THE ARUM. THAT WAS FREAKING AWFUL.
Katy, Daemon, and Archer sought help to defeat the Luxen from the Arum leader, Lotho. He agreed to help, if he could feed on Katy. This is when Daemon got super possessive, and Katy wouldn’t have it. She wanted to save the world, and she was going to do nearly everything it took to get the Arums’ help.
So she was going to let Lotho feed on her. In the end, he didn’t actually do it, because apparently, he only feeds on Luxen, and Katy was just a hybrid. BUT THEN HE KISSED HER, AND I WAS LIKE, WHAT?
??
???
And then Katy was Fifty Shades of Freaking Disturbed.
And then literally right after that, they find out that Nancy went missing. UGH, WHEN DOES IT END?! But, in the end, Nancy was killed, THANK THE GODS… (**Spoilers for Allegiant by Veronica Roth**) but she did manage to get a shot a Daemon with a gun, and after Allegiant, when a main character gets shot, I FREAKING WORRY, MAN. But Daemon was okay, and I was okay, and everyone was okay. (**End of Allegiant spoilers**)
When Katy and Daemon went back to Katy’s house, and she saw the Amazon boxes with books… that hurt. But the mom thing… gods, that was just awful. So much emotion in the characters in this story. I was already sad when she was reunited with her mom, but then to find out she’d been assimilated… Geez, I hadn’t seen that coming. I mean, I had the awful feeling that her mom was going to die, which did, in fact, happen, but I didn’t actually think it would happen. It had been a passing thought in my mind, and for the first time, my assumption for a book was right. Kat had a total breakdown, and I just had to read it several times to let it sink in.
I felt like the final battle was a bit rushed… though that may have been because I stopped reading the book literally just before the battle began. I didn’t pick up the book for a few days because I didn’t want these books to end. We do get an epilogue, though, which was amazingderful and bittersweet and just—gah, so good.
In the end, Katy re-launched her book blog, which meant so much to her, just like my blog means a lot to me. I feel like a lot of bloggers can relate to this (especially if you’re a book blogger). I just love Katy’s character. She is like, the character for us book bloggers. Fantastic. Just awesome. 😀 I was very happy.
This book gets 5/5 stars, and I knew it would be awesome. It’s been ten days since it was released, though I was able to get it three days early. This series has been an amazing journey, and I wish I’d picked it up sooner, but I always seem to be late on the really good series bandwagon (Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, all that good stuff). I’m just so glad to have read it and been part of the excitement.
I’ve not read the prequel novella yet, though it’s included in the back of my copy of Opposition. I think I just need some time to think. I need a cutsey contemporary (and Isla was released yesterday, so yay! Definitely getting my copy this Saturday!!) to read just to calm the feels.
I’m also sorry if this review was all mixed up and confusing. At one point, I had so much on my mind about this book, that I just started taking notes on my laptop in a WordPress post, which is this review. I figured, just type out what you want to say. It’ll take less time than writing it out with a pen.
This isn’t really a review, but it’s more of a way for me to release my feels, which is why it’s so long. Thank you for sticking around to read this, though, if you’ve come this far (if you skimmed, that’s cool too XD). Link me to your reviews of this book, because I want to know your thoughts!
Started series: November 16, 2013 Ended series: August 15, 2014
P.S., I have a lot of favorite quotes, so I might just do a separate post for that, because my word count is, like… 2309 words, and still counting. Oookay, then. Bye, now!
Sunday Funday is a weekly meme created by Cristina @ Girl in the Pages as a way to reflect on the bookish and non-bookish happenings that occurred during your week!
Life:
This week I dyed some of my bangs blue, and I really like it! I’ve had experience with hair coloring a few months ago, but the color began to fade, so I decided I wanted to color my hair again.
I also had a really big shopping day yesterday, which was fun! We went to the mall, starting with the bookstore (I’ll get to that in a minute) and worked our way all around. I ended up getting a few books, a pocket watch (I’ve been wanting a pocket watch since I was a kid, haha), and I even got a new piercing, which was an unexpected yet awesome surprise.
(Side note: The pocket watch makes me feel like a fictional character from the past. EVERYTHING I’VE ALWAYS WANTED.)
Life in Books:
Last week on Tuesday, the fifth installment to the Bloodlines series, Silver Shadows, was released. I unfortunately wasn’t able to get the book right away, but I have it now!
I also told you in my last post that I found Opposition by Jennifer L. Armentrout early, which was insane. Just freaking insane. Either I still have the release date wrong (but on Goodreads and the B&N site, it says August 5), or I actually found this book early.
I found it early.
Omg. I am a very happy human.
I’m also participating in the Dusting off the Shelf read-a-thon (these new books are really making my priorities unclear), which is being hosted by the lovely Emily!
Life in Music:
While at Barnes & Noble, I wandered into the music section and got myself a good pair of earphones. I’ve been going off the cheap ones for a while now, and if you don’t know that feeling of using two working earphones, it’s an AWESOME feeling. I’m not even exaggerating (maybe a little :/). But still. New earphones are always a great thing to get. 😀
And that’s everything interesting that went on this week! I hope you guys had an awesome week, and tell me what you did this week. If you do weekly wrap-ups or participate in Sunday Funday, leave me a link to check out your post!
Yesterday was littleonionwrites’ second blogoversary!!! Wahoo! My blog is two years old. 😀 That is a crazy thing to think about. I’ve been blogging for two years now, and in two years, 319 people have followed my blog! Eeek, it’s so exciting. Thank you for your interest in my blog, you awesome people!
The reason I didn’t post this yesterday was because I had a pretty long day, and I crashed way earlier than usual, haha. You’ll notice I haven’t posted my update for day two of the Dusting off the Shelf read-a-thon. Well, because yesterday was busy, I didn’t get much reading done. -.- Oh, well. But I plan on catching up today. I’m still reading Ruby Red, but I’m liking it. 🙂
It was kind of a fangirling day yesterday, because I had a lot of fangirl moments. One moment in particular was when I found (and purchased) Opposition early at Barnes & Noble… Yeah. ThatOpposition. As in Jennifer L. Armentrout’s Opposition. :O
I was so shocked to see it on the shelves that I’d logged into the B&N wifi and went onto Goodreads to check to see if I’d gotten the release date right. It says August 5.
So obviously, yesterday was a pretty great day for me. XD
That’s all for now! I’m probably going to have a pretty decent Sunday Wrap Up later on.
-littleonion
Progress Update:
August 2nd: -Pages read: 6 (61%)
-Books completed: 0
I recently received an email earlier alerting me that one of my favorite books was at the Kindle Bookstore… for free!
That’s right, Obsidian by Jennifer L. Armentrout is free at the Kindle Bookstore. I don’t know how long this is going to last, but I just got mine! I don’t know why I went crazy about it, though… I seem to forget that I already own this book in hardcopy…
But, yeah! I know this was a puny post and all… *taps fingers against keyboard awkwardly*…
While wandering aimlessly around Barnes & Noble, I happened to stumble upon two books that I love by an author I worship… and I purchased them! *squeal!*
Okay, that’s not how it happened at all. I was looking for two signed copies of these other books. Beginnings and Consequences just happened to be in that section.
I have no self-control.
Now, you guys have probably never heard of these books because they are better known as the Lux series by Jennifer L. Armentrout. Beginnings and Consequences are the first four books in the Lux series combined in two collector’s edition copies with the shiny new covers, called Lux: Beginnings and Lux: Consequences.
Now, if you’ve been around my blog for a while, you know that I love the Lux series. I really, really wanted to buy the books to add to my collection…
And then I saw the collector’s editions with covers that are only slightly less cheesy than the original covers… OF COURSE I PURCHASED THEM!
Notice how Katy’s face is on both of the books when you put them side by side? Why is that so popular these days???
(BTW, I saw, like, a whole freaking stack of collector’s edition copies of Eleanor & Park… *sigh* memories :D)
Anyway, I was on Goodreads and was looking at JLA’s profile, and you know how on author profiles, if the author is actually on GR, you can see their blog posts? Well, in this blog post by the awesome author, she says that… that…
THE FIRST CHAPTER OF OPPOSITION IS IN CONSEQUENCES OMG OMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMG
My feels…
And sure enough,
I fangirled. Heavily. It was pretty hardcore.
Now, you know I hate chapter samplers. But it’s Opposition… Can I resist the temptation?
I don’t think you understand how much I DIED when I grabbed my copy off the shelf to see that I was holding the first chapter of Opposition in my hands.
I’m so… so conflicted.
Should I wait? Should I… should I read the stupid chapter?!? UGHHHH.
What would you do in this position? Or maybe you are in this position. Gahh. Feelz.
To read or not to read—that is the question.
I would put a Hamlet reference in this XD What?! I couldn’t resist! It was staring me in the face!
The Opposition cover has been released! (I actually had no idea—I just stumbled across a blog post that showed the cover. I literally jumped off of my bed like WHAT?!)
So… here it is:
Katy knows the world changed the night the Luxen came.
She can’t believe Daemon welcomed his race or stood by as his kind threatened to obliterate every last human and hybrid on Earth. But the lines between good and bad have blurred, and love has become an emotion that could destroy her—could destroy them all.
Daemon will do anything to save those he loves, even if it means betrayal.
They must team with an unlikely enemy if there is any chance of surviving the invasion. But when it quickly becomes impossible to tell friend from foe, and the world is crumbling around them, they may lose everything— even what they cherish most—to ensure the survival of their friends…and mankind.
War has come to Earth. And no matter the outcome, the future will never be the same for those left standing. -from JLA’s website
*nervousness* What do you guys think of the cover? We have our Daemon, and I guess the girl in the background is Katy…?
When I first saw the cover, I was jumping for joy, mainly because this is one of my favorite series. But, now that I’ve had the chance to cool down, I’m not sure… The covers of these books have always been on the cheesy side (in my opinion), but this is a complete cover change. I know they were doing special covers for the collector’s editions, so I guess this cover was made to match those covers.
Now, if I actually owned this series, the cover change would have annoyed me. Because whyyyy? Then my makeshift shelf would look weird with the mismatching covers, nooo. But, I don’t own these books. I plan on purchasing Opposition, though.
I’m not sure I like this cover any more than the old covers. Now I’m wondering, had there not been a cover change, what the Opposition cover would look like, matching the rest of the series. Oh well.
So what do you think about the cover change? Yay, or nay?
I think I just needed to get that out of my system, haha. I’m still super excited about the final installment of the Lux series. Have you read the series? Is it on your TBR?
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? -Goodreads
Review:
**Warning:
MAJOR SPOILERS. LIKE, HUGE.
Oh, my gods…
So, I was really excited for this book. And then, I was spoiled. But, my Spoilers post wasn’t referencing this book.
I think I might need to make a Spoilers Part 2 XD
Anyway, my excitement kind of died down for Origin when I was spoiled, but guess what? I GOT OVER IT! Because the book was so good.
Don’t let the spoilers get you down.
Heheh. Anyway. JLA threw craziness after craziness after us. I’m surprised I’m still sane! First, allow me to summarize my feelings for this book with carefully chosen gifs from the World Wide Web:
Can’t contain the excitement 😀
Yeah. I was so sad, I had to bring in Hermione for this one 😦
That’s basically how I felt. Let’s get on with the review!
So, Origin was, in fact, written in both Katy and Daemon’s POVs. Did I predict that in my review for Opal? Anyway, I preferred Daemon’s POV to Katy’s (no surprise there xD).
It was interesting to see how the two (Daemon and Katy) were when separated, but I think I liked the other books better because they were together. Then again, this was some book. Now that I think about it, them being separated kind of reminds me of City of Lost Souls…
This cover is my favorite. Can we guess why…? 😀
I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this before, but the formatting of this particular series is very odd. Frequently throughout all the books, there were printing errors, like there wouldn’t be a space between the period and the next sentence and stuff like that. Have y’all noticed that?
Nancy Husher kind of reminded me of Jeanine Matthews from Divergent. It’s really weird, because the more I read, the more I was reminded of Divergent. I don’t know if it’s just because I’ve had Divergent on the brain…
I was very curious about Archer. He had a certain mystique about him, but we learned that it was because he was a successful origin. Those origins are scary…
HAHAHA, when Dee met him?! That was so funny, especially because Archer can read thoughts and stuff… Ahh…
I totally hated Blake, but when Katy killed him in that stress test, which reminded me of simulations, by the way, I was so freaked… so was Katy. I seriously did not expect Blake to die like that.
Luc was sooo funny and Hunter, the Arum, was hysterical! I loved that scene at Luc’s club where Hunter and Daemon were getting into it, and Luc just slammed them both against the wall with his origin powers.
Luc was awesome, yet creepy on all levels. And demented.
That Micah kid was so freaky! And when he asked Daemon if he would play with him, I was like, oh, gods. I was laughing so hard.
When Katy was holding a gun… y’all know what I was thinking of 😦
PEOPLE’S STUPID EYELASHES LOWERING ARE GETTING ON MY LAST NERVE!!! Why must the author always use this phrase?! Her lashes lowered, his lashes lifted, blah, blah, blah.
Okay… Okay… BETH’S PREGNANT!!! OHMYSWEETGOODNESS!!! AHHHHHHH!!! Aww, that’s awesome for Beth 😀 I hope everything’s okay for her and Dawson…
And then… and then… and then… DAEMON ASKED KATY TO MARRY HIM?! AND SHE SAID YES?! AND THEY GOT MARRIED?! EEEEK!!!
Ugh. Okay, so when I got to the part I was spoiled for, I was like, “Well, I wouldn’t have known that if… I… hadn’t… been… spoiled… GAHH!”
So, Matthew, of all people, betrayed them. And then Dawson… he… he killed him? What? That I wasn’t expecting.
The end of this book was just mass destruction and chaos. This book probably had the most deaths I’ve read in a while. Paris died… and then the Arum showed up… and then Andrew died… Adam died in Onyx… Ash died in this book… I almost started crying, right there in public D: The Thompsons are dead. Dead and gone and their bodies were just… left in Vegas.
Favorite Lines:
“I’ll burn the world down to save her.”
If you think about the first half of this book and the second half of this book, they could have been completely different books, as they were so different! I absolutely applaud Jennifer L. Armentrout. She’s really exceeded my expectations with this whole series, and I cannot wait for Opposition, which I believe is the last book in this series. I think…
When he set out to prove his feelings for me, he wasn’t fooling around. Doubting him isn’t something I’ll do again, and now that we’ve made it through the rough patches, well… There’s a lot of spontaneous combustion going on.
But even he can’t protect his family from the danger of trying to free those they love.
After everything, I’m no longer the same Katy. I’m different… And I’m not sure what that will mean in the end. When each step we take in discovering the truth puts us in the path of the secret organization responsible for torturing and testing hybrids, the more I realize there is no end to what I’m capable of. The death of someone close still lingers, help comes from the most unlikely source, and friends will become the deadliest of enemies, but we won’t turn back. Even if the outcome will shatter our worlds forever.
Together we’re stronger… and they know it. -Goodreads
Review:
**Warning: Spoilers! I spoil Allegiant as well. A little about City of Lost Souls… And Vampire Academy…**
Obsidian and Onyx blew me away, so I was so excited to read Opal! I was even more excited to see it at the library, and I got it! (Even though I swore myself off the library… >.<)
The cover was, uh, cheesy. But, I found out who the models are! They’re real people! Look:
Ohmysweetgoodness, as Emma (Of Poseidon) would say.
Ahem, anywho. This book was an emotional rollercoaster! At one point, I’d gotten so into this book that I actually called someone Daemon. I also had the same grin on my face like I did when I read Onyx. Good times.
So, Blake came back, and I totally thought he was with them until he STABBED THEM IN THE BACK!!! Not literally, of course… Though, I certainly wouldn’t put it past him.
We also met an acquaintance of Blake’s, Luc, who helped them get into the building with all the onyx. Yikeses!
There was also some trouble in paradise for Katy and Daemon in the beginning, but it was all sorted out… until that horrible end… We’ll talk about that later.
A LOT of awkward tension between Katy and Dee, as well. I really missed their friendship! I missed having Dee around just in general, because she barely played a big part in this book.
How do y’all pronounce Katy’s name, anyway? I call her “Katie,” but Daemon sometimes called her “Kat” which led me to believe that maybe her name was pronounced “Cat-ee.” Catty. Heheh.
The scene when Daemon, Katy, and Blake went to the club reminded me of the scene in City of Lost Souls when Clary, Jace, and Sebastian went to the club with those sparkly faerie drugs.
Right when it was mentioned that Carissa had the “flu,” I immediately knew something was up. The fight between her and Katy was EPIC. But then… she died… DX
I don’t remember if I mentioned this in one of my reviews for the other two books in this series, but I noticed a similarity between Vampire Academy and Obsidian:
In Vampire Academy, Lissa, a Moroi, healed Rose, and they, in turn, became “tied,” “linked,” or “bonded.”
In Obsidian, Daemon, a Luxen, healed Katy, and they became “tied,” or “linked,” or “bonded,” as well. Hmm…
There was this really annoying thing where someone was always “lifting those long eyelashes,” and it’s just repeated over and over and over. “His lashes lifted,” “His lashes lowered.” “His lashes fanned the tips of his cheeks.” Seriously. “He averted his gaze” would have been a fine replacement, because those phrases were way overused. If I counted how many times a phrase about someone’s long lashes was used, I would probably come up with some ridiculous number.
Okay, let’s talk about how Blake was sneaking into Katy’s room at night… dude… it’s like when Edward watched Bella sleep, except it was a million times creepier! I was like, “Girl, go tell Daemon and he’ll kick Blake’s hybrid butt!” But, nooo!
Daemon bugged Katy about college just like Edward did to Bella.
AWW, WHEN DAEMON GOT KATY THAT MACBOOK?!?
AND THEN WHEN KATY GOT SHOT?!? IT WAS LIKE TRIS ALL OVER AGAIN!!! And I swear, if I hadn’t been in public, I would’ve broken down, man. Geez…
Favorite Lines:
No more than ten seconds later, Daemon was standing in the doorway of my bedroom. Hair messy from sleep, flannel pajama bottoms rumpled. No shirt. Three feet plus of snow outside, and he was still half naked.
~
Momma didn’t raise a pushover.
~
Wow. He’d really been stalking my blog.
~
Dawson shifted, dropping his head into his hand. “Do you ever stop talking?”
“When I’m sleeping,” Blake replied.
“And when you’re dead,” Daemon threw back. “You’ll stop talking when you’re dead.”
Blake’s lips thinned. “Point taken.”
“Good.” Daemon focused on the road. “Try shutting up for a while.”
~
I cracked open my advanced copy of a new young adult novel for my Teaser Tuesday post.
SHE DOES TEASER TUESDAY?!?! That’s like… Whoa…
Reading the end was really nerve-wracking. I was really scared about what would happen. At page 379, three pages away from the end, I realized there weren’t enough pages for everything I wanted to happen… so what was going to happen?
This is what happened in the last few pages that left me dying. I also wondered if the next book, Origin, would be in dual POV, Katy and Daemon’s…
Don’t go near the blue light, Blake had said. They’re lasers. Rip you right apart.
Daemon lurched forward, his hands reaching for me, but it was too late. Before he could reach me, and not even a foot from my face, a sheet of blue light appeared and heat blew it off, blowing my hair back. Daemon let out a startled scream, and I jerked back.
I couldn’t believe it. Not possible. I refused to believe it. Daemon was on the other side of the light, closer to the exit, and I… I was on the other side, the wrong side.
Daemon’s eyes met mine and the look in them, the horror in his extraordinary green eyes cracked my heart into a million useless pieces. He understood–oh, God, he understood what was happening. I was trapped with the remaining Arum.
“Kat,” he whispered, pleaded, really.
Daemon reacted so fast, but for once in his entire life, he wasn’t fast enough.
“No! Please! No!” he roared, his voice cracking in a way I’d never heard before. “Kat!”
Our eyes locked, and I would never, ever forget the terror in his, the look of pure helplessness.
“I love you, Katy. Always have. Always will,” he said, voice thick and hoarse with panic. “I will come back for you. I will–“
The emergency doors sealed shut with a soft thud. “I love you,” I said, but Daemon… Daemon was gone.
Thanks to his alien mojo, Daemon’s determined to prove what he feels for me is more than a product of our bizarro connection. So I’ve sworn him off, even though he’s running more hot than cold these days. But we’ve got bigger problems.
Something worse than the Arum has come to town…
The Department of Defense are here. If they ever find out what Daemon can do and that we’re linked, I’m a goner. So is he. And there’s this new boy in school who’s got a secret of his own. He knows what’s happened to me and he can help, but to do so, I have to lie to Daemon and stay away from him. Like that’s possible. Against all common sense, I’m falling for Daemon. Hard.
But then everything changes…
I’ve seen someone who shouldn’t be alive. And I have to tell Daemon, even though I know he’s never going to stop searching until he gets the truth. What happened to his brother? Who betrayed him? And what does the DOD want from them—from me?
No one is who they seem. And not everyone will survive the lies… -Goodreads
Review:
**Warning: Spoilers!**
I LOVED Obsidian and was dying to read Onyx. I was reading this in hopes of being pulled from my reading slump. And, boy, was I pulled! This book was fantastic–I was grinning like an idiot for most of the time.
That cover? For real? Seriously? Cheese… THAT IS NOT DAEMON. THAT IS NOT KATY. SERIOUSLY. GO AWAY!!!
First of all, here’s the dedication:
“Dedicated to book lovers and book bloggers everywhere, those large and small.” Isn’t that so wonderful?! It’s beautiful.
Okay, the wit in this book was so brilliant.
Hilarity Level: 5/5–This book was SO incredibly funny. I was laughing on the very first page. There were so many great lines in this book. A lot I found in the first thirty pages.
I love how at the end we got a chapter in Daemon’s POV like in the last book.
Once again, I love how Katy is a book blogger! “There were several packages waiting for me at the post office and I only barely squealed. They were advance reader copies from other bloggers passing them along for review.” EEEK!!!
I hated Simon. ‘Nuff said.
Daemon… he’s in a class of his own. Every time I think of Daemon, I think of Greg House from “House.” Y’know. ‘Cause they’re both jerks.
I was so mad when Katy and Blake were together. DON’T YOU DARE FORGET ABOUT DAEMON, WOMAN!!! I thought Blake was nicer, but I knew something was off about him, and Daemon knew something was off about him. AND THEN YOU WENT AND KILLED ADAM!!! YOU FOOOOOOL!
When I found out about Blake’s backstory, my suspicions did lessen… but then they boomed. This boy seriously had some screws loose. His training methods…? WHAT WAS THAT?! THROWING A KNIFE AT HER? MAKING HER BATTLE ARUM? WHAT THE HECK?!
There was something off about Will, too, but then I KNEW! And he’s dating Katy’s mom… UGH!!! AND HE WAS AN IMPLANT! OH MY GODS! OMGOMGOMG!!! Of course, Daemon saved the day ;D
That fight between Daemon and Katy where Daemon was all, “I’m done,” made me pull my hair in frustration.
“The connection between a human and a Luxen after a massive healing is unbreakable at a cellular level. It marries the two together. One cannot survive if the other perishes.”
When I read that, I had to read it v e r y s l o w l y because if you read it normally, you’re immediately reminded of Harry Potter’s “one cannot live if the other survives.” This is the exact opposite: “one cannot survive if the other perishes.”
When they were filming the vlog? THAT WAS SO… *FANGIRL* And Daemon was in it!!! *sighs* I want a Daemon.
Katy is a very sensible person, but going to Vaughn’s house? Without protection? That’s Clary (TMI)-esque! (We all love ya, Clary! :D)
When Blake said that Dee and Adam were dead I freaked out. It was only Adam… but still. I liked him. POOR DEE!!!
Favorite Lines
It could be a… side effect of the healing.” Daemon watched me over the rim of his glass. I bet he’d look hot with a milk mustache.
Heheh.
~
Surprise widened his eyes as he stepped back. “Caving in so easily?”
“Caving in?” I laughed without feeling. “I just want you out of my face.”
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