LUX NOVEL: OBSIDIAN and ONYX

       

Raise your hand if you’ve read OBSIDIAN and ONYX by JenniferL. Armentrout. Hmmm… I’m not seeing a whole lot of hands. This is no bueno people! Allow me to explain why.

*Leans forward in seat and cocks a no-nonsense finger in your direction*

Listen here. You read YA goodies, right? You like high-stake plots that push the MC to their limit and beyond? You lust after…um…enjoy swoonable guys who are not only strong, loyal, and fiercely protective, but also smexy as hell? Yeah, thought so.

OBSIDIAN had been sitting on my TBR stack for longer than I’d like to admit. Finally, in a moment of my own WIP frustration, I plucked it off the Tower of Neglect and began to read. I couldn’t stop. Then, when the remaining pages to read dwindled, I jumped on Amazon and ordered ONYX. From my PHONE. That’s right. Sitting at work, ignoring what I was supposed to doing and thinking about Katy and Daemon, I jumped on my trusty iPhone and gave in to my crack-head like addictions to have MORE YA.

Oh. My. GAWD!

I cannot say enough about this series so far! OBSIDIAN pulls you in with its building tension between Kat and Daemon. And when I mean tension, I mean nail biting - stay up all night to get to the next chapter – holy crap will you freakin’ kiss her already – kind of drama! The chemistry between Kat and Daemon is so beyond hot I had dreams about it. Oh yeah, people. Awesome.

The characters themselves are fantastic as well. Kat is totally your average teen with all around normal going for her. Seriously, she could have been me in high school. A good kid, does well in school, but sort of invisible in an average way. She’s not the most popular girl, but far from the school misfit. In a word – real.

Then we have Daemon. Sure, he’s super hot and knows it, but there’s so much more to him than a pretty…um…well everything. Daemon in dedicated to his family, his sister, Dee. He would do anything to keep her safe, even go against what he truly wants. The boy has so much responsibility it’s crazy, but he does all he can (and then some) to live up to those expectations. All without feeling sorry for himself or wanting to shirk off some of the load. Daemon is also very much broken in a way. He’s angry, scared, and flat out suicidal in his attempts to keep those he loves protected.

OBSIDIAN introduces us to the world of the Luxen, an alien race that has defected to Earth. They’ve been here for ages and are ‘protected’ (read controlled) by the DOD (Department of Defense). They live among us, but are not allowed to get too close.

After a few run-ins with Daemon’s alien mo-jo, Kat ends up with a trace (alien cooties, or residual energy) that lights her up like a disco ball to non-human eyes. This would be all fine and good if the Arum, the baddie equivalent to the Luxen, weren’t able to see the trace as well. Forced into a babysitting arrangement, the fire builds between Kat and Daemon until it finally explodes. Literally. Poor laptop… HA!

Just when things couldn’t get worse, a nasty run-in with some Arum ends in near death and a freakish connection between Daemon and Kat. Suddenly, he is all about being with Katy and she is so not having it. Katy wants more, she wants real.

ONYX is nothing short of amazing. It picks up where OBSIDIAN leaves off and takes you away. The plot thickens. There is betrayal somewhere in the circle of trust. The Arum are still on the hunt. A new boy at school knows more about Katy’s…um…situation than he should. And to top things off, Katy is showing Close Encounter symptoms in the form of things moving randomly, exploding, and all sorts of crazy.

And there is a possibility that Dawson, Daemon and Dee’s brother, is still alive.

ONYX was a rollercoaster of everything. Kat is such an awesome character. She is the girl next door and so relatable. Far from perfect, she makes loads of mistakes and trusts the wrong people. When she should be listening to her gut, she doesn’t, and pays the price. Daemon struggles so much in ONYX it broke my heart. He is pushed to the point of ultimate loss so many times you almost see him fracture.

Miss Jen is such a phenomenal writer. Her characters are so well done I scream with writer envy. Each book I read of hers gets better and better. Her snark was off the hook in the CONENANT series, but it’s the chemistry that stands out in the LUX series. The bonds she creates between characters and how they play off each other is so amazing I’m at a loss.

NEED. MORE. NOW. JEN!

Pure--ly Awesomesauce

There is need. And then there is Fate-

Being destined to become some kind of supernatural electrical outlet isn't exactly awesome-especially when Alexandria's "other half" is everywhere she goes. Seth's in her training room, outside her classes, and keeps showing up in her bedroom-so not cool. Their connection does have some benefits, like staving off her nightmares of the tragic showdown with her mother, but it has no effect on what Alex feels for the forbidden, pure-blooded Aiden. Or what he will do-and sacrifice-for her.

When daimons infiltrate the Covenants and attack students, the gods send furies-lesser gods determined to eradicate any threat to the Covenants and to the gods, and that includes the Apollyon - and Alex. And if that and hordes of aether-sucking monsters didn't blow bad enough, a mysterious threat seems willing to do anything to neutralize Seth, even if that means forcing Alex into servitude - or killing her.

When the gods are involved, some decisions can never, ever be undone.

Jennifer, Jennifer, Jennifer... May I call you 'Jen,' 'cause I really need you to be my friend. Yes, you are that awesome. And I totally didn't mean for that to sort of rhyme. Heh.

Okay, enough oozing my cheesiest desires... If you have not read Half-Blood, then quite honestly you might be a loser. No, seriously! The Covenant Series is that cool....so far. Pure is the second installment to the series by the lovely and talented Jennifer Armentrout. If you have not jumped on the Half-Blood Legion train, please do yourself a favor and go Dauntless STAT!

Pure pretty much picks up where Half-Blood left off. The world is going to crap and no one is safe. Half-Bloods can be turned to Daimons, the Council is so not happy with Alex, and Aiden is wonderful and confusing and frustrating and -- and -- wow.  And then there is Seth...the First Apollyon.

School is back in session and Alex is pulling double -- no wait -- triple duty with her training. Not only is she subjected to the day-to-day training in class, but she is handed back and forth between the hotness that is known as Aiden and her egotistical 'other half,' Seth. The frosty stares still follow her around campus and Alex obsessively tries to keep the multiple Daimon tags hidden.

Just when Alex thought life couldn't suck more, there are Daimon's on campus. Students are getting attacked and nobody has any clue who it might be, accept that it appears to be a Daimon Half-Blood. The school is put on lock-down until further notice, and this really cramps Alex's life. To add insult to injury, her life is on countdown until not only her 18th birthday (also her Apollyon Awakening Day), but also the Council hearing where she is to divulge what went down with her mom (aka now deceased Daimon) in Tennessee! Aiden is growing distant while Seth is wiggling his way into her feelings, and her bedroom.

Pure is just the non-stop awesomeness you have come to expect from the fab Miss A. Alex is one feisty chick that continues to kick some major bootay. She also deals with some incredible loss in Pure that will wrench your heart horribly. But I'm getting ahead of myself. This happens after Miss A digs your heart out with a dull spoon and feeds it to an angry nest of piranha. Trust me, read Pure and you will know what I am talking about. Sorry, no spoilers. *grin* I suck, yeah, I know.

Aiden is awesome in that quietly hostile way. His heated glares are equal parts menace and heart palpitating. His fierce loyalty to 'doing the right thing' will frustrate you to no end, but make you love him more. But he will also surprise you with how reckless he can be, despite him throwing this character -- um -- trait? flaw? he claims Alex to have.

And boy will Seth surprise you as well. Sure, he has an ego the size of Montana, a groupie following equaling that of the Greatful Dead, an incessant flirty nature you don't know if you should take seriously or not, and a fuse that puts Alex's minuscule wick to shame. But we see there might just be more to the First Apollyon than that, and it is mighty HAWT!

As I said, the story is just non-stop. The action is awesome and you get sucked into the fight scenes with ease. The passions are heartfelt, wonderful, frustrating, and ooooh nelly are they steamy. Good GAWD! Get me a fan someone! Or ice, or just a super cold shower for cripes sake!

Jennifer Armentrout has quickly found her way into my Fantabulous Four authors. Her voice is such a pleasure to read. It's equal parts humor and snark and totally jives with her characters. The plots are exciting and keep you guessing, the conflicts are horribly huge and complicated, and Miss A doesn't seem afraid to take chances with her characters. This is awesome and why she is ranked up there with Cassandra Clare, Jeri Smith-Ready, and Myra McEntire in my Fantabulous Four. Miss A will make you laugh, make you cry (sometimes the uber snotty kind), and make you pump your fist in the air with unbound glee.

Did Pure rock my world? Still does baby! A fatty 9 on the Richter scale!

Half-Blood Legion RULES!!!

The Hematoi descend from the unions of gods and mortals, and the children of two Hematoi-pure-bloods-have godlike powers. Children of Hematoi and mortals-well, not so much. Half-bloods only have two options: become trained Sentinels who hunt and kill daimons or become servants in the homes of the pures.Seventeen-year-old Alexandria would rather risk her life fighting than waste it scrubbing toilets, but she may end up slumming it anyway. There are several rules that students at the Covenant must follow. Alex has problems with them all, but especially rule #1:Relationships between pures and halfs are forbidden.Unfortunately, she's crushing hard on the totally hot pure-blood Aiden. But falling for Aiden isn't her biggest problem--staying alive long enough to graduate the Covenant and become a Sentinel is. If she fails in her duty, she faces a future worse than death or slavery: being turned into a daimon, and being hunted by Aiden. And that would kind of suck.

Can I just say I am so very glad I finally read this freakin' book??!! Again thanks to the ladies over YA-Sisterhood blog and the Heroine Tourney I simply HAD to read Half-Blood by Jennifer Armentrout. The teasers ALONE had me drooling all over myself like a third rate invalid on crack. It was ridiculous! I was voting for Alex just to read POV snippets from a book I never read, it was that awesome!!

Miss Jennifer caresses us with an intriguing world of Greek mythology, but not the kind that induces snores from the back of History class. This is much hotter!

Our girl Alex was torn from her training three years ago by her mother for mysterious reasons. Alex never felt right to ask so they lived in the mortal world until the badies come for her and her mom. She finds herself quickly fighting to stay alive, and thanking the gods she still retained some of her Sentinel training. When all seems to be lost the Sentinels find her, and with them the hotter than hot Pure Blood, Aiden.

Once back on campus at the Covenant (to-do school for the children of the gods; Hematoi (Pures) and their lesser halves, half bloods) Alex is faced with her past. She needs to prove herself to her uncle, who is now running the show, so she can stay in school/training in order to become a Sentinel. This is problematic as Alex not only has a bit of a problem with authority but her mouth does not like to stay shut when it really should. Luckily she has the lovely Aiden, a Pure who has embraced the life of a Sentinel, who steps up to the plate and offers to get her into shape before school starts.

Not really sure what to think of this set up as Pures and Halfbloods did not stick up for each other…like ever..Alex is left with a million questions, but she trains anyway. Life gets complicated, however, as Alex learns soul crushing news about her mom, finds herself impossibly attracted to the ever patient Aiden, discovers more impossible news about the world she thought she knew, her own secrets her mother thought she could hide her from, and what her ‘family’ actually wants her around for.

The nearly incestuous world of the Pures and Halfbloods I found amusing, but this was a great read. I was totally sucked into Alex’s world. It was incredibly fast paced and by the time I was halfway through I could not put it down.

Alex is my hero. Her snarky attitude had me cracking up. She comes off as this super bad ass sort of chick with nothing to hide, but she is actually got this super soft middle she fights hard as nails to hide. She is very ‘dude-like’ in this way. Very much like male characters in other YA reads. She is spunky and fearless in a way you want to smack her silly, but I adore her.

The chemistry between her and Aiden is totally smokin’ and I cannot wait for more. He is way too patient for his own good, but it is so very attractive. He honestly believes in Alex and that is another great trait. Aiden would literally walk through fire for Alex, even if it were not his element and would actually cause him harm.

The politics of the Pure world were well thought out and I liked that Halfbloods either trained to become Sentinels or they led a zombie-like life of servitude. The Pures are top of the food chain and everything else is secondary fish guts. The Greek gods are not in the picture, but I have a feeling they will be making a long overdue appearance in the future. You cannot leave your spoiled children (Pures) to make messes of the world and not expect to have to intervene at some point… Sooooo very looking forward to Pure this spring!!!