Review - The King - J.R. Ward

Title: The King
Author: J.R. Ward
Publisher: Penguin Group (USA)
Release Date: April 1st, 2014
Series: Black Dagger Brotherhood #12
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Synopsis via Goodreads

Long live the King…

After turning his back on the throne for centuries, Wrath, son of Wrath, finally assumed his father’s mantle--with the help of his beloved mate. But the crown sets heavily on his head. As the war with the Lessening Society rages on, and the threat from the Band of Bastards truly hits home, he is forced to make choices that put everything--and everyone--at risk.

Beth Randall thought she knew what she was getting into when she mated the last pure blooded vampire on the planet: An easy ride was not it. But when she decides she wants a child, she’s unprepared for Wrath’s response--or the distance it creates between them.

The question is, will true love win out... or tortured legacy take over?

My rating:

So this was me when The King finally came out:

Guys. This was intense. I cried four times. Four. I almost never cry while reading anything, but for some reason the feels were just exploding out of me.

Hey, J.R.?

Jeez. Okay. Time to get my shit together and write something resembling a review. *clears throat*

Beth & Wrath
Aka Queen B and Khal Drogo (Ah, come on. Don't tell me when you picture Wrath you don't imagine him looking a little like Jason Momoa). Anyway, honestly, I'd forgotten how much I loved these two. I'm glad I'd just done a re-read of the entire series because there were a few references to Dark Lover that would've baffled the hell out of me. Case in point, a lovely conversation between Beth and Tohr.

[Beth] "'Do you still root for the monster?'

There was a pause. And then the Brother laughed in his trademark baritone. 'Are you telling me there's another Godzilla marathon on?'"

Beth and Wrath go through some serious issues throughout the entire book. At first, most of it just felt like arguing and I was starting to get tired every time I saw a shift to one of their POV's because I didn't want another argument or lengthy reflection on how the current argument was ruining their relationship. But then the love and general concern and all around stress of their situation kept shining through their rants, and it was all good. J.R. did an excellent job titling this book. Each problem Beth & Wrath had, each decision they made influenced the throne somehow and it was interesting to how they'd work through the problems. Which, of course they did. They were the reason for my continuous flow of tears, mostly towards the end when it got really sappy. (But in a good way.)

Assail/Sola

Like, you don't even understand. They are the main reason I was anticipating this book. I FELL FOR THEM SO HARD in Lover At Last. Each time either one of their POVs showed up, I did a little happy dance even though they were in the shittiest circumstances. If you read LAL, you know Sola's been kidnapped. Assail turns into a raging psychopath (which, you know, is just a euphemism for badass bonded male) to get her back. Is it bad that I enjoyed all the murder he executed on Sola's behalf? Yes? Well WHO GIVES A FUCK. They were awesome. All of their moments post-kidnapping were so heartbreaking and intense. Assail was gentle and kind to both Sola and her grandmother (who was HILARIOUS, btw). Watching the way he loved her with this quiet, brooding intensity made me swoon many, many times. Observe:

"Through the windows of the kitchen, he saw her [Sola] standing by the table, rifling through a suitcase as if searching for something she was leaving behind.

Out here, my love, he thought. What you have lost is out here.

And then her grandmother made an appearance with the cousins, and it was clear that the female did not approve of the leaving.

Just one more thing to adore about her."

I wanted them to stay together and live out their HEA, but sadly that just wasn't the case. I won't say more, but DAMN. Oh, and P.S. when is J.R. going to give them more air time? They deserve it!

Trez/iAm/Selena
Trez gets a lot of air time in this one. iAm gets just about as much, too, I guess. In LAL I was really curious to see where Trez and Selena's relationship would go, but by the time I was well into The King...meh. I stopped caring at some point, and found myself wanting to skip ahead to the parts about Assail/Sola and Beth/Wrath. There wasn't anything wrong with Trez's POV or storyline, though, I just tired of it fast. Like, I get it. He sleeps with everyone, he's wanted back in the Territory to be a sex slave, etc etc. Each time his POV arrived, that's all he went on about. It got too monotonous and I got bored. Even his thing with Selena was shadowed (no pun intended) by all of his misgivings. He wasn't good enough for her, he was dirty, but he wanted her so bad. He was a walking contradiction, nearly having sex with the woman at one point and then trying to get away from her the very next.

Xcor/BoB/Layla
Another subplot that kinda faded for me. Maybe it's because none of these players have much air time, too. I don't quite know what to say about any of them. Xcor was...different. Not as hard, not as badass. Like a washed out version of himself, and not in a tortured hero kind of way. More like a "who the hell are you and what have you done with Xcor" kind of way. Layla definitely didn't have enough air time to make an impact, either. I mean, she made some big decisions regarding Xcor that are definitely going to be game changers, but I couldn't bring myself to care. And the decision that Xcor made towards the end (not gonna spoil it, but damn) just made me lose all respect for him as an antagonist (or at least an anti-hero).

The Brothers/Lassiter/John Matthew
In my opinion, the Brothers needed to be in the spotlight a bit more. They were just...there. A few would pipe in with a burst of individuality with a witty quip, but most of the time the Brotherhood functioned as a group. i.e. "The Brotherhood did this.." Or at least that's what it felt like. Lassiter, being the fabulous angel he is, commanded that spotlight a few times. His scenes were hilarious. John Matthew was pretty involved throughout the whole thing, especially in Beth's POV and more than a few times in Wrath's.

I know it sounds like I'm kind of going in on the subplots, so a couple people are wondering why I gave it 5 stars. Mostly for the effortless and engaging writing style that J.R. has. Even if I didn't care about Trez or Layla or Xcor, I still read it and loved it because there was no way I was missing out on anything J.R. wrote. Plus, the feels. The feels definitely make the 5 star rating, on both Beth/Wrath's end as well as Assail/Sola's end. The angst, the crying, the anger, the romance, the sappiness, the humor, even the arguing. All of that and just the fact that I enjoyed this book immensely. Couldn't put it down actually, and the thing's long as hell.

Now that The King's done. Who's up next? Trez? (Please, no.) Xcor? (Meh.) Assail? (HELL. FUCKING. YES!)

Review - Shadows - By: Paula Weston

Title: Shadows
Author: Paula Weston
Publisher: Tundra Books
Release Date: September 10th, 2013
Series: The Rephaim #1
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Synopsis via Goodreads

Love. Nightmares. Angels. War. A fast-paced, compelling debut novel from a fresh new voice in YA.

It’s been almost a year since Gaby Winters was in the car crash that killed her twin brother, Jude. Her body has healed in the sunshine of Pandanus Beach, but her grief is raw and constant.

It doesn’t help that every night in her dreams she kills demons and other hell-spawn. And then Rafa comes to town. Not only does he look exactly like the guy who’s been appearing in Gaby’s dreams, he claims a history with her brother that makes no sense.

Gaby is forced to accept that what she thought she knew about herself and her life is only a shadow of the truth – and that the truth is more likely to be found in the shadows of her nightmares.

Who is Rafa? Who are the Rephaim? And most importantly – who can she trust?

My rating:

This book was surprisingly good! From the synopsis, I thought it'd be fairly cliche. You know, girl is in car accident. Car accident kills family member/friend. And then she spends her every waking moment moaning and groaning about the unfairness of it all and pushing everyone away. AND SUDDENLY...a boy--who is unbelievably attractive, of course--swoops into her life and fixes everything and they live happily ever after.

Go on, tell me that that's not how nearly EVERY story goes these days.

Fortunately, this was not that story. I was impressed with how it quickly picked up from it's slow start and completely engaged me. It's one of those books that you never want to put down, and for all the right reasons. Badass characters. An intriguing mystery. Intricate, masterful worldbuilding. Smexual tension galore! (Yes, I meant smexual). And a hero to swoon over.

Gaby's one of the most amusing, engaging and interesting heroines I've read in a while. She actually had a brain, guys! Halle-freaking-lujah. She perfectly balanced her grief with her sense of self, even though she didn't fully understand who she was. And Rafa. Gorgeous, hilarious Rafa. He exceeded all of my expectations. Usually, I have to brace myself when it comes to the males in this particular YA genre. Brace myself for the inevitable douchebags that try to come off as redeemable in the end but sort of just make me want to facepalm. I didn't really have that issue with Rafa. He was a smartass, but not a dick. Badass, but not unbearably arrogant.

Really, this book seemed to be set up for hundreds of cliches, but it avoided them all and turned out fabulous. Easily a 5-star-er.

**A copy of this book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.**

Review - Origin - Jennifer L. Armentrout

Title: Origin
Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout
Publisher: Entangled Publishing
Release Date:August 27th, 2013
Series: Lux #4
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Synopsis via Goodreads

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?

My rating:

WARNING: Possible spoilers ahead, depending on what you count as spoilers. Also contains multiple, annoying uses of the word “badass” and “badassery”, a bunch of unnecessary totally necessary exclamations, and some angsty gifs.

Jennifer L. Armentrout has reached a whole new level of awesome epicness. I’m 100% sure epicness isn’t even a word, but that’s the only thing that describes this fast-paced, swoony, hilarious, action-freaking-packed installment of the Lux series. She’s outdone herself. No book in the series has ever compared. Origin was good. Foam at the mouth good. Fangirl like there's no tomorrow good.

Everything about it was badass. Katy was badass. In the previous book, Opal, it ended abruptly with her being captured by Daedalus. And I was all “Oh noooooooooo!” But then Origin came out and we see that Katy handled things like a pro. And by “like a pro” I mean, after the initial suckiness of her situation wore off, she was all enraged and determined and righteous. She endured ass-kickings and threats and faced the possibility that she’d never be free of Daedalus’s evil little clutches.

“The words that came out of my mouth were my own. I felt them. I believed them.
        ‘I’m going to kill you one day,’ I promised.”

See? Badassery!

Daemon was, like always, rocking his own kind of constant badassery. Like anyone could guess, he goes after Katy. He turns himself in to Daedalus (Not exactly a spoiler. If you hadn’t inferred what he’d do from the beginning, it lets on pretty quickly.) Mother of alpha males, Daemon’s unrelenting resolve to get Katy back was out of this world! (Hehe, it’s funny ‘cause he’s an alien!) He didn’t care who he had to mow down or steal from or lie to in order to get to her. And he did it all with his usual sarcastic, cocky flair that I just love so much! (Shout out to JLA for doing dual perspectives!)

“Going down on one knee, they leveled a dozen or so semiautomatic rifles on me. Stopping so many bullets would prove tricky.
      People were going to die.
     That sucked, but it wouldn’t stop me.” 

                                                                          ***

“’I’ve been waiting a long time to run tests on someone like you,’ he said to Daemon, voice high-pitched.
      Daemon arched a brow. ‘Another fanboy. I have them everywhere.’”

Swoony batches of badassery!

Also, the romance! Despite Kat & Daemon’s circumstances, their romance was the fiercest it’s ever been! Gah, their love jumped off the page and squeezed my heart to pieces! Plus something very, very big with their relationship happens towards the later half that you would not believe! So if you haven’t read this book yet, do it!

“I caught the tear with a kiss. ‘And I’m not going to let you do this by yourself. You’re my—you’re my everything, Kat.’ At the sound of her soft inhale, I smiled again. ‘Come on, Kitten, did you really expect anything less from me? I love you.” 

And Kat was all like:

  

 Oh, yeah, and there’s a bunch of sexytimes, too!

“Daemon squared his shoulders and cracked the door open. I couldn’t see anything beyond his bare back, which, if I had to be stuck staring at something, at least it was that.”

Like I’ve been coming to expect from any JLA book nowadays, the ending was…was…badass! OMG was it all kinds of badass! There was a huuuuuuuuge awesome, catastrophic, unbelievable, devastating battle of epic proportions that fully displayed the amounts of badassery that Luxen can bring to the table! And not only was it was filled with the Luxen but also the hybrids and some other types of things that I can’t really give away, but the title “Origin” had something to do with it! There’s a ton of new players entering the game now! There are also a few plot twists at the end, some I did see coming and some I didn’t. And holy freaking cow, the one at the end with the conversation between Dawson and Daemon about Beth!! And also the betrayal by someone important!!!! (For once, it isn’t Blake, but there’s a reason for that.)

I can’t! I just can’t anymore! I’m about to explode with the feels that this book has brought. Plus, I feel like if I use the word badass one more time, I’ll have irritated the hell out of everyone, including myself. So just suffice it to say that this book was a big game-changer. The best book in the series yet. And it didn’t end with a gigantic cliffhanger, so I’m good with that.

Anywho, let’s end things with a quote from the book that actually had me laughing out loud at the imagery:

“Man, it was so quiet you could hear a grasshopper karate chop a fly.”

Read this book! The karate-chopping grasshopper demands it!

Review - MacRieve - By: Kresley Cole

Title: Macrieve
Author: Kresley Cole
Publisher: Gallery Books
Release Date: July 2nd, 2013
Series: Immortals After Dark #13
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Synopsis via Goodreads

In this pulse-pounding Immortals After Dark tale, #1 New York Times bestselling author Kresley Cole delves into the darkest mysteries and deepest passions of Clan MacRieve. . .

A Beast In Torment

Uilleam MacRieve believed he’d laid to rest the ghosts of his boyhood. But when a brutal torture revives those ancient agonies and destroys his Lykae instinct, the proud Scot craves the oblivion of death. Until he finds her—a young human so full of spirit and courage that she pulls him back from the brink.

A Beauty In Chains

Seized for the auction block, Chloe Todd is forced to enter a terrifying new world of monsters and lore as a bound slave. When offered up to creatures of the dark, she fears she won’t last the night. Until she’s claimed by him—a tormented immortal with heartbreaking eyes, whose touch sets her blood on fire.

A Full Moon On The Rise

With enemies circling, MacRieve spirits Chloe away to the isolated Highland keep of his youth. But once he takes her to his bed, his sensual mate becomes something more than human, evoking his savage past and testing his sanity. On the cusp of the full moon, can he conquer his worst nightmare to save Chloe . . . from himself?

My rating:

After sorting through a bunch of "meh" YA and New Adult, the release of Kresley Cole's MacRieve was just the non-narcotic boost I needed. I feel like a random, crazy song & dance is in order. Or maybe just a spontaneous combustion or something.

Yes! I give it 5 freaking stars and this book earned every single one of them.

I don't even know where to begin with Will and his mate, Chloe, so let me just start off by mentioning: yes, Chloe definitely is a species that hadn't really been delved into yet, as per Kresley Cole's tweeting about the novel prior to its release. And yes, within 10 or so pages of reading I'd correctly guessed what she'd be.

And now that that's out of the way, onto the best part: Chloe's personality. Chloe was amazing! She's my favorite heroine in the series, I think. From her first appearance to her last, her character was consistent and entertaining. Initially, she was human, but when she got tossed into the Lore she took it all head-on with her stay-positive attitude. She was badass without being too flashy about it. She was tough and hilarious and NEVER backed down without all of the obnoxiousness that comes from being all of those things. From the start, she never took any of Will's shit (and there was A LOT of it), and when things got rough between them--and not in the good, naughty way--she'd fire right back at him. She had a game plan of what she was going to do even as more problems were flying at her that she never strayed from. Everything about her was real, even as the world she'd known wasn't, and I really enjoyed reading about her.

And then we have Will aka Uilleam aka Ooh-lay-umm as Nix called him. He was a mess. A big, dark mess and he knew it. I mean, it was somewhat understandable considering what happened to him in the past and then what happened during his capture & torture. He was this big, broody, broken Lykae who suddenly found his mate, and just when things were looking up...in true KC fashion, everything came crashing down in a big pile of lust, anger, bitterness, past trauma, and prejudice. The romance between him and Chloe happened so quickly (I think he fell for her in all of 24 hours, but it's okay 'cause Chloe's just that awesome) and so when it went awry, it nearly self-destructed. Will had a lot of things he needed to work on before he could be with Chloe (namely his disgust for her species) but when he finally got over it, it was glorious.

The later half or so took an interesting turn. It kind of reminded me of a fairy tale, something like Sleeping Beauty or Snow White. Chloe got sick, and [*this might be a little spoilery, so keep reading at your own risk*] only Will's literal "true love" could save her. If there was no love, then she would have died. Except, this is a KC novel, so instead of true love's kiss saving her, it's true love's third time doing the horizontal tango. After that, it stopped focusing on Will & Chloe's relationship, as they got their HEA a little early.

We get a couple surprises, and if I'm not wrong, I think Munro might be next in line with his HEA looking at how badly things ended for him. Or maybe not, since he'd need a bit of time to wait and see how things go. I know I'm being vague, but I'm trying not to give any spoilers away.

As for cameos from other characters in past books, there weren't many in person. Nix, of course, was there, as was Malkom Slaine. Some were merely mentioned. Others like Regin and Mariketa were only there through overheard cell phone conversations, which was kind of a bummer and a good thing. It left room for Chloe & Will to develop their feelings for one another, but I kinda wanted to know what was going on with everyone else.

As always, KC delivers with this book. Her prose was gripping as she delved deeper with the worldbuilding and introduced new characters and new species of the Lore. It took me about two days to finish this book, since the only time I put it down was when I all but passed out from exhaustion. Chloe & Will fit so well together while still being strong individuals. And while there was more focus on building up the romance and not as much action as we'd usually see in an IAD novel, it's okay because the romance is what I'm here for anyways :)

Review - Fifth Grave Past the Light - By: Darynda Jones

Title: Fifth Grave Past the Light
Author: Darynda Jones
Publisher: Piatkus
Release Date: July 9th, 2013
Series: Charley Davidson #5
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Synopsis via Goodreads

Charley Davidson may not look like your everyday, run-of-the-mill grim reaper, but she has vowed to reap grimness wherever she goes despite this unfortunate fact. Sadly, she gets sidetracked when the sexy, sultry son of Satan, Reyes Farrow, moves in next door. As he is the main suspect in her arson case, she has vowed to stay away from him until she can find out the truth.

However, when dead women start appearing in her apartment—lost, confused and terrified beyond reason—Charley has no choice but to ask for Reyes' help, especially when it becomes apparent that her own sister, Gemma, is the serial killer's next target. With his ability to observe incorporeally, surely he can find out who's responsible. And even if he can't, he is the one man alive who could protect Gemma no matter who or what came at her. But he wants something in return: Charley. All of her—body and soul. And to keep her sister safe, it is a price she might be willing to pay...

My rating:

Excuse me while I make myself whole again after that ending turned me into a swooning, fangirling mess. Reyes. Why aren't you real? Why aren't you mine? Oh, the injustice of it all...

Now that I got my required dose of melodrama out of the way, can I just begin by saying that Darynda Jones is a genius. The perfect writer. The woman responsible for my insomnia, since sleep became a foreign concept as soon as I got a copy of this wonderful masterpiece of a sequel. NO ONE does sequels like D.J. NO ONE.

I dived into the story like there'd never been a long, excruciating period of time between this book and the last. Coming back to Charley's never-ending wit was refreshing. Her eccentric personality shined through like it always does, no matter how dire the situation is. And in the true Charley Davidson fashion, there were tons of dire situations.

Like usual, D.J. keeps the action nonstop with just enough subplots to make Charley's life crazy. So much was going on, and I loved it. It kept the pacing tight, never allowing a dull moment to creep through. We had Reyes as Charley's neighbor, where naughty times ensued. We had a psycho serial killer, and a twist at the end with the killer that I did NOT see coming. We had random dead blond women appearing in Charley's home and crawling on ceilings. We had the mysterious arsonist (who wasn't so mysterious as I read on). And I'm probably missing more, but after reading that ending, my head is more than a little scrambled.

That ending, though. Abrupt. Mind-blowing. Heart-swelling. Freaking spectacular. I actually did a mental happy dance, with wide eyes and a dropped jaw. I can't say what happens, of course, but just know that unless you have something against Reyes and Charley's relationship, you will NOT be dissapointed. And since I was a fan of them deepening their romance from the beginning, I was near euphoric at the end.

If you're like me, you'd want to know about any advancements with Charley's mysterious powers. Aside from the usual seeing ghosts & having them pass through her, there's quite a bit of new stuff. She slows time occasionally when she's aware of imminent danger. She gets to see things from a different plane, finally getting a glimpse of Reyes's surrounding shadow everyone seems to be going on about. During one scene, she causes a mini-earthquake. There's more and I don't want to give it all away, but her powers really do seem as endless as Reyes said they would be.

Supporting characters are a vital part of enjoying a novel for me. And D.J. has every single one of them down pat. Uncle Bob. Cookie. Officer Taft. Kim Millar. Rocket & Blue Bell. Strawberry Shortcake. Quentin. Amber. Gemma. All the characters we know and love are at the forefront once more in this edgy yet hilarious installment.

But I'm biased, so all of my attention was on the enigma that is Reyes Farrow. He was charming and wicked and sexy and amusing. And since he stayed corporeal the whole time, his moments with Charley got steamy very quickly. Observe:

A huge smile spread across his face. "True enough, so what's eating you? Because, sadly, it's not me."

Way to almost give a girl a stroke over here, Reyes. There's also stuff like this:

"Hey, wait," I said, pulling back, "you are the son of Satan. Maybe we need a safe word."
His grin morphed into something wickedly charming. "Okay, how about, 'Oh my god, it's so big.'"

Oh, Reyes, you dirty man. If that didn't keep me awake more than anything, I don't know what did.

Review - Opal - By: Jennifer L. Armentrout (Lux Series #3)

Title: Opal
Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout
Publisher: Entangled Teen
Release Date: December 11th, 2012
Series: Lux #3
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Synopsis via Goodreads

No one is like Daemon Black.

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.

My rating:

All right, I'll admit it. I couldn't control my inner fangirl once I got my hands on this book. Daemon is just so...Daemon. I can't count how many times I did a mental happy dance once he said something funny or just plain naughty.



Moving on...this book tops each previous one in the series. And here I thought it just couldn't get any hotter than Onyx with all of the spontaneous combusting going around, but I'm so glad I was wrong. I enjoyed Opal from page one. It was flawless. Each of my expectations were met and then some. Jennifer L. Armentrout kept didn't pull any emotional punches, either.

What I Especially Liked:

1) The Realism of Dee & Katy's Relationship:
In the aftermath of Adam's death, I didn't expect Armentrout to really focus on how Katy & Dee's relationship would be impacted. I thought she'd mostly stick to the main storyline, and either not address the tension at all or have it be non-essential. But I'm so glad that it was a prominent aspect. I'm glad that I got to see how hurt Dee was, and how authentic her reactions were. I'm glad that she took time away from Katy to collect herself, and didn't rush back into their best-friend-hood. It was all so realistically refreshing, and I'm glad that Katy was understanding about it.


2) The Recurring Characters:
Most of the character that are introduced in Onyx are back with a vengeance in this novel. After the first time it happened, I was shocked.



I didn't expect the person who came back to be back so soon. I was on the edge of my seat wondering how everyone, especially Daemon, would react. After the second time, the character who came back wasn't around for very long...if you know what I mean. So, that character didn't have as much of an impact as the crapstorm they caused did. Still, with each person who came around the action aspect inched up that much more and I loved it all.


3) Katy's Ongoing Frustration w/Daemon:
I think that this was what drew me to the series in the first novel, Obsidian. I liked that Daemon was a cocky asshole and I especially liked that Katy (unlike many heroines in the YA genre nowadays) didn't take any of his crap. In Opal, she still doesn't and I love the consistency. Now that Katy and Daemon are an actual couple, Daemon pulls back the asshole remarks but never stops being his arrogant self. Katy's frustration moves to Daemon's undying need to protect her in this book. I found myself siding with Katy time and time again when her safety was brought up. Daemon's hypocrisy knew no bounds (I still love him, though). There'd be a situation when they were planning something dangerous and Daemon would say something like "I don't want you to go. I just want to protect you." And Katy would argue that if she asked him not to go, he'd refuse. Which was completely true, of course. I felt the same mild annoyance that Katy did, and I think a book it a million times better when I can feel what the character's feeling.


4) The Return of Dawson
Ever since Dawson came back everyone had been on edge waiting for him to go off his rocker and try to rescue Bethany on a suicide mission. And while I did share their fear that Dawson would try to rescue her and end up dead in the process, I also found it endearing. His determination to get to Beth was impressive. His dedication was everlasting. Going through the pain of trying to resist onyx only on the possibility that he'd see her again...Dawson immediately became a character that I liked and will continue to like.

5) The Ending







IT DESTROYED ME. I knew Armentrout would deliver with a fantastic, unbelievable ending. I knew I would remember it and cherish it and obsess over it until the next Lux novel came out. And I will. But....like I said, it destroyed me. It simply broke my heart in two. Shattered it to pieces. I didn't know whether I should start bawling for Katy & Daemon's relationship or rage at the unfairness of it all. I knew something would go horribly awry. Armentrout kept hinting at it. I knew the shit would hit the fan. I just didn't expect it to do so in the way that it did. I'm so distraught right now. I need the next book. Need it.

Favorite Lines:

1) "Maybe I wouldn't have to worry about her [Katy's Mother] and Will. Maybe I needed to worry about her and Daemon. Cougar."

2) " 'But you've broken the rules, Kitten. Several times. You're owed some punishment.'
My heart jumped. 'I am a rule breaker.'
His lips tilted up on one corner. 'You are.' "

3) "To my left, there was a blur of brown racing away from me. Most likely a deer or, knowing my luck, a chupacabra."