Book Review: Opposition by Jennifer L. Armentrout

13644055Genre: 

Science Fiction, pills Young Adult, Romance

Pages: 

350

Part of a Series?:

The final, fifth novel of the Lux series

Release Date: 

August 5th, 2014

You Can Find the Book At:

GoodReads

Amazon

Barnes and Noble

Book Depository

Author Website

GoodReads 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.

My Review:

While there will be no spoilers for Opposition in this review, there will be spoilers for Obsidian, Onyx, Opal and Origin. 

When I discovered the Lux series a little over a year ago, I had no idea that it would literally climb into my heart and stay there. Katy, Daemon, Dee, all of the characters would make such an impression on me and the story would make me laugh and swoon and cry. I was eagerly awaiting the end of the series to figure out how this crazy, fun, romantic, out of control story would end.

And for the most part, I felt okay with the ending. I have become accustomed to reading books by JLA and feeling overwhelmed by emotions: happiness, giddiness, excitement, swooning, terror, panic, and more. While there were definitely parts in this book that made me feel this way, I felt, overall, just massively underwhelmed by this book.

And this is not to say it was a bad book! Because I honestly don’t think that. It definitely wasn’t. The story was good, the characters were as lovable as ever, but it felt…rushed to me. Anti-climatic. It just didn’t feel like the finale book to this incredible series. The journey to get to the end seemed way too long for the actual end. It felt almost like things had been wrapped up too quickly and I was very disappointed in that.

Something that annoyed me a lot too was the relationship between Katy and Daemon. Now I adore the both of them SO much. Katy is the awkward, book obsessed book blogger with a sassy streak. What is not to like about that? And Daemon…can we even begin to start on how sexy he is? And I shipped them together from the first moment that they met each other. Easily. But in this book…it just got old. It got old fast. I was like “okay, we get it, you love each other, yes, these scenes are steamy, but let’s have some action or something…” It was like…I lost count how many times they told each other they loved each other, or admired how beautiful the other one was or something like that. I get that this book is a heavy romance science fiction but I missed the playfulness between them that wasn’t always lovey dovey. Plus the Luxen have basically invaded the earth and humanity is on the brink of extinction and let’s focus on that, yeah?

One thing that I did really like is that JLA knows how to make a sacrifice. She has killed Adam and Ash and Andrew, and in this book, she continues to do that, and I admire her for that. I hate finale books that don’t make the sacrifices necessary, especially when there is war involved. (cough cough Cassie Clare). Luxen have invaded, humans are dying, and JLA makes sacrifices. She understands that people need to die and its heartbreaking. There is a particular death in the book that I had…not quite expected and it was very heartbreaking to me, and I think that’s a mark of a good writer, when they can make you fall in love with a character so much that the death of that character just hurts so badly.

Basically, in the end, this is what I felt: underwhelmed. It wasn’t a bad book. In fact, it was fairly good. But as far as a finale book to a series, I just felt disappointed. I didn’t feel the need to speed through the book. I felt like I was slowly reading it and I read it in three hours. I probably could have read it in about 2 if I had really wanted to but I just didn’t. I loved seeing all the characters, I loved the story idea but I just thought it maybe needed to be fleshed out more, have more action, maybe be a slightly longer book. I honestly felt like Sentinel, the finale book to JLA’s Covenant series was much better and this book just disappointed me. I look forward to more books from her in the future, and having read “The Return”, her Covenant spin off, I know she’ll produce great books again and again.

Rating:

3.5 out of 5 stars

Fictional Crush of the Week: Daemon Black from the Lux Series

Character Name:

Daemon Black

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The guy who models as Daemon Black on all the covers…hubba hubba. 

Book or Series They Appear In:

The Lux Series

Obsidian, thumb Onyx, story Opal, viagra approved Origin, Opposition (Not Yet Released)

Author/Creator:

Jennifer L. Armentrout

Played By: 

No One Yet

Who They Are:

I’m going to remind you guys again because I”m still getting complaints. My FCotW’s WILL be spoiler filled. Sorry. I’ve warned you so much time haha. 

Daemon Black is the main character, alongside Katy Swartz, in the Lux series. He is Katy’s next door neighbor: mysterious, extremely sexy and a completely asshole. Katy hates him, until he saves her life, and it comes with consequences. Daemon is part of an alien race called the Luxen, and he used his powers to save her, marking her, making her a target for their enemy, the Arum. What starts out as a grudging need to protect Katy turns into way more. The series follows their love story, and the people they are constantly on the run. In one of the books, Daemon heals Katy from basically near death and this changes Katy and gives her unique powers. Because of this, she is a hot commodity and together, they have to fight to keep themselves safe.

Daemon has dark hair, impossible green eyes, and is ridiculously good looking, because, you know, if I was an alien, that’s exactly what I would look like. He’s unbelievably cocky and teasing and he knows exactly what to say. It takes him a while to admit that he’s falling for Katy, but when he does, he’s fiercely in love with her, and protective and loyal to her. He’s an incredible fighter, and is very very loyal to his family members.

Why I Am Crushing On Them: 

Seriously, the first time that I read the Lux series, I was dying. I could not believe that this existed. I remember seeing the cover and being like…no. Just no. I didn’t like it at all. But my friend Megan convinced me to read it and I’m glad I did. They are so guilty pleasure books but I love them, and a huge part of that is down to one Mr Daemon Black. When I first started reading the book, he reminded me so much of Jace Wayland, that I could barely handle it. I think it was the cockiness.

Plus, Jennifer just writes him as this sexy, sexy man and you watch as Katy goes from being absolutely disgusted with him to trying to control her hormones at every turn. I mean, in Obsidian, the first novel, Katy asks Daemon whether he’s equipped like a normal male, and instead of just saying, “Why, yes, Katy, I do have a penis”, he rolls on top of her and rolls his hips to show her that yes, he is anatomically correct. I’m like, what the hell? And he continues to do stuff like that which drives Katy crazy, which drives me crazy. He’s unbelievably and undeniably sexy as a character.

But I also like Daemon as a character, and his development. I like that it takes a long time for him to get openly emotional with Katy, and that it takes a while for him to say “I love you” and that sort of thing because its true to him. There’s no rushed feelings wit him. You see him slowly fall in love with her, and you see his fierce protectiveness of her and the desire he has for, and its just kind of fun to watch it happen.

Notable Quotes:

“Did you think you could stop me? I’ll burn the world down to save her.”

“I will always be in love with you. That’s not going to change today or two weeks from now. I will be just as in love with you in twenty years as I am today.”

 “I held her tight, and I knew right then I would burn down the whole universe for her if I had to. I would do anything to keep her safe. Kill. Heal. Die. Anything. Because she was my everything.”

 “Another fanboy. I have them everywhere.”

“No Olive Garden? Man, we’ve got to get that boy some endless breadsticks and salad. Travesty.”

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Can I just say…after doing this, I really want to read these books again…