Tag: YA Lit

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

1 Comment

Character Name:

Daemon Black

tumblr_mu0uckDT861r3qt6oo1_400

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.”

tumblr_ma20qtDdai1r7o3aqo1_500

*      *      *      *     *     *     *

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

Fire and Flood Book Review

2 Comments

Fire and Flood by Victoria Scott

16069167

 

 


You Can Find the Book At:

GoodReads

Amazon

Barnes and Noble

Author Website

GoodReads Summary:

Tella Holloway is losing it. Her brother is sick, more about and when a dozen doctors can’t determine what’s wrong, her parents decide to move to Montana for the fresh air. She’s lost her friends, her parents are driving her crazy, her brother is dying—and she’s helpless to change anything.
Until she receives mysterious instructions on how to become a Contender in the Brimstone Bleed. It’s an epic race across jungle, desert, ocean, and mountain that could win her the prize she desperately desires: the Cure for her brother’s illness. But all the Contenders are after the Cure for people they love, and there’s no guarantee that Tella (or any of them) will survive the race.

The jungle is terrifying, the clock is ticking, and Tella knows she can’t trust the allies she makes. And one big question emerges: Why have so many fallen sick in the first place?

My Review:

I am going to be completely honest here: I didn’t know who Victoria Scott was until about a week ago. Jessica Brody was having an online video chat launch party…thing for her new release, Unforgotten. She did it with Victoria Scott, who had the first of a series, Fire and Flood, release the same day as Unforgotten. It was a really fun chat, I had a great time with it, and I figured I should check Victoria Scott out. Fire and Flood sounded amazing and I won a swag pack thing for answering a “trivia” question correctly so I got a couple signed bookmarks and such. Last Thursday was my birthday so I decided to go book shopping because, well, duh, and I picked up Fire and Flood.

I didn’t get to it until Tuesday and then I stayed up all night reading it. I read it from about midnight to about 4 am. I CONSUMED this book.

When we were all chatting online, someone had compared it to The Hunger Games and there are a lot of comparisons to it on the back of the book. I can definitely see those comparisons and if you like THG, I definitely think you’ll like this book.

However, I do think Victoria Scott sort of stands on her own with this. While there’s a similarity of survival, and being part of a “game”, and a winner at the end, there’s so much about it that is unique and frankly, insanely exciting.

Tella is part of a game to the finish where you will receive a cure, a cure she desperately wants for her brother. She receives a mysterious message and she goes with it. Its sort of an underground game, not like THG where its broadcast all over the place. There’s a choice in the matter. I like that there’s stages, and with each stage, there’s a winner. It makes it even more exciting. There are stages that they have to survive in order to reach the ultimate goal. I also like that the game was hidden from Tella so when goes to it, she’s unprepared but she’s determined and she learns along the way.

Plus, no one is killing anyone. Well, they’re not required to, anyway. That’s all I’ll say about that haha!

I’m also incredibly attached to the characters. I loved Tella from page one, even as a kind of whining girl stuck in the middle of nowhere, missing the city of Boston and her friends. Because I could feel for her. And I felt her desire for her excitement and her immediate desire to go on this adventure to help her brother. I love that she is resilient and determined but she also struggles, and she has to learn. I like that she doubts herself but pushes herself onward anyway.

I also definitely love the other characters as well: Guy, Harper, Ransom, Levi, Caroline, and the rest. They all have their purpose to the story and I love all of them. I think that Guy brings some mystery to the story, especially hinting at what is to come. Harper and Ransom and Levi provide humor and provide a sense of normalcy when trying to survive in a jungle or desert. They also sort of build mystery to this game.

The fact that the game takes place in our world, kind of under the radar is something that I really enjoyed too. I’m not sure how to classify this book because of that. Its not really dystopian because its OUR world, but with this underground game going on. I love that it feels so real. Everything about it feels so authentic that its not hard to accept any of it. The transition from the normal, everyday world to the world of the games just felt so easy. I loved it. I was easily wrapped up into the world.

Lastly, I think my favorite part was the Pandoras. I can’t handle how much I love the Pandoras. Each contestant had to choose an egg, of varying sizes, that contained a Pandora, an animal that hatches during the game to provide assistance for you, to help you in any way possible. I don’t want to reveal much more than that because there’s more revealed in the story, as it goes along, and I really enjoyed that aspect and I’ve decided I most definitely want a Pandora. I think there’s going to be more to the Pandoras as the books continue too, so I’m excited for it.

Bottom line, read this book. It will grip you from page one, to the last page. I was addicted right off the bat and now, I’m not going to be patient enough to wait until the next one is released. Victoria Scott, hear my plea! I’m ready for the next book :)

Rating:

5 out of 5 Stars