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A review by amycoles
Beginnings: Obsidian & Onyx by Jennifer L. Armentrout
4.0
This review is going to be a bit different than my previous reviews since I’m going to be doing one review for the whole Lux Series:
Shadows (#0.5)
Obsidian (#1)
Onyx (#2)
Opal (#3)
Origin (#4)
Opposition (#5)
**there are several other novella’s that I have’t read**
I read these books in the order that the Special Collector’s Editions come in. So I began with Lux Beginnings (a bind-up of Obsidian & Onyx), then Lux Consequences (Opal & Origin), and then Lux Opposition (Opposition & Shadows).
I’ll mostly be talking about the first book and will only talk about my general feeling about the rest…
🌀 This is a spoiler free review 🌀
General Series Review
First off, yes, the synopsis makes this book seem super trashy. But also yes, I was completely sucked in and ended up LOVING IT. I actually marathoned the entire series in two weeks (which is pretty good for me)!
Katy
Let’s start by talking about Katy. As a main character, I was pretty fond of her. Lots of other book reviewers have said this too, but of course Katy is super relatable to me since she is a book blogger (/booktuber?). However I did notice that with all the craziness in her life throughout the series, she wouldn’t have had much time to read, let alone book blog. While this is glaringly obvious now that the series is over, it really doesn’t bother me. I loved her personality too much to really care about the technicalities of everything. Her sarcasm, the way she only partially puts up with Daemon’s shit, her Harry Potter references…that’s what I loved. I also noticed that throughout the series, Katy’s character develops fast – unbelievably fast. But again, this didn’t really bother me since I loved her as a bad-ass who could (sometimes) take care of herself… and I was also too caught up in the angsty romance to care!
Daemon
There seems to be two types of people out there: the ones who love Daemon and the ones who still think he’s a dick. I love him. I see all of his actions as being justified, despite some justifications being flawed because of his emotions. And like Katy, I love his personality. His sarcasm, playful teasing, his alien-intelligence (different meaning here)…The only thing that sometimes put me off was his overprotectiveness – which also put Katy off – and he did develop and get better so it’s not a big downfall to me.
The Relationship
Daemon’s snarky attitude mixed with Katy’s sarcasm just made them such an addictive couple to follow through the series. Like many (if not, most) romance books, this is somewhat of a guilty pleasure. It’s far from scholarly literature, but I completely ate it up 🙊. I found it incredibly tacky how they would almost get together, and then separate over and over again, but this repetition still managed to hook me and keep me wanting more.
The Worst Part of Book 1 (no spoilers)
The worst part of the first book is TMI in the synopsis. The book’s synopsis tells you that Daemon is an alien, but then the first half of the book seems to try to leave you in suspense as to what is so strange about Daemon… I just wish I didn’t know from the start the he’s an alien because it would have been much more fun being in suspense with Katy! I found myself just waiting for the moment when she finally got up to speed with what I knew.
The Rest of the Series
I loved the first two bind-ups (the first four books). I would consider them to be paranormal romance, fantasy, and maybe even scifi. But the last book, Opposition, veered too much into the dystopian realm for my liking. While it still flowed well enough with the earlier books, it just developed from a paranormal romance into an apocalyptic / post-apocalyptic book – which I didn’t sign up for. It wan’t necessarily bad, it just wasn’t the type of book I was expecting or really wanting. But who knows, maybe scifi lovers would disagree!
The very ending of the series – the ending of the last book – wasn’t as eventful or exciting as I had hoped. I felt content, but not wowed by it. I can’t say much more without spoilers…
The Novella
I really wasn’t in the mood to continue reading Shadows after being slightly disappointed by Opposition, but I pushed through and ended up loving it. It reminded me exactly why I loved the first book, Obsidian. This novella is a series prequel that follows Dawson and Beth’s relationship and while I love love love them, I still like Katy and Daemon a sliver more. But I loved the angst and giddiness of it all.
This novella also made me love Dee even more. Don’t get me wrong, I loved her in every book – she’s adorably bubbly and cheerful, not to mention that she has no filter. But in the novella we get to see even more of her and even more of her unfiltered banter. Love.
Overall
This series was sooooo addicting.
Daemon is swoon-worthy.
I completely ship Katy and Daemon, Elizabeth and Dawson, and *** and ******.
There was a perfect balance of romance, action, and suspense.
I’d highly recommend if you’re looking for an addictive, light read.
Lux Beginnings Rating: 4.5/5 Stars
🌕🌕🌕🌕🌗
Lux Consequences Rating: 4/5 Stars
🌕🌕🌕🌕
Obsidian Rating: 3/5 Stars
🌕🌕🌕
Shadows (#0.5)
Obsidian (#1)
Onyx (#2)
Opal (#3)
Origin (#4)
Opposition (#5)
**there are several other novella’s that I have’t read**
I read these books in the order that the Special Collector’s Editions come in. So I began with Lux Beginnings (a bind-up of Obsidian & Onyx), then Lux Consequences (Opal & Origin), and then Lux Opposition (Opposition & Shadows).
I’ll mostly be talking about the first book and will only talk about my general feeling about the rest…
🌀 This is a spoiler free review 🌀
General Series Review
First off, yes, the synopsis makes this book seem super trashy. But also yes, I was completely sucked in and ended up LOVING IT. I actually marathoned the entire series in two weeks (which is pretty good for me)!
Katy
Let’s start by talking about Katy. As a main character, I was pretty fond of her. Lots of other book reviewers have said this too, but of course Katy is super relatable to me since she is a book blogger (/booktuber?). However I did notice that with all the craziness in her life throughout the series, she wouldn’t have had much time to read, let alone book blog. While this is glaringly obvious now that the series is over, it really doesn’t bother me. I loved her personality too much to really care about the technicalities of everything. Her sarcasm, the way she only partially puts up with Daemon’s shit, her Harry Potter references…that’s what I loved. I also noticed that throughout the series, Katy’s character develops fast – unbelievably fast. But again, this didn’t really bother me since I loved her as a bad-ass who could (sometimes) take care of herself… and I was also too caught up in the angsty romance to care!
Daemon
There seems to be two types of people out there: the ones who love Daemon and the ones who still think he’s a dick. I love him. I see all of his actions as being justified, despite some justifications being flawed because of his emotions. And like Katy, I love his personality. His sarcasm, playful teasing, his alien-intelligence (different meaning here)…The only thing that sometimes put me off was his overprotectiveness – which also put Katy off – and he did develop and get better so it’s not a big downfall to me.
The Relationship
Daemon’s snarky attitude mixed with Katy’s sarcasm just made them such an addictive couple to follow through the series. Like many (if not, most) romance books, this is somewhat of a guilty pleasure. It’s far from scholarly literature, but I completely ate it up 🙊. I found it incredibly tacky how they would almost get together, and then separate over and over again, but this repetition still managed to hook me and keep me wanting more.
The Worst Part of Book 1 (no spoilers)
The worst part of the first book is TMI in the synopsis. The book’s synopsis tells you that Daemon is an alien, but then the first half of the book seems to try to leave you in suspense as to what is so strange about Daemon… I just wish I didn’t know from the start the he’s an alien because it would have been much more fun being in suspense with Katy! I found myself just waiting for the moment when she finally got up to speed with what I knew.
The Rest of the Series
I loved the first two bind-ups (the first four books). I would consider them to be paranormal romance, fantasy, and maybe even scifi. But the last book, Opposition, veered too much into the dystopian realm for my liking. While it still flowed well enough with the earlier books, it just developed from a paranormal romance into an apocalyptic / post-apocalyptic book – which I didn’t sign up for. It wan’t necessarily bad, it just wasn’t the type of book I was expecting or really wanting. But who knows, maybe scifi lovers would disagree!
The very ending of the series – the ending of the last book – wasn’t as eventful or exciting as I had hoped. I felt content, but not wowed by it. I can’t say much more without spoilers…
The Novella
I really wasn’t in the mood to continue reading Shadows after being slightly disappointed by Opposition, but I pushed through and ended up loving it. It reminded me exactly why I loved the first book, Obsidian. This novella is a series prequel that follows Dawson and Beth’s relationship and while I love love love them, I still like Katy and Daemon a sliver more. But I loved the angst and giddiness of it all.
This novella also made me love Dee even more. Don’t get me wrong, I loved her in every book – she’s adorably bubbly and cheerful, not to mention that she has no filter. But in the novella we get to see even more of her and even more of her unfiltered banter. Love.
Overall
This series was sooooo addicting.
Daemon is swoon-worthy.
I completely ship Katy and Daemon, Elizabeth and Dawson, and *** and ******.
There was a perfect balance of romance, action, and suspense.
I’d highly recommend if you’re looking for an addictive, light read.
Lux Beginnings Rating: 4.5/5 Stars
🌕🌕🌕🌕🌗
Lux Consequences Rating: 4/5 Stars
🌕🌕🌕🌕
Obsidian Rating: 3/5 Stars
🌕🌕🌕