Review & Giveaway | Onyx by Jennifer L. Armentrout (Heather)

 

Welcome to my take on Jennifer L. Armentrout’s Onyx, aka my fangirl gushfest. =)

 

So, let’s start at the beginning. In February, I read Obsidian and then I reread it, and reread it, and stalked JLA’s blog/website for new material. Since you all don’t know me well, let me just say I don’t usually do that. Typically, books are a one read kind of thing for me, even when I love them. When I saw that Onyx wouldn’t be released until August, I almost had a stroke. For the love of alien babies, how was I going to wait? So, when I found out that dear Jennifer L. Armentrout would be at RT Booklovers in Chicago with ARC’s of this little gem I knew I had to be there. So a little over a month ago I went to Chicago with Aly on a mission: to score an ARC of Onyx. Don’t get me wrong, there were other authors there that I wanted to meet and other books I wanted to get, but Onyx was the goal and after playing a deadly game of Spoons, I ended up with an injured right thumb and a beautiful copy of Onyx of my very own! I read it in about 6.5 hours…seriously…then I reread my favorite parts and passed it on to Aly and then on Dani. I just reread it today to remind myself of the awesomeness of it all. So without further adeiu…my thoughts…

 

Overall, it’s a SQUEAL-A-THON start to finish! First of all, the story is so well planned and absolutely breath-taking. There is no predictablility to it at all. The characters are further developed in a seamless, beautiful way and the plot development is absolutely perfect and realistic. New characters were brought in with purpose not as place holders. Nothing’s rushed or cheesy. It had me laughing, crying, and aching right along with the characters. It evoked so much real emotion in me.

 

Let me start with Daemon, since that’s what everyone is concerned about. I had worried that perhaps now that he has confessed his interest in a relationship with Katy that he would lose some of his most loveable Daemon qualities. OMGosh, no. He is still the awesome bad boy with a gooey center that we know and love but he is trying to get Kat’s attention instead of trying to push her away…and boy…resistance is futile. My husband kept asking me why I was grinning as I read. I just couldn’t get over this new Daemon! His inner sweetness is overwhelming. The romanctic side…rocked my socks. His one-liners left me laughing out loud. I literally had to put the book down several times and just squeal with delight. He grows a lot in this book, realizing what it means to care about a human and the vulnerability that love brings with it. JLA does this in a captivatingly realistic way.

 

Katy is the same wonderful book loving, blogger girl we fell in love with, yet she is terribly confused by many things. The connection she feels with Daemon has thrown her for a loop because she equates it with Daemon’s sudden change in feelings toward her, so she writes him off completely. While frustrating because we as readers can see the depth of his feelings, it would be unrealistic for someone to accept such a radical change without some doubts. She is also confused by the entrance of a Mr. Blake Saunders…I will not disclose the details of this gentleman as it would be incredibly spoilery of me. Just let me say that it is a VERY well done character development. Also, Kat feels an overwhelming and unsettling need to be able to protect herself and others. She doesn’t like relying on Daemon to keep her safe. I have to say, I understand and would feel the same way in her shoes. These confusions cloud her judgment and lead her to make some questionable decisions…which make for an ridiculously awesome and at times heart-wrenching story! Kat also has some ah-mazing one-liners as well which left me completely overcome with giggles. I would seriously love to know what exactly a “douche canoe” is? Wait, maybe I don’t want to know.

 

Plotwise, we learn A LOT more about the Arum, Luxen, DoD, Connections…lots of questions are answered. Even more are left unanswered which is exciting considering we now know that we have at least 3 more Lux books! One of my favorite things about this series is the simplicity of the world JLA has built without leaving gaping holes. There aren’t many authors who can do this effectively.

 

I also loved the way the romantic relationship developed between Katy and Daemon. In Obsidian, it was all about angst and passion. Onyx adds in the sweetness and the true emotional, not just physical, connection that was desperately missing in their relationship before causing Katy to run like mad…thank the Lord Daemon is so speedy. 😉 Sigh. What can I say other than it’s perfect, believable, and beautiful?

 

There is so much about this book that I would love to gush over but it would ruin the story for you so I won’t. Just make sure you pre-order, enter every contest you can, daydream about Daemon until you can get your hands on this book. It’s THAT good!

 

 

The Giveaway…

So that you’re all caught up for the release of Onyx, we’re giving away ONE (1) Kindle/Nook ebook of Shadows to ONE (1) lucky follower!

Entrants must be 16 or older.   Giveaway is open internationally to wherever The Book Depository ships.  Please fill out the Rafflecopter form to enter. This is mandatory. Comments will not be counted as your mandatory entry. Rules and conditions are listed below the Rafflecopter form.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Check back tomorrow for our discussion about why Daemon inspires so many weak knees and general mass hysteria, as well as a giveaway of ONYX!!!

Happy Reading!