Beginnings: Obsidian & Onyx by Jennifer L. Armentrout

 

I bought this omnibus of books one and two at a thrift store. My friends and followers have been trying to get me to read this series for ages, although I think I've missed the bus on the book's popularity train. It peaked ages ago; now people are all about her vampire fantasy series (which I definitely did not like). The Lux series honestly isn't too bad for what it is. It's very much a paranormal YA romance cast in the mold of TWILIGHT, but the heroine has a lot more empowerment than most other female characters done in that vein. Katy is a book blogger, she stands up for herself, and she doesn't hate every female character who so much as breathes in the direction of her love interest.

This is basically TWILIGHT with aliens. The Lux are light people, the Arum are shadow people. They are at war and Katy's proximity to them ends up putting her in danger-- multiple times. Daemon, the love interest, is one of the most powerful of his kind, and after reading FOURTH WING, let me tell you that light beings kind of pale in comparison to shadow baes. Also, he's just such a raging asshole. Did I need a TWILIGHT where "Edward" constantly insults and sexually harasses "Bella" while doing a self-defensive light show? No. 

Did I read it anyway? Of course I did.

If you're really into books like FALLEN, TWILIGHT, and HUSH HUSH, you will love this book. Actually, now that I'm saying this, I think Daemon has more in common with Patch than he does with Edward, so maybe that's a better comparison. I probably wouldn't recommend this series to anyone who isn't a die-hard YA paranormal fan, and honestly, the bonus scenes in this book just made me super glad that the books aren't dual POV. I probably won't read more in this series but I don't regret what I did read.

2.5 out of 5 stars