Thursday 2 July 2015

Origin Review

Origin by Jennifer L Armentrout
Released: August 27, 2013
Series: Lux
Publisher: Entangled
Pages: 400
Stars: 5/5

Hey guys, so the fourth book in the Lux series is Origin. It starts right after the previous one left off, with Katy being captured by Daedalus. This one might be one of my favourites in the series because it's from both Katy and Daemon's point of view.

Daemon will do anything to get Katy back. After the successful but disastrous raid on Mount Weather, he's facing the impossible. Katy is gone. Taken. Everything becomes about finding her. But the most dangerous foe has been there all along, and when the truths are exposed and the lies come crumbling down, which side will Daemon and Katy be standing on? And will they even be together?

Luxen. Arum. Hybrids. Origins? The list of non-humans keeps growing, and it's not so black and white for who's good and who's bad anymore, not to mention the giant pile of crazy that is Daedalus. Daemon will do whatever it takes to get Katy back, and Luc can help him, but favours don't come for free.

Area 51. Secret weddings. And literally blowing up the vegas strip.

This book is action-packed from start to finish. It's a page turner that had me reading through the night. Most series lag somewhere in the middle but this one just keeps getting better and better!

July TBR

Hey guys, so I failed miserably at my TBR re-reads last month. However, I acquired a few books from friends that I'm going to try to work through this month!
- Briar Rose - Jana Oliver (I've been trying to finish this book for two months now..)
- Dreamland - Sarah Dessen
- A Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
- Rook - Sharon Cameron
- Cinder - Marissa Meyer
- Scarlet - Marissa Meyer
- Cress - Marissa Meyer
I also hope to pick up The Heart of Betrayal (sequel to The Kiss of Deception by Mary E. Pearson) when it comes out next week.

Opal Review

Opal by Jennifer L Armentrout
Released: December 11, 2012
Series: Lux
Publisher: Entangled
Pages: 452
Stars: 5/5

Hey guys, I've recently finished re-reading the rest of the Lux series by Jennifer L Armentrout, so after Obsidian and Onyx is Opal. It starts up right where the last one left off.

After everything, I'm no longer the same Katy. I'm different...and I'm not sure what that will mean in the end. When each step we take in discovering the truth puts us in the path of the secret organization responsible for torturing and testing hybrids, the more I realize there is no end to what I'm capable of. The death of someone close still lingers, help comes from the most unlikely source, and friends will become the deadliest of enemies, but we won't turn back. Even if the outcome will shatter our worlds forever. 

Adam is dead. Blake killed him and almost killed Dee, too. But Dawson is back! Which is incredible, but he's only a shell of the person he was before the DOD took him. Beth is still with the DOD and Dawson will do anything to get her back. So naturally, Katy promises that her and Daemon will do whatever they can to help him get her back.

The problem is, Blake is the only one who knows where Beth is. And she just so happens to be where his friend Chris is too. I smell a trap. So of course Blake blackmails them into helping him get his friend back.

Blake is seriously one of my most hated characters in a book ever.

Enter Luc. Although a bit different (and slightly terrifying), Luc is one of my favourite characters in this series. Daemon and Katy seek him out for help, and he ends up giving them what they need to break into Mount Weather and rescue Beth from Daedalus.

The last chapter of the book was absolutely heartbreaking, but so well written. This book is amazing, and I strongly recommend it to everyone.

Thursday 4 June 2015

Onyx Review

Onyx by Jennifer L. Armentrout
Released: August 7th, 2012
Series: Lux
Publisher: Entangled
Pages: 416
Stars: 5/5

Hey guys, I just finished re-reading Onyx by Jennifer L. Armentrout and once again, I loved it just as much as the first time around. Onyx is the second novel in the Lux series.

Daemon's determined to prove what he feels for me is more than a product of our bizarro connection. So I've sworn him off, even though he's running more hot than cold these days. But we've got bigger problems. I've seen someone who shouldn't be alive. And I have to tell Daemon, even though I know he's never going to stop searching until he gets the truth. What happened to his brother? Who betrayed him? And what does the DOD want from them - from me?

Katy just wants to get through senior year. She wants to be normal, have normal friends and do normal things. Daemon is determined to show Katy what he feels for her is real, and when a new boy, Blake Saunders, ends up in Katy's biology class and starts showing interest in her, Daemon's jealousy level goes through the roof.

But Katy and Daemon haven't told anyone about him healing her and their newfound connection. And now Katy can move things with her mind, and her and Daemon can still hear each others thoughts. To top things off, Katy see's someone she believed to be dead. Someone everyone believed to be dead.

Then someone reveals they have also been healed, or mutated, by a Luxen and they help Katy train and learn to control her newfound abilities.

This book has everything. Steamy kissing scenes. Teen angst. Jealousy. Betrayal. And death. I found the second book to be as much of a page turner as the first, and I don't think I'll ever stop loving this series.

Wednesday 3 June 2015

Obsidian Review

Obsidian by Jennifer L. Armentrout
Released: May 8th, 2012
Series: Lux
Publisher: Entangled
Pages: 400
Stars: 5/5

Hey guys, so I just finished re-reading Obsidian by Jennifer L. Armentrout from the Lux series and I honestly loved it just as much as the first time. For those of you who don't know, there are 6 books in the series: Obsidian, Onyx, Opal, Origin, Opposition, and Shadows is the prequel. I have the special collector's editions of the books, which puts the first two, the third and fourth, and the fifth and prequel together, so I apologize if my blurbs are different from the individual novels.

There's an alien next door. And with his looming height and eerie green eyes, he's hot...until he opens his mouth. He's infuriating. Arrogant. Stab-worthy. But when a stranger attacks me and Daemon literally freezes time with a wave of his hand, he marks me. Turns out he has a galaxy of enemies wanting to steal his abilities and the only way I'm getting out of this alive is by sticking close to him until my alien mojo fades. If I don't kill him first, that is. 

Katy Swarts might by one of my all time favourite characters ever, and possibly the one I can relate to most. She's down to earth, obsessed with books, loves her mom more than anything, protective of her friends, and she doesn't put up with Daemon's crap.

When Katy and her mom move from Florida to West Virginia before senior year, she quickly forms two very different relationships with the siblings next door. While Katy and Dee become best friends, Daemon wants nothing to do with her and makes it very clear he wants Katy to stay away from his sister. Which of course she doesn't.

Turns out Daemon and Dee are part of an alien race of Lux, called Luxen. Luxen are beings of light, and can control light and bend it to their will. Arum, are the opposite of Luxen. Arum are beings of darkness and shadows, and they are after the Luxens power.

I love the characters and the relationships in this book, and as always, Jennifer L. Armentrout delivers the best kissing scenes! I will definitely continue re-reading this series in the future.

June TBR

I'm dedicating June to re-reads! On my TBR shelf this month I have:
- Clockwork Angel - Cassandra Clare
- Clockwork Prince - Cassandra Clare
- Clockwork Princess - Cassandra Clare
- Legend - Marie Lu
- Prodigy - Marie Lu
- Champion - Marie Lu
- Beautiful Disaster - Jamie McGuire
- Walking Disaster - Jamie McGuire
- Hush Hush - Becca Fitzpatrick
- Crescendo - Becca Fitzparick
- Silence - Becca Fitzpatrick
- Finale - Becca Fitspatrick
However, I've already completely deviated from my list and just finished Obsidian by Jennifer L. Armentrout (review up soon) and am currently onto the second instalment in the Lux series, Onyx by Jennifer L. Armentrout.

Wednesday 20 May 2015

Four Review

Four by Veronica Roth
Released: July 8, 2014
Series: Divergent Series
Publisher: Harper Collins
Pages: 304
Stars: 5/5

Hey guys, I recently re-read Four by Veronica Roth which are short stories from Divergent in Fours' point of view. I loved the Divergent trilogy so when she came out with stories from Fours' point of view I fell in love all over again.

One choice. 
One choice breaks free of his past.
One choice embraces his future.
One choice changes him - forever.
One choice will free him.

Two years before Beatrice Prior made her choice, the sixteen-year-old-son of Abnegation's faction leader did the same. Tobias's transfer to dauntless is a chance to begin again. Here, he will not be called the name his parents gave him. Here, he will not let fear turn him into a cowering child.

Newly christened "Four," he discovers during initiation that he will succeed in Dauntless. Initiation is only the beginning though; Four must claim his place in the Dauntless hierarchy. His decisions will affect future initiates as well as uncover secrets that could threaten his own future - and the future of the entire faction system.

Two years later, Four is poised to take action, but the course is still unclear. The first new initiate who jumps into the net might change all that. With her, the way to righting their world might become clear. With her, it might become possible to become Tobias again. 

I love that the stories all take place during defining moments in his life. From escaping his father and his faction to becoming successful as an initiate and then in his new faction to meeting Tris. We always new that Four was dark, damaged and broken. Now we know why. We have a better understanding of his past, and a window into his head.

The writing in these stories was incredible and I will definitely keep re-reading this book.