Title(s): Shadows & Obsidian (Lux #.5 & #1)

Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout

Pub. Date(s): February 1, 2012 & May 8, 2012

Rating(s): ⭐️⭐️⭐️ & ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Shadows:

The last thing Dawson Black expected was Bethany Williams. As a Luxen, an alien life form on Earth, human girls are…well, fun. But since the Luxen have to keep their true identities a secret, falling for one would be insane.

Dangerous. Tempting. Undeniable.

Bethany can’t deny the immediate connection between her and Dawson. And even though boys aren’t a complication she wants, she can’t stay away from him. Still, whenever they lock eyes, she’s drawn in.

Captivated. Lured. Loved.

Dawson is keeping a secret that will change her existence…and put her life in jeopardy. But even he can’t stop risking everything for one human girl. Or from a fate that is as unavoidable as love itself.

Obsidian:

Starting over sucks.

If I don’t kill him first, that is.

This is going to be a joint short review of the first book plus novella of the Lux series.

I’ve said it before on this blog, but Jennifer L Armentrout books are like coming home for me. She was one of the first YA authors I read. Obsidian is a reread for me, and I thought I’d read Shadows before, but I remembered none of it, so now I’m not sure. I do have a full review of Obsidian from back in 2012 – I’ll link it here, if you’re interested – but I have no idea what I said in it. I’ll go back and reread it when I’m done writing this one, as to not influence my thoughts now.

I’ll start with Shadows – this follows Dawson (Daemon’s brother) and his falling for a human girl – Bethany. As this is a prequel, it’s kind of hard to really go into detail, without spoiling elements of the rest of the series. I enjoyed it because it was basically backstory for me, because I know how the Lux Series ends. I think this painted a really vivid picture of who Dawson and Bethany are and again, provide background info not fully available in the story. I wouldn’t say that you should read this before diving into the series – it’s up to you. I kind of liked reading it first and then reading Obsidian, seeing as it picks up only a year after the events of Shadows.

Which leads me into Obsidian. It was so fun being back in this world after all these years. My main reason for finally coming back to this book (and series) was The Darkest Star. I knew after reading that book that I needed more aliens, and Jen had a whole series just sitting on my shelf waiting for me.

I didn’t remember what happened in the majority of this book, but that didn’t bother me. It was almost like reading it for the first time. Daemon is just as rude, caring and snarky as ever, and I forgot how much Katy stood up for herself. She was kind of badass in her own right and didn’t really let anyone walk all over it. It was kind of funny to see just how much blogging and books play a part in the book. Katy is literally every teen girl reader ever, and while yes, I know it’s a book, and therefore fiction, Katy gets to live every teen girls’ fantasy.

I mean, her life is literally like one out of a book. I mean, hot aliens can come move into the empty house in my court. How many times have we wished that certain books were real and not just stories? How many times have we wished that certain characters would pop off the page and sweep us away? The term ‘book boyfriends’ exists for a reason.

Overall, if you’re looking for hot aliens, or if you read The Darkest Star and want more hot aliens, then you should definitely check out these two books plus the rest of the series. I’m definitely planning on rereading the rest of the series, because now I feel like I have to, but I’m excited to fully revisit the world of the Lux – it’ll be my method of biding my time until The Burning Shadow comes out in the fall.