Onyx
By Jennifer L Armentrout
Published by Entangled: Teen
Book #2 of The Lux Series
Being connected to Daemon Black sucks…
Thanks to his alien mojo, 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. Something worse than the Arum has come to town… The Department of Defense is here. If they ever find out what Daemon can do and that we're linked, I'm a goner. So is he. And there's this new boy in school who's got a secret of his own. He knows what's happened to me and he can help, but to do so, I have to lie to Daemon and stay away from him. Like that's possible. Against all common sense, I'm falling for Daemon. Hard. But then everything changes… 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? No one is who they seem. And not everyone will survive the lies…
Spoilers ahead friends!! You have been warned!
Genre:
Triggers:
Violence, Death
So I loved Onyx, just as much as I loved the first book of the series, Obsidian. Sometimes with a series, the story slows down, and the point of the story is lost in a bunch on unimportant details. Onyx did not disappoint, thank God, because I love these books, and it may have broken my heart.
Bear with me. I am going to post my thoughts on the characters first before going into my review of the book itself.
So this was really Katy's book to shine. Right off the bat, she gets dangerously sick. While Daemon saved her life in the first book by healing her, consequently, Katy changes. Her DNA mutates, and now she is a hybrid. While this, understandably, freaks her out, she is a strong character, and takes it pretty well. The problem with Kat in Onyx is trust. She doesn't trust Daemon when he makes it pretty clear how he feels about her, chalking it up to their "alien mojo bond". She instead trusts another guy, one she just met, and has him train her. I have to wonder if maybe she feels like she needs to give him a chance because he is like her. At this point, she hasn't met another hybrid. Its just heartbreaking to see the pain she causes Daemon by putting herself in danger. I don't know why it never occurs to her to have Daemon train her. A lot of the stuff that happens at the end of the book would not have happened if she not only trusted Daemon, but trusted herself. She had doubts about Blake and Will (Dr. Michaels) long before everything comes to a head. To be fair, she did go through a major change. Her redemption is when she is finally honest with Daemon about loving him, and admitting to herself that she made some bad choices, and she needs to deal with it, and get better. I also loved how kick ass she was in this book. While she does cause Daemon pain by training with Blake, the fact that she wants to be able to stand by him as an equal and fight with him, and protect him and his family is admirable.
Daemon totally redeems himself from the last book. We know why he was such a jerk. He was trying to push Katy away, protect his family, and ignore his feelings for her. In Onyx, he throws it all out the window. Even before he knows about her change, he tells her he wants to be with her. Pushing her away didn't keep her from danger, so why deny his feelings? He shows a very sweet, considerate side of him, and it was very hard to see through Kat's eyes the pain she causes him by trusting Blake. He tries so damn hard to show her his feelings are true, but she fights him to the very end. Props To Daemon though, he steps back, and while I know it kills him, he knows Kat needs to do this on her own.
Blake was a hard character to read. I just really disliked him from the start. While he was friendly, he seemed like he was trying too hard, and of course, he got in the way for Daemon and Katy exploring their feelings and bond. Very frustrating, as the chemistry between Daemon and Kat is insane, whereas there wasn't really any with Blake. He was just a distraction. When the truth about him being a hybrid came out, and he starts training her, I grew to dislike him even more. Not just because he was getting in the way of Kat and Daemon, but because he was increasingly becoming more and more of a danger. Kat should have stopped training about the knife incident, but throwing her at Arum was awful. In the end, after he kills Adam and nearly kills Dee, he is easy to hate. I do believe he felt bad for killing, and for turning over Kat ... but as Kat says, there is always a choice, and he chose to do wrong. Despite him doing it for his Luxon friend Chris (the one who mutated him), I couldn't sympathize with his character.
While we didn't get a whole lot of The Thompson triplets and Matthew, what we did get was important stuff that made most of them seem tolerable. Matthew, obviously starts to trust Katy, and in the end, when he hugs her after Adam dies, I think he comes around. He could have easily put all the blame on her. He didn't. He see's that Adam died because of a multitude of bad choices, and secrecy. Perhaps he also felt guilty. If he was more accepting, maybe Daemon would have been okay with everyone knowing the truth. We didn't get much from Andrew, but Ash by the end of the book seems to accept that Daemon isn't interested in her. Adam, the only Thompson who actually liked Katy, and was supportive of her and Daemon, is the one who pays the price of months of secrets and lies sadly. He loses his life protecting Katy, and I am interested to see how this affects Katy and Daemons relationship with the Thompson's going forward. Not to mention Dee. We don't see much of Dee in Onyx, as she spends most of her time with her boyfriend Adam. The fact that she loses the love of her life, all because Katy, her best friend, doesn't tell her what happened to her in book 1 ... well, I see trouble ahead.
I will quickly throw in a blurb about Dr. Will. I didn't like him from the start, and after what he does to Katy, I really hate him. I hope Daemon's plan of the failed mutation works out, because I don't want to think of that jerk being bonded to our main heroes. At least, because of him, Dawson is able to escape the DOD, and Daemon and Dee have their brother back. It will be interested to see how his character adds to the story going on. And what of Bethany, who obviously had become unhinged while with the DOD?
After reading this book (twice) and mulling everything over, I rate Onyx 4.5/5. Its story is original (except maybe the healing turning Kat into a hybrid. Seems a little Roswell, but SO much better, so I won't fault it), the characters continue to grow and develop, the story itself is insanely interesting, and I have already recommended it my friends, and now you, whoever actually reads this. Despite it have making out, sexual references, and swearing, I even recommended it to my teenage daughters. The action is mostly consistent, but it loses half a point because even after Kat learns her bond with Daemon doesn't affect their feelings towards each other, she still doesn't actually tell him how she feels till the end of the book ... despite her knowing her true feelings before that. Very frustrating.
Daemon: "Resistance is futile, Kitten."
Kat: "So is your charm."
Daemon: "We'll see."
Kat: "I don't want you."
Daemon: "Uh, now is not the time to get into that conversation."
Kat: "But I do want you."
Daemon: "I know kitten. You aren't fooling anyone. Come on."
Daemon: "Don't hit, kitten. It's not nice."
Daemon: "I bet that by New Years Day, you will have admitted that you're madly, deeply, and irrevocably -"
Kat: "Wow. Want to throw another adverb out there?"
Daemon: "How about irresistibly?"
Kat: "I'm surprised you know what an adverb is."
Daemon: "Stop distracting me, Kitten. Back to my bet - by New Years Day, you'll have admitted that you're madly, deeply, irrevocably, and irresistibly in love with me."
Stunned, I choke on my laugh.
Daemon: "And you dream about me. I bet you'll admit that. Probably even show me your notebook with my name circled in hearts -"
Kat: "Oh, for the love of God..."
Daemon: "It's on."
Daemon: "Very bad kitty ..."
Kat: "Oh, man, maybe I did break my butt."
Daemon: "I hope not. I'm kind of partial to your butt."
Dee: "Here we go. Popcorn?"
Kat: "You're not going to heal me, are you?"
Daemon: "Uh, no, because who knows what will happen then? You might turn into an alien."
Kat: "Humping my leg like a dog in heat every time I'm around you doesn't prove you like me, Daemon."
Daemon: "Actually, that's how I show people I like them."
Daemon: "Modesty is for saints and losers. I'm neither."
Blake: "I can help Katy. Good enough for you?"
Kat: "What?"
Daemon: "Yeah, see, you saying her name alone makes me want to kill you. So, no, not good enough for me."
Blake: "Jesus. You have anger management problems. It's like a disease."
Daemon: "There's a cure, and it's called kicking your ass."
Daemon: "Kitten, your language is so unladylike."
Kat: "You're a dog."
Daemon: "If you pet me, I'll -"
Kat: "Don't even finish that sentence."
Kat: "I have a guest. This is -"
Daemon: "Daemon Black. I'm the guy she lays awake at night fantasizing about."
Kat: "And that is so not the truth. He's my neighbor -"
Daemon: "And the guy she's completely obsessed with."
Kat: "He's very egotistical and likes to hear his voice, but he's promised to stay quiet. Right?"
Daemon smiles and nods. "I think reading is sexy."
Kat: "Do you now?"
Daemon: "Oh, yes, and do you know what else I think is sexy? Bloggers like this. Hot."
Daemon: "I kind of like being your body pillow. Even if you drool on me."
Kat: "Fine! Yes, you mean something to me. What you did for me on Thanksgiving - that made me... That made me happy. You made me happy. And I still care about you. Okay? You mean something to me - something I can't really even put into words because everything seems too lame in comparison. I've always wanted you, even when I hated you. I want you even though you drive me freaking insane. And I know I screwed everything up. Not just for you and me, but for Dee. And I never felt this way with anyone else. Like I'm falling every time I'm around you, like I can't catch my breath, and I feel alive - not just standing around and letting my life walk past me. There's been nothing like that with anyone else. But none of this matters, because I know you really hate me now. I understand that. I just wish I could go back and change everything! I-"
Daemon: "I never hated you."
Daemon: "Kitten, your mind is a terrible and dirty place."
Check out the rest of the LUX series here! (Oblivion is split into three parts)
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