I received a digital ARC of this this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. * * * * *
I was sent this book a month or so before the actual release and, still to this day, it's been the highlight of my freaking year (though, I don't know what that says about the rest of my year). If you've been on my blog for any amount of time, it doesn't take long to realise that JLA is my favourite author of all time and that I can spend hours and hours singing her praises (but I'll restrain myself so you don't all get bored).
The Darkest Star is the first book in a spin-off series following on from the Lux series which also happens to be one of my all time favourites… what a surprise, there. Like the Lux series, this book is full of sassiness, romance, epic action and a humour that JLA can so effortlessly pour into ever word.
From the very first page, this book had reduced me to excited squeals and hand-flapping and it was everything I ever needed. I was pleasantly surprised with all the mystery and plot twists weaved into a story where I thought I'd already learnt everything about the world. It was fresh, interesting and every bit as brilliant as I'd been expecting.
I also have a Non-spoiler Book Talk if you haven't yet read this book but want more of my thoughts and, I'll give you a warning, it's basically just me professing my undying love for Jennifer L. Armentrout. Which I have no shame for.
The Darkest Star Non-Spoiler Book Talk
It only took about two pages for me to love this book with all my soul and be giggling like an idiot.
Whenever Daemon or Katy or anyone was mentioned, I started squealing and flapping my arms and creating a lovely image of myself as a seal. (A past life, maybe). Seeing old and new faces made my heart so happy and I could live off the energy these books give me. Reading JLA books for the first time is the best experience ever! Honestly, I'd marry the woman if I could. Yes, I'm officially professing my undying love.
In the beginning stages of the book, I was hecka confused about a lot of things. I had no idea why Luc was just kissing and flirting with Evie randomly when he'd just met her! He seems like he loves her from the very start and it totally feels like you've missed something and are out of the loop when reading. Honestly, I thought I was missing part of the book. I don't why I'd assumed we'd get Luc's perspective as well and I wanted answers! But, with that plot twist, it totally makes sense why we weren't graced with the POV that is Luc.
From the beginning, Evie reminded me a little bit of Josie (a main character in JLA's Titan series)- she just wasn't who I wanted to read about (Katy/Alex). I don't think it's a writing problem but my own issue at getting too attached to the original characters and being too clingy to let them go. In the Titan series, the Alex/Aiden scenes were my favourites and in this series it'll likely be the same in terms of Daemon and Katy.
Having said that, Evie grew on me a lot throughout the book and I still think she's super cool. But, if we're being honest, we're all 100% here for Luc (don't even try to convince me otherwise!). I loved learning more about him and the things he's been through. I was heart-broken when he started talking about Paris and how he was like a father to him. It makes Paris' death scene back in the Lux books so much sadder.
Some of my theories were totally off throughout the book but they got more and more accurate as we went along. At first I thought Evie might be a hybrid that Luc made because there was the term knowing on a 'cellular level' in the context of Evie knowing Luc was coming and it reminded me eerily of how Daemon and Katy are connected. Alas, that wasn't right.
I then thought that Evie might be half Luxen half Arum because why not?
But I finally settled on Evie having had her memory wiped and eventually linked it roughly to Nadia. When Luc talked about Nadia, it was almost like he was talking about Evie and I was desperately trying to understand how that worked! I actually went back to the Lux series and re-read all the Luc/Nadia scenes to see if I could make any links. For some reason, I've always thought Nadia was a brunette so that initially screwed me over as well because Evie's blonde. I settled on the theory that the LH-11 healed her but wiped her memories and I'm pretty pleased with that deduction, if I may say so myself.
And then we had the main plot of the book. Someone is coming for Evie and, what do you know, it's the one and only Micah! As soon as the baby Origins were mentioned, I suspected Micah would pop up again but it did surprise me how they grow up so fast! I was expecting a little boy and the older Micah really throws you off the scent that it's him. Well played, Jennifer L. Armentrout, well played. Luc tells us a bit about what happened to the Origins and how their deaths plagued him but, honestly, I don't give a damn that they died. Not after hearing that one of them threw Katy out of a window! Reading that made me so outrageously mad, for some reason. Those little fuckers!! I can't get over it. How dare they throw Katy out of a window!! I was livid. And what about that Luxen they killed? Was it someone we know?!?!?
I'm glad there wasn't a cliffhanger because I don't think my heart could've handled it. Sure, we had the promise of 'something coming' but that's as much of a cliffhanger as I can handle. Otherwise, I'd be tearing my hear out for another year or so in anticipation of the next book. (Which I totally won't be doing anyway...).
I hope we can see more of Daemon and the others in the next books- especially Katy... I missed Katy a lot in this book.
Overall, this was a spectacular story but it's not like I was expecting anything less. And, like always, I'm already counting down the days till I can get my hands on the next book.
Thanks for reading! Feel free to comment your thoughts. Stay amazing!
Chloe
Do you really think that Evie not having a trace is just because of some serum she was given? Throughout the story she appears to sense people (ex: feeling at the nape of her neck that goes down her spine) and she was humming while she and Luc were kissing near the end of the novel. I was personally hoping that she was a half human/half alien hybrid also. It was also stated in an extra scene in Oblivion that Daedalus did something to Nadia and that Luc would make them pay (this took place before the invasion). However, this mystery is not answered in this book. I'm guessing that we will find out in the next book. Please tell me what you think.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I really hope that Evie will get her memories back. She had glimpses of them in some parts of the book. If Jennifer L. Armentrout really wanted to have Luc move on from Nadia, I think that she would have had Nadia die from her illness made Evie be a completely new character that Luc had never met before. It would be satisfying for Evie to get her memories back and accept herself and her name as Nadia again. It would be such a waste for all of her past relationships with Luc, Paris and others from the Lux Series would just be forgotten about. I would also be disappointed if Evie was just normal human that was affected by a serum. It's kind of boring that she doesn't even have signs of developing powers like Katy and was not as active as a protagonist. I feel like she just sat around and did nothing for most of the story. I really hope this changes in the next book and she will become a lot stronger as the series goes on.
ReplyDeleteAnother thing, what do you think about that Arum showing up randomly after Evie ? I feel like there is something more important about that scene since the Arum knew her name and seemed like it was trying to talk and reveal itself to her. Like I said before, I really hope that Evie is revealed to be half alien like you stated in your review (preferably half Arum for me since I thought that would be really interesting to see). Please tell me what you thought of that scene.
ReplyDeletei love your reviews because your reactions are basically the same as mine!! i love me some JLA. Basically once i read the covenant series, i have been steamrolling through the other series and standalones and reading all the extras because i NEED MOREEEE. i am basically obsessed with all the characters she writes about.. so totally invested.
ReplyDeleteI love finding more JLA fans- her work is so underrated! I was totally the same- read the Covenant series first and fell into a spiral of flawless writing that JLA seems to churn out effortlessly!
DeletePS. I just have to let you know that I've screenshotted your comment and put it in a folder titled 'nice' on my computer for when I'm feeling down and need a smile :) Thanks for the comment!
xxx