Onyx
Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout
Publisher: Entangled Teen
Length: 366 Pages
Paperback, via Amazon.com
Rating: 4.5 Brownies
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GoodReads Synopsis:
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 are 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…
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My Review:
Oh man. Oh-man-oh-man-oh-man.
I really should've known, the second I picked up this book, that it would become a "problem book." Problem Books lead to me struggling with A.) Writing a review for it, doing it as much justice as possible, and B.) Suffering through months of waiting for my next Lux Fix.
And here I return to a constant stream of man-oh-mans. Ms. Armentrout has done it again, folks. Okay, here we go.
So if you are a GoodReads fiend such as myself, you know that the reviews for Onyx are through the freaking roof. I thought the 4.44 rating that Obsidian boasted was impressive, but nearly 4.7? That's virtually unheard of. My immediate response to seeing such a high praise rate was rather depressing in retrospect; I couldn't help but think that only die-hard Obsidian fans had gotten hold of the book, so of course they'd love the living hell out of it. I could practically feel the raging hormones bouncing off the reviews for Onyx, all spazzed out after a heavy dose of Alien-crack.
Well, if you read my review for Obsidian, then you know that I was also one such provider of a hormone-dominated review. I return to you all today, still blushing slightly and yet again fanning myself, to give you another round of flustered ranting. Let's do this.
Onyx. I'm going to try to sum it up in only a few words, but it wouldn't and couldn't possibly convey just how good the book is: A bigger, better, longer, sexier and more emotion-inducing Obsidian. When I saw other reviewers say very similar things, my immediate thought was along the lines of, "No way, not possible--Nope." As per usual, I was wrong. Very wrong, very stupid and very in for a very big surprise.
So, the beginning is nothing too special. Armentrout does a great job at bringing her returning fans back into the world of Katy and Daemon, knitting pieces of the last book's plot effortlessly into the thoughts and dialogue to bring you up to date. I never felt like I was reading too much exposition, which is great. The reader is also immediately treated to extreme Daemon-cuteness-- he puts a cookie halfway into his mouth and I just about kissed my book.
As the story goes on, I will say there were quite a few moments during which I felt the need to slam my face into a hard surface. Of course, usually these things were the good kind of face-palm moments, the kind you get when you know something bad is going to happen but it doesn't make watching it happen any less funny/sad/satisfactory. However, if you are someone that gets easily fed up with knowing too much more than the main character, then perhaps you will find these moments kind of annoying. I'll just say this: Katy is kind of clueless about certain thing frequently throughout Onyx, but understandably so. I just had to keep reminding myself that I'd probably think in a similar way to keep any irritation down.
Obviously, as I've stated before and as I'm sure you would expect if you've read Obsidian, JLA goes full force with all types of tension in Onyx. Emotional tension, fear-induced tension, angry-tension, and the mother of all tension-- sexual tension. Most times, Armentrout manages to infuse scenes with more than one of these types of intensity and the end result is always fantastic: you feel it. You feel the tension inside you, taking custody of your nerves and playing them like a string instrument. It's incredible, and so rare, this ability that Armentrout has developed throughout her works.
One thing I wish I had gotten of out of Onyx was a bit more inclusion of secondary characters. I loved Blake, even despite the fact that I flipped back and forth between hating him and liking him. Dee, Adam, Lesa and Carissa, though, were kind of tossed to the side. Again, I totally understand how and why these characters were pushed to the back burner, but I still wished I had seen more of them. I guess I missed them in a way. Just something to consider.
I could go on and on, (again), about this book, but if I'm forced to depart with one last high praise, I'd simply say this: The humor was spot on. I generally refrain from using silly text-language like lol, but quite honestly that's the best way to describe what I must have looked like reading Onyx. Cooped up on my bed, earplugs muffling out any sound-- and laughing out loud. And trust me, I'm sure it was loud. If you thought Obsidian was hilarious be prepared for some wild guffaws, because the dialogue is marvelously funny.
If you haven't yet read Obsidian, or any of Jennifer Armentrout's other fantastic novels, open up another tab right now and order them. Check that little priority shipping box and endure the wait--it's well worth it. If you have read Obsidian, order Onyx. Do it now.
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