Onyx by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Book:  Onyx

Author:  Jennifer L. Armentrout

Publisher:  Entangled

Source:  purchased

Grade:  A

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 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…

Initial reaction

Oh, JLA!  I will never doubt you again!

Cover story

I love the titles for this series and the fact that all the minerals that are used are significant in the story.  I like the covers, but I’m not crazy about them. Although the model for Daemon is smoking hot! 

What’s the Story?

I flat out loved the first book in this series, Obsidian.  I had never read a Jennifer Armentrout novel until that one and I was so, so hooked!  I could not put it down.

I finally found the time to squeeze in Onyx and I was so excited.  More hot alien!  Hooray!  Then I started reading and saw the book delving into more of the Katy/Daemon back and forth fighting and flirting.  And I thought, “You know, I’ve had enough of this.  If these two don’t figure things out soon, I’m just going to stop reading this because there’s not a whole lot more going on.”

Then JLA laughed in my face and blew my mind!

Don’t worry too much about the bickering if that is getting on your nerves in the beginning.  Because once this book gets going, it has a kick-ass plot that is going to blow you away!  I don’t even know how to describe it, so I’m almost resorting to the descriptive capacity of a 13 year old girl at a Justin Bieber concert.  In other words….

OMG! OMG! OMG!!  SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!  THIS BOOK IS LIKE, TOTALLY AWESOME!

This book had a tight, fast-paced plot once it picked up.  There were some things I suspected and others I didn’t and the whole thing came together in one wicked ride of a novel!

I still love Daemon and Katy and once they stopped the constant bickering from the beginning of the book, I loved them even more.  I also really enjoyed getting to know a little more about the Luxen and their world and culture.  This is such an interesting angle for a book plot with the aliens trying to hide as humans on Earth instead being some big, evil entity trying to end humankind as we know it.  And JLA knows how to work it, people!

This book, of course, left me hungering for more at the end, but it did tie up fairly nicely, especially for the middle book in a series.  There are still a lot more questions and conflict to clear up, so I am anxiously awaiting the days until Opal is available.

The Soundtrack

One More Night by Maroon 5

Keep Me a Secret by Ainslie Henderson

A Night Like This by The Cure

Subterranean Homesick Alien by Radiohead

The Alien Song by Milla Jovovich

Your Guardian Angel by Red Jumpsuit Apparatus

The Final Grade

My final grade for this book is an A.  It would have been an A+, but that bickering at the front of the book got on my nerves a bit.  But once this book took off….wow!  It took my breath away!  And now I’m anxiously awaiting the next book, and keeping an eye on the sky for my own hot mess of an alien!