Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout
Publisher: Tor Teen
Publication Date: October 30, 2018
Pages: 368
Format: eARC/Netgalley
In the world of the Lux, secrets thrive, lies shatter, and love is undeniable.
#1 New York Times, USA Today, and internationally bestselling author Jennifer L. Armentrout brings her trademark drama and intrigue to a new romantic YA science fiction series with The Darkest Star. A girl pulled into in a world she doesn't understand finds herself confronted by long buried secrets, a betrayal that could tear her life apart...and Armentrout's most swoonworthy book boyfriend yet.
Seventeen-year-old Evie Dasher knows firsthand the devastating consequences of humanity's war with the aliens. When she's caught up in a raid at a notorious club known as one of the few places where humans and the surviving Luxen can mingle freely, she meets Luc, an unnaturally beautiful guy she initially assumes is a Luxen...but he is in fact something much more powerful. Her growing attraction for Luc will lead her deeper and deeper into a world she'd only heard about, a world where everything she thought she knew will be turned on its head...
Review: Oh my god. I loved this book so much. I loved the Lux series a lot and was super excited to get a spin-off with Luc. And this seriously did not disappoint. In fact, this was better than I was expecting going in. I really did not expect some of the twists we got thrown at us. So you don't really have to read the Lux series before this since the big things are explained in here, but I would highly suggest reading it so you have a better understanding of a lot of the story. You see a lot of BIG connections.
So I don't know where to start. Well, this takes place 4 years after the events of Opposition. So 4 years after the invasion of the Luxen and the destroying of a number of cities. So a lot has changed. Obviously from Opposition we knew that all the Luxen who remained were going to have to register (minus obviously Daemon and family/close friends involved with everything). So we now have issues with unregistered Luxen, all the rules the government put in place. They've made it where Luxen and humans can't have known relationships or marry (again, obviously Daemon and family/friends and probably anyone who was already together before hand excluded). I thought this was a bit much. But I feel like it was also put into practice because of the stuff Daedalus did. But still. It honestly kinda felt like what they did back in the day. The whole wanting to put the Luxen in certain communities/only allow them to be with others of their species felt reminiscent of the race issues that did this back in the day. And whats worse is the government keeps trying to put more and more restrictions on them. Everyone knows a lot of good Luxen were living on Earth for decades before the invasion and nothing bad happened, but now they just look at all of them as evil. It's like they forgot not all of them aligned with the ideals of the invading ones. I just see all of what the government and the people are trying to the Luxen as ending very badly. And another thing, despite the Luxen being known about now, the world doesn't seem to know about the Origins. So the government is pretty much persecuting one species, but still keeping another secret. This is also gonna end badly for them.
I really liked this look into Luc. We really learn a lot about him. More than we ever learned in the Lux series or things that happened between the series. It was really interesting. We see how far Luc went to protect the Origin kids we were introduced to in Origin (Lux #4). And god, I feel so bad for Luc. He tries to hard to protect those kids and find them a good home with the few people he trusts and then has to turn around and do the most heartbreaking thing to protect his friends from the kids. And the whole thing with letting Nadia (who we meet in the Lux series) go. This poor guy just suffers heartbreaking thing after thing. But even with all that pain and heartbreak he's dealt with, he's still here trying to help the Luxen with all the rules and regulations against them. He's trying to make safe places for them to be without the persecution. Luc has such a big heart and this book just showed a completely different side of him and I loved it. I'm also really loving the Luc/Evie romance. Definitely a lot of growth for that relationship. But it'll happen.
Evie. Oh my god Evie. Every twist and turn involving her shocked me. So we're introduced to her as Evie Dasher. Child of Jason Dasher (AKA Sergeant Dasher from Origin, I know right!) and Sylvia Dasher (which I swear is mentioned in one of the Lux books as well, though I don't remember which one). Woah. That in itself was huge. Evie gets caught up in a raid in the club Luc owns and that's how we see her dive into the world of the Luxen and Origins. And then we see these creepy murders happening to her classmates that could have only been caused by someone not human. Yeah, I'd be freaked out like Evie was at seeing her murdered classmates. And then all the creepy stuff with someone breaking into the house but yet her not seeing anyone. I was freaking out for Evie reading that. Then we get bombshells dropped. About her parents, her past, her link to Nadia and Luc. I was seriously not prepared for all of that nor was I even remotely expecting that. And then the bombshell about her friend Zoe as well. Jesus. Why you gotta drop so many bombshells on us in one book?? Evie is gonna have a lot of adjustments and things to learn and deal with in the next book after all this.
And then we get to Micah. Remember Micah from the Lux series? The origin kid who was trying to break out while Katy and Daemon were with Daedalus?? Yeah, he's here in a big way. He's behind a bunch of the stuff going on. And he also drops some bombshells. The serum his group of Origin kids was given. Apparently it also included growth hormones which has made them age much faster than their actual age is. I was shocked by that, but then not surprised with what Daedalus wanted them for. And before Micah dropped that bit of knowledge, we had also found out they had yet another serum after Prometheus that we never knew about that relates to Nadia. And then he drops the bombshell (again, another one), that Daedalus might still be out there working on stuff. Apparently things that could be much darker?? SERIOUSLY?!?! That is making things not look too good for the next book, because I'm sure it will have bad things happening. Things I'm sure will also get more of our favorites out in the action instead of just having small tidbits here and there. I'm definitely excited for the next book! Honestly, I can't get enough of the Lux universe!
So I don't know where to start. Well, this takes place 4 years after the events of Opposition. So 4 years after the invasion of the Luxen and the destroying of a number of cities. So a lot has changed. Obviously from Opposition we knew that all the Luxen who remained were going to have to register (minus obviously Daemon and family/close friends involved with everything). So we now have issues with unregistered Luxen, all the rules the government put in place. They've made it where Luxen and humans can't have known relationships or marry (again, obviously Daemon and family/friends and probably anyone who was already together before hand excluded). I thought this was a bit much. But I feel like it was also put into practice because of the stuff Daedalus did. But still. It honestly kinda felt like what they did back in the day. The whole wanting to put the Luxen in certain communities/only allow them to be with others of their species felt reminiscent of the race issues that did this back in the day. And whats worse is the government keeps trying to put more and more restrictions on them. Everyone knows a lot of good Luxen were living on Earth for decades before the invasion and nothing bad happened, but now they just look at all of them as evil. It's like they forgot not all of them aligned with the ideals of the invading ones. I just see all of what the government and the people are trying to the Luxen as ending very badly. And another thing, despite the Luxen being known about now, the world doesn't seem to know about the Origins. So the government is pretty much persecuting one species, but still keeping another secret. This is also gonna end badly for them.
I really liked this look into Luc. We really learn a lot about him. More than we ever learned in the Lux series or things that happened between the series. It was really interesting. We see how far Luc went to protect the Origin kids we were introduced to in Origin (Lux #4). And god, I feel so bad for Luc. He tries to hard to protect those kids and find them a good home with the few people he trusts and then has to turn around and do the most heartbreaking thing to protect his friends from the kids. And the whole thing with letting Nadia (who we meet in the Lux series) go. This poor guy just suffers heartbreaking thing after thing. But even with all that pain and heartbreak he's dealt with, he's still here trying to help the Luxen with all the rules and regulations against them. He's trying to make safe places for them to be without the persecution. Luc has such a big heart and this book just showed a completely different side of him and I loved it. I'm also really loving the Luc/Evie romance. Definitely a lot of growth for that relationship. But it'll happen.
Evie. Oh my god Evie. Every twist and turn involving her shocked me. So we're introduced to her as Evie Dasher. Child of Jason Dasher (AKA Sergeant Dasher from Origin, I know right!) and Sylvia Dasher (which I swear is mentioned in one of the Lux books as well, though I don't remember which one). Woah. That in itself was huge. Evie gets caught up in a raid in the club Luc owns and that's how we see her dive into the world of the Luxen and Origins. And then we see these creepy murders happening to her classmates that could have only been caused by someone not human. Yeah, I'd be freaked out like Evie was at seeing her murdered classmates. And then all the creepy stuff with someone breaking into the house but yet her not seeing anyone. I was freaking out for Evie reading that. Then we get bombshells dropped. About her parents, her past, her link to Nadia and Luc. I was seriously not prepared for all of that nor was I even remotely expecting that. And then the bombshell about her friend Zoe as well. Jesus. Why you gotta drop so many bombshells on us in one book?? Evie is gonna have a lot of adjustments and things to learn and deal with in the next book after all this.
And then we get to Micah. Remember Micah from the Lux series? The origin kid who was trying to break out while Katy and Daemon were with Daedalus?? Yeah, he's here in a big way. He's behind a bunch of the stuff going on. And he also drops some bombshells. The serum his group of Origin kids was given. Apparently it also included growth hormones which has made them age much faster than their actual age is. I was shocked by that, but then not surprised with what Daedalus wanted them for. And before Micah dropped that bit of knowledge, we had also found out they had yet another serum after Prometheus that we never knew about that relates to Nadia. And then he drops the bombshell (again, another one), that Daedalus might still be out there working on stuff. Apparently things that could be much darker?? SERIOUSLY?!?! That is making things not look too good for the next book, because I'm sure it will have bad things happening. Things I'm sure will also get more of our favorites out in the action instead of just having small tidbits here and there. I'm definitely excited for the next book! Honestly, I can't get enough of the Lux universe!
I'm so glad you liked this book! I was a huge fan of the Lux series but I haven't really been paying attention to this release because I'm worried it'll be disappointing. But now I have hope again haha. Great review! :D
ReplyDeleteThanks! You're definitely not the only one. I was SUPER iffy going into this because I wasn't sure if it was going to be nearly as good as the Lux books. But since I loved them I figured I should give it a try. And it was so good!! JLA put some huge twists in this that relate back to books 4 and 5 of Lux. I think this book ended up fitting incredibly well in the Lux universe we already have!
DeleteWonderful review, I'm looking forward to picking this one up. I want to read the Lux Series once again, it's been a few years since I've read it. Glad to see that you enjoyed it.
ReplyDeleteI had to read books 4 and 5 before I got to this! LOL. But reading some of the Lux Series before reading this DEFINITELY gave me a clear mind going into this so I could see all the connections and not miss any. Thanks! :)
DeleteI'm glad your enjoying these but the Lux series was too set in high school for me. And since I didn't read it all, I probably wouldn't read this one. Gorgeous cover.
ReplyDeleteYeah. The Lux series and the start of this series is definitely well set in high school. But I can say the Lux series did grow out of some of the high school drama. So there is that. Lol.
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