Onyx by Jennifer L. Armentrout – a Review

Onyx by Jennifer L. Armentrout is the second book in her  Lux series.  Upfront I have to say as much as I enjoyed Obsidian, Onyx is better.  I loved this book.  Of course, getting to spend more time with Daemon, Katy, Dee and their friends, is fun and Jennifer Armentrout outdoes herself.

Onyx picks up not long after Obsidian ended.  Katy Swarz still has the hots for Daemon Black, but as Onyx begins,  Daemon wants Katy just as much.  Instead of being the rude and nasty boy, who constantly pushed her away in Obsidian, Daemon has changed his tactics.  He is attentive to her, acts in front of everyone like she is his girl, sweet talks to her, and totally throws Katy for a loop.  She doesn’t know how to react to this new Daemon, and it confuses her even more.  Katy wants a normal life, with a normal boy, and a relationship just like her mother and father had.   In Obsidian, Katy was healed by Daemon, and a connection was born between them.  This will play a major part in Onyx, but early on, Katy brushes off the change in Daemon due to that connection.

Katy meets a new boy in school, Blake Saunders, who seems like a nice guy, and it doesn’t hurt that he looks like a gorgeous blond California surfer. Blake likes Katy, and a friendship begins.  This of course doesn’t sit well with Daemon.  It’s fun to watch Daemon spend all his time with Katy, even if she wants to go out to dinner with Blake, whom she still considers a friend.  Daemon is unresistable, his green eyes, his mischievous grin, and Katy just cannot resist him, as much as she tries.  Their is sexual tension between them, but it was fun to watch their steamy kissing sessions, which Daemon says is needed to remove her trace.  Yeah sure…:)  Did I mention how swoonworthy, Daemon is?

But the change in Daemon is real, we the reader know he loves Katy, and of course Katy loves him, but it wouldn’t be fun, if this relationship was fast and easy.   But it is enjoyable and Armentrout has a lot of humor in this tense story.

Onyx is not just about the romance of Daemon & Katy.  This is such an exciting and tense story.  Filled with lots of action, and danger throughout the whole book.  Early on Katy begins to discover that she has inherited some strange abilities, and realizes that this is from the connection she has with Daemon.  At first, Katy tries to keep it a secret, but both Daemon and Blake accidently see Katy’s new abilities.  During an attack, out on a date with Blake, she discovers that Blake also has some powers.  We learn a lot more about the humans who gain powers from connections given to them due to a Luxen healing them.  We also learn more about the DOD, & other factions who may be interested in Katy, and because of this, Blake starts to train Katy how to control her new abilities, much to Daemon’s chagrin.   Daemon and Blake do not hit it off, as Daemon is jealous at first.  But during some training sessions, Daemon tries to tell Katy he doesn’t trust Blake.  Katy ignores that as jealousy and continues to train, as she wants to learn how to defend herself and help her friends (Luxens), against the Arum and others who keep coming after them.

Katy soon begins to realize that her love for Daemon is so strong, she will do anything to save him and his friends.  Along the way, she makes some decisions she feels she must do, and there will be consequences.  This book is so much more exciting, with a lot of action and danger then Obsidian was.  There are a number twists, betrayals, and surprises as we race to the climatic finish.  So much so that lives will be lost, all will be effected, and changes will be made. The ending was not a cliffhanger, but wow.  This is a book you can’t put down, as it is so exciting.  If you loved Daemon, Katy and Dee in Obsidian, you will love them even more in this book. Kudos to Jennifer Armentrout for this sensational continuation of this series, and I for one cannot wait for the next book.

READING ORDER
1. Obsidian
2. Shadows (prequel)
3. Onyx

Reviewed by Barb

Copy provided by Publisher