BOOK REVIEW: The Darkest Star by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Title: The Darkest Star

Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout

Series: The Origin Series (Book #1)

Release Date: October 30th, 2018

Publisher: Tor Teen

Genre: Young Adult, Paranormal, Science Fiction

Rating: ★★★★★

When seventeen-year-old Evie Dasher is 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…

#1 New York Times, USA Today, and internationally bestselling author Jennifer L. Armentrout returns to the universe of the Lux in this brand new series, featuring beloved characters both new and old.

** WARNING: Contains Spoilers **

We all knew that I would read this novel eventually. No book slump could stop me from reliving JLA’s Lux world. And boy oh boy am I ever happy that I picked this book up. Armentrout’s carefree writing style makes this an easy-to-read, roller coaster of a ride.

The Darkest Star follows Evie Dasher, a photography loving teenage girl who just want to live a normal life. Taking place 4 years after the invasion that occurs in Opposition, the Luxen are a known species living amongst the human population. The Daedalus is dead and all is . . . somewhat normal. At Foretoken, she meets Luc. YES, THAT LUC! The one we all loved in the Lux series. And well, Evie’s life turned around from there.

I absolutely loved both Evie and Luc throughout this novel! I found Katy Scwartz’s character in the Lux series to be very relatable, and was ecstatic to find Evie to have a similar personality in this novel! She truly was just living her normal teenage life before meeting Luc. And come on, how could you not love Luc?! He still has the nerdy, “I-know-better-than-all” ego he had in the Lux series, but with a little more maturity. And alike the parallels between Katy and Evie, Luc has a similar over-protectiveness that was seen in Daemon Black’s character. He might not be a hunky bad-boy like Daemon, but it was evident throughout the novel how much he cared for Evie.

Now, I knew going into this novel that the characters from the Lux series would make appearances, but I could not help myself from gasping and breaking out into giddy smiles whenever they appeared. Daemon, Archer, Katy, Dee!! I loved these characters in the original Lux series, so reading them as more mature characters was very reminiscent. Although Katy and Dee were only mentioned briefly, Archer and Daemon had larger roles in this novel. Especially Daemon!! One of my favorite scenes from the entire novel was when Daemon was keeping watch on Evie when Sylvia Dasher revealed Evie’s true identity. He was the same Daemon we saw throughout the Lux series, caring and protective. And I could not stop smiling when JLA brought up Katy almost being crushed by a semi-truck after Evie ran into a parked car. All of the Obsidian memories were definitely relived!!

Something that I love about JLA’s writing is that she frequently writes chapter-ending cliffhangers, making you want to read more and more and more. I read the scene prior to Charity attempting to kill Evie in Foretoken before going into work and could not wait to get home and dive in to see what happens! Besides the chapter ending cliffhangers, he whole storyline leads to a massive reveal at the end of the story. And truly, that ending is so much more shocking if you’ve read the Lux series.

I never expected Evie to be Nadia! I was under the impression that she had died back at Area 51, and Evie might have given off a similar vibe to Nadia. But the entire storyline makes so much more sense with this reveal! Luc gave the impression that he knew Evie at the beginning of the story, and that’s because he did. Evie may not have known who he was, but Evie’s appearance at Foretoken brought back memories that Luc never thought would become reality again. Luc overprotectiveness can also be explained from this reveal as he truly did not want to lose Nadia again. He lost her once and was determined to never lose her again!

Overall, this gripping novel kept me on the edge of my seat, gasping and smiling with glee as I reminisced the Lux world I came to love! With the rest of the novels in this series already released, I cannot wait to jump back into Luc and Evie’s story ASAP. I have no idea where JLA plans to take this series, but I can already tell that I will love it!

Buy The Darkest Star at the following retailers:

Indigo | Barnes and Noble | Amazon | Book Depository

Happy Reading!