“A slow, wry smile teased Daemon’s lips. ”Simmer down, Kitten, before I have to get you a ball of yarn to play with.”-Opal by Jennifer L. Armentrout
I listened to the audiobook of the third book in the Lux series, Opal, by Jennifer L. Armentrout. It was published in 2012 and is narrated by Justine Eyre who has an amazing voice but I keep wincing every time she pronounces certain words. Such as Daemon becoming Demon, Arum becomes Aram and Daedalus becomes Didalus. Greek and Latin aren’t her strong suit.
Well, what is the story about? This time the plot is far more focused. Daemon and Katy have found Dawson who wants to find Beth. They need to save her from Daedalus which means breaking into their hideout. There is also a bit of subplots left since the last book such as Will and Blake who both make a return in this book. One of them has a larger part than the other.
So, what about the characters? Katy is the same as the last book. Guilt and the need to continue to lie to everyone plagues her. Which means that not even death can teach her a lesson. I guess the guilt is supposed to make her human but she feels guilt for everything and everyone blames her, except Daemon and Matthew. Dee, Ash, and Andrew all call her selfish for being attacked, several times, and almost killed. They call it her fault, victim blame I guess, and that it is her fault that Dee wanted to be friends with her and Katy not being selfish enough to slap her in the face by walking away.
I don’t get the logic and I am not sure if the author has done this on purpose. Since it seems to be a common characteristic to the Luxan race to blame everyone that isn’t Luxan for things a Luxan has done wrong. It can be something she has done knowingly but I don’t know since no one seems to correct them in the book which would signal to the reader what is wrong and what is not. Since the author hasn’t done so, it feels like we who read the book actually should believe that Katy is selfish and that all this is her fault.
Now, Katy does seem to have some development. She has become far colder, such as killing people without blinking an eye and then suddenly crying because she has killed someone. First I just assumed that the author was making Katy a drama queen but I’m starting to suspect that it has something to do with her powers since most of the hybrids go insane. That is my theory at least.
Some new characters seem to have larger roles such as, Luc who seem to be a powerful character with a hidden motive, but none of them had a large part in this one. They are more introduced to make an appearance in the next book.
So, did I like this book? Yes, it was far better than Onyx. The only thing is that I’m not sure about the characters such as Andrew and Dee. I’m not sure what the writer wants to do with Andrew, and I not sure the author knows either. She keeps throwing him into the story but he is just there to be the asshole. Did the writer need an asshole in her story so she had Andrew take up Daemon’s mantle?
Dee just goes full-on renegade. She is supposing to be angry because she is grieving but… She is just acting weird. Why is she blaming Katy for everything? But not her brother. Why is she speaking about killing Blake like it is nothing? Blake is not a saint but he is still a victim. His life and the life of his friend is threatened. He has no choice, no matter how much Katy keeps saying that he has. He doesn’t. His choice, as Katy calls it, is that either die or help Daedalus. That is not a choice. I’m questioning the moral compass of the author here.
Well, the story is solid. The characters are a bit off but if it is meant to be so then it is fine. Unfortunately, I cannot decide if it was a conscious choice or not so I will not count it in. I find the weird moral compass and strange blaming the victim a bit disturbing and it took away a bit of my enjoyment but overall, it was still a far better book than the second book.
If you have gotten so far as the third book, then it won’t matter if I would recommend it or not. You will read the rest as well, but I would rate it 7 out of 10. It is a good and solid YA story. More romance, character development, and the plot finally start to thicken making me eager for the next book.
With Kind Regards
Senefer.
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