This is… The fourth book? It is the spinoff of Opal and god knows which number it is in the series Lux. It is told from Daemon’s perspective just like the other spinoffs. Unlike previous, I decided to change it up and read this one before Opal for I was curious if it would hold up if I hadn’t read Opal first and it did hold up fairly well.
The story felt a bit shorter than book Opal but unlike Oblivion 2.5, it really needs its own name, it had far more inner thoughts and scenes only available in this book which means that it was worth reading this book. It still follows the plotline of Opal and as such, it was just a structured and well executed as Opal.
I still prefer Daemon over Katy. Less guilt trip and weird logic that seemed to haunt Katy. Daemon is charming, less of an asshole than in the first book but still sarcastic enough to be entertaining. He is interesting one of the few characters in this book with any empathy. Not much, but enough for him to feel normal. The other just seemed like stone cold killers wanting to kill anyone no matter who it hurts because it would make them feel good. Daemon at least seem to feel the weight of killing someone.
The one thing that doesn’t really do the characters any favor is that he is too focused on Katy. Before, his people and his family were close to his heart but all seem to be thrown out the door when Katy is in the room. It is a female power fantasy, a guy that only thinks about the girl, but it makes Daemon feel less full. He feels, pun intended, less human.
As I mentioned before, the story of this book has feels lesser. Like it wasn’t as long and frankly, I think it isn’t. Opal had several storylines such as Blake and Will that lead to several scenes were Daemon is not present but Daemon doesn’t really have his own storyline. His goal is Katy’s. His ambition is Katy and so on.
I also wished he had more time with Dawson. This is the brother that changed his life, twice, and he has very few scenes with him. It made no sense to me. It also made no sense that he did not talk to his renegade sister about her behavior. Actually, a lot of the problem seem to be Daemon’s inability to do anything in this book. He is very inactive both with people and the incidents. Which doesn’t really suit his character compared to previous books.
I liked it. Not as much as the first Oblivion but far better than Oblivion 2.5. Much of it was because of the better plot of Opal which this book shared. The rest of the book is held up by Daemon but he gets few things to do by himself, such as plotline that is just his. Not even the interaction between him and his siblings is really his since it is controlled by Katy. Which means that the book might entertain me but it isn’t really necessary. It still held up well to be read before Opal though there were some strange moments such as Daemon seem to miss some very important moments in the plot such as the meeting with Will.
Overall, it was fairly good and I will rate it 6 out of 10. Normally, I would give it a 5 but I added one point since it was able to hold up on its own but I couldn’t give it a higher score since it lacked a lot. Daemon hasn’t his own plotline which means that writing a book from his perspective is technically unnecessary. Its entertaining but nothing more. Just like the others, I would only recommend it if you truly enjoyed the character of Daemon or haven’t read the series in a while. Otherwise, just read Opal. It gives you more.
With Kind Regard
Senefer.
Read with Senefer 