Review: Opal by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Opal
Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout
Publisher: Entangled Publishing
Age Group: Teen
Source: Amazon for Kindle
Amazon     Barnes and Noble     IndieBound
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Summary from GoodReads:

No one is like Daemon Black.

When he set out to prove his feelings for me, he wasn’t fooling around. Doubting him isn’t something I’ll do again, and now that we’ve made it through the rough patches, well… There’s a lot of spontaneous combustion going on.

But even he can’t protect his family from the danger of trying to free those they love.

After everything, I’m no longer the same Katy. I’m different… And I’m not sure what that will mean in the end. When each step we take in discovering the truth puts us in the path of the secret organization responsible for torturing and testing hybrids, the more I realize there is no end to what I’m capable of. The death of someone close still lingers, help comes from the most unlikely source, and friends will become the deadliest of enemies, but we won’t turn back. Even if the outcome will shatter our worlds forever.

Together we’re stronger… and they know it.

My Thoughts

Oh  my gosh, the Lux series is intense and thoroughly enjoyable.  I was anxiously awaiting the release of Opal, and when I found out it was releasing a little early, I was ecstatic.  And when it showed up in my kindle (I had pre-ordered it) I may have jumped around the room a bit.  Of course, I started reading it immediately.  Let’s talk characters first.

In the third installment of this series, we get to (FINALLY) see Katy and Daemon not only getting along, but developing their relationship.  Daemon is quite different in Opal from the Daemon in Obsidian and Onyx.  Don’t get me wrong, Daemon is still Daemon, and he can be totally snarky.  But he is also, dare I say it – nice.  Yes, Daemon is nice, especially to Katy.  It was really interesting to see this soft, squishy side of Daemon.

Katy is different from the Katy we first met in Obsidian, too.  It’s not a huge change, but a subtle difference.  She is dealing with the death of one of her friends in Onyx, and the guilt she feels is great.  Also, Katy is trying to rebuild her friendship with Dee, which isn’t going as smoothly as Katy would like.  I still really liked Katy in Opal, but I will admit sometimes she frustrated me a little.  She kept things from Daemon at times (small things that didn’t result in a terrible outcome, but still!), and I thought she would have learned her lesson from the secrets she kept in Onyx.  But overall, I like that Katy isn’t a pity-party person, and that she doesn’t want to sit around while the guys do all the dangerous stuff.

Although the story moved pretty quickly, there were some elements that I thought a bit over the top.  For example, three different people end up showing up in Katy’s house.  Inside her house, without being invited in.  And each time Katy is surprised.  I kind of wish Armentrout came up with another location for these people to meet up.   However, for the most part, I thought the flow of the book was good, and the plot was solid.  I must say that I didn’t have a hard time putting the book down when I needed to go the bed.  I’m not sure if I was getting a little bored with the story, or if I was stressed about what might happen, and just needed a break.  I can’t say though, that this book was unput-downable.

Anyway, Opal is another great addition to the Lux series.  If you liked Obsidian and Onyx you will not be disappointed.  If you haven’t read this series: why not?  No, seriously, why not?  I warn you all, though, there is a MAJOR cliffhanger at the end.  Waiting until July for Origin to be released is going to be painful.  I mean extremely painful!  Why does Armentrout do this to us?  Why!?  Anyway, be prepared.