Review | Lux Series #4, Origin, by Jennifer L Armentrout

source: Goodreads

Origin (Lux Series #4)
Jennifer L Armentrout
Entangled Teen

Synopsis via Goodreads

Daemon will do anything to get Katy back.

After the successful but disastrous raid on Mount Weather, he’s facing the impossible. Katy is gone. Taken. Everything becomes about finding her. Taking out anyone who stands in his way? Done. Burning down the whole world to save her? Gladly. Exposing his alien race to the world? With pleasure.

All Katy can do is survive.

Surrounded by enemies, the only way she can come out of this is to adapt. After all, there are sides of Daedalus that don’t seem entirely crazy, but the group’s goals are frightening and the truths they speak even more disturbing. Who are the real bad guys? Daedalus? Mankind? Or the Luxen?

Together, they can face anything. 

But the most dangerous foe has been there all along, and when the truths are exposed and the lies come crumbling down, which side will Daemon and Katy be standing on? 

And will they even be together?

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Rating: 7/10
GOOD READ

Jennifer L. Armentrout’s fourth installment in the Lux series, Origin, is so my favorite thus far.  The third book, Opal, left us hanging at the edge of a cliff with a white-knuckled grip, but Origin made us jump head-first in the pit.

The first half of Origin was rather slow-paced for me. Katy is trapped. Daemon is furious and out of his mind. Katy struggles with the truth. Daemon is still furious and out of his mind. Katy is tested. Daemon acts on impulse. Katy kills. Daemon is captured. They are both reunited in Daedalus headquarters. (Wayyyy sooner than I expected, by the way.)

Then, in Armentrout’s words, “poo hits the proverbial fan.”  Origins, hybrid-Luxen offspring, appear out of nowhere. Allies are made and an escape ensues. As soon as Katy & Daemon leave Area 51, I am pretty sure I yelled, “what?!…Oh my God…No WAY!”, every few pages. Holy plot twists, Batman!  

Hold on to your glasses, because this is one heck of a ride and at the end you will wonder if somewhere along the way you switched cars.

This is definitely a book you won’t predict and will have you scrambling for the 5th book in the series, Opposition.

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All opinions are my own and are not endorsed or affiliated by any company or organization. 

Review | Ugly Love by Colleen Hoover

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source: Amazon 

Tate Collins and Miles Archer meet in an “ugly” way. Miles is incoherently intoxicated and comatose in front of Tate’s brother’s San Francisco apartment, the same apartment she is currently moving into. Nothing quite says, “Welcome to your new home”, like dragging your incredibly wasted (but handsome) neighbor into your living room and comforting him as he sobs and continues to call you “Rachel.” Awkward.

This is only the beginning. As fate would have it, Miles is a close friend to her brother, Corbin, and once he enters Tate’s life he does not quickly leave. Attractiveness turns to lust and lust turns into…well you know. The catch? Miles doesn’t do love. He can’t or he won’t. Tate doesn’t know which and Miles is a vault of secrets. A deal is made. Casual Sex with two rules attached:

1. Never ask about the past.

2. Don’t expect a future.

As anyone can possibly expect, this does not fare well. Rules get broken, hearts become ruined, and you spend the entire book rooting for something that may not in the end be possible for one of them.

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Rating: 8/10
GREAT READ

Colleen Hoover’s, Ugly Love, is a riveting testament that sometimes the hardest person you will ever have to forgive is yourself.  From the very first sentence I was captured and I wasn’t free until I reached the very last word. Hoover has a way of drawing her readers in and making it damn near impossible to put the book down. I purchased this yesterday at Barnes and Noble around 8 PM and kept reading until 4:30 AM this morning. Needless to say, if you like sleep start this book way early in the day, because once you start you will not stop.

It’s a love story, an ugly one, with a dash of mystery between the lines. You may not fall in love with this book, but you WILL finish it. And when you finish it, you will appreciate it for what it is. A story of a boy with a ruined heart who meets the very ugly side of love and struggles to find hope along the way.  

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QUOTES I LOVED: 

“Love isn’t always pretty, Tate. Sometimes you spend all your time hoping it’ll eventually be something different. Something better. Then, before you know it, you’re back to square one, and you lost your heart somewhere along the way.” (P. 165)

“When life gives you lemons, make sure you know whose eyes you need to squeeze them in.” (P. 234)