Review: The Brightest Night by Jennifer L. Armentrout

The Brightest Night by Jennifer L. Armentrout
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Why does Jen do this to us?  That ending was in true Jennifer L. Armentrout fashion, angsty, dramatic, and a pretty epic cliffhanger.  I know readers are kind of upset about the ending, but kind of saw it coming.  I wasn't exactly sure how it was going to play out, but I knew something big was coming.  I'm not at all surprised by the direction she decided to take things, but as a long time reader of Jen's I trust her to give us a series ending that we will all be satisfied with.  For now we all have to sit with this angsty cliffhanger until the next book, questioning everything we know and all of our life choices up until this point.

This picks up where The Burning Shadow left off, and much like with book 2 it is hard to write a review without spoiling things.  This is another fairly long book, but so much happens at every turn, I don't want to give anything away.  Luc and Evie have relocated to Zone 3 with some old friends from the Lux series.  Throughout the book they have to face things that happened in the past as well as what they may face in the future when it comes to Daedalus.  Evie has to come to grips with what was done to her and if she will be able to control not only her new found power, but control of herself as a person.  Both she and Luc show alot of character development both as individuals and as a couple.  This book is a bit more focused on the characters and relationships, so the pace is a bit slower than some of the more action packed books we've seen from JLA in the past.  I listened to the book on audio, and wasn't bothered by the pace or length of the book at all.  Jen knows how to keep the reader interested and turning those pages or in this case keep those headphones in.

Because this book is so character driven we do learn alot in this book about what is happening to Evie, Luc, and with Daedalus we are left with so many unanswered questions.  I expect after all of the reveals in this book, the next book will be action heavy and you won't be able to put it down.  This isn't uncommon for Jen's books and if it is anything like what we've seen from her before, she has many more surprises and heart stopping moments left for us before it is all over.

If you are a fan of Jen's books, her previous series, or YA paranormal romance give this series a read.  I'd recommend atleast starting with book 1 in the series as this is not a standalone.  If you haven't read Lux yet, I'd recommend checking that out first as it will give you some insight into what is happening, but it isn't entirely necessary.  

Thank you to Macmillan audio and Tor Teen for providing me a copy of the audiobook for review via Netgalley.  All opinions expressed are my own.  I thoroughly enjoyed it!  The audiobook does include the most adorable bonus scene with Daemon and baby Adam at the end.  The narration is well done,  and the narrator does a good job conveying emotion as well as distinguishing the various characters.

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Review: The Burning Shadow by Jennifer L. Armentrout

The Burning Shadow by Jennifer L. Armentrout
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I received an ARC via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.

It is no secret that I love JLAs books. This picks up right where The Darkest Star left off. Evie has just discovered a big secret about her identity and her connection with everyone's favorite Origin, Luc. As their relationship develops, their chemistry is undeniable. As Evie having an identity crisis, she struggles with with understanding if Luc's feelings are for her or the girl he thinks he knows and if her friends are really truly her friends. While all that is happening, people start getting sick at school, and the fear and hatred against Luxen gets worse.

Despite the length of this book, I'm finding it hard to write this review without spoiling things. This book is long, well over pages, but it keeps you engaged and I didn't feel like parts of it dragged or were repetitive. All of the information was relative to the story and the build of the plot. We get more character development from Evie and especially Luc in this installment. We get information about their past and much more emotion from Luc than we've ever seen in the past. I really enjoyed the development of their relationship, their friendships with the other characters, and the science fiction elements of the story.

If you were a fan of the Luxen fan and enjoy YA paranormal romance, give this series a try. The series are similar, but they aren't the same. We also get to see characters from the original series and I enjoy watching their interactions as they've all grown up since we last saw them. I will say this does end on a cliffhanger, but if you are paying attention you kind of can see it coming. I wasn't shocked by the reveal I was just shocked that it ended so abruptly and I have to wait for the next book. Overall this is a great sequel and a great spinoff series.

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