Onyx by Jennifer L. Armentrout
Publisher: Entangled Publishing
Pages: 376 (Paperback)
Series: Lux, #2
Rating: 
Being connected to Daemon Black sucks…
Thanks to his alien mojo, Daemon’s determined to prove what he feels for me is more than a product of our bizarro connection. So I’ve sworn him off, even though he’s running more hot than cold these days. But we’ve got bigger problems.
Something worse than the Arum has come to town…
The Department of Defense are here. If they ever find out what Daemon can do and that we’re linked, I’m a goner. So is he. And there’s this new boy in school who’s got a secret of his own. He knows what’s happened to me and he can help, but to do so, I have to lie to Daemon and stay away from him. Like that’s possible. Against all common sense, I’m falling for Daemon. Hard.
But then everything changes…
I’ve seen someone who shouldn’t be alive. And I have to tell Daemon, even though I know he’s never going to stop searching until he gets the truth. What happened to his brother? Who betrayed him? And what does the DOD want from them—from me?
No one is who they seem. And not everyone will survive the lies…
Wow. Favorite new Paranormal Romance series, thy name is Lux. I’ve said before that from the moment I first started seeing the Lux books floating around, I avoided them. But the thing that finally convinced me to check it out was Julie’s review over at All Things Urban Fantasy, where she said, “As much as I enjoyed OBSIDIAN, ONYX was even better.” Confession time: Sometimes I start a book series just to get to a certain book in that series. The best example would have to be Julie Kagawa’s The Iron Queen from The Iron Fey series or even Richelle Mead’s Shadow Kiss from Vampire Academy. Even though I do believe that each book in a series should be able to stand on its own merit, I will often tell people to read those series just to get to that special book. And I know that there is more to come from the Lux series, but until then I’ll be saying to read this series to read Onyx. Because where Obsidian was fun, addictive and sexy, Onyx does it so much better.
Armentrout wasn’t fooling around with Onyx. From the very beginning it seemed she had a plan to really up the ante with book two and I’m happy to say it didn’t disappoint. We have a noticeable amount of deeper character growth for both Daemon and Katy, all-around better plot, and of course, more banter & steamy scenes. So obviously that makes this a more difficult review to write without spoilers.
Onyx picks up shortly after Obsidian and we have Katy, still sarcastic as ever, and Daemon, determined to prove to Katy his feelings are true and not just the result of their newfound alien connection. In fact, the biggest change in Onyx is Daemon and his attitude for Katy. Gone is the “douche canoe” from the previous novel and let’s just say I can totally see when the dude has a Facebook page called Daemon Invasion. 
But Katy pushes Daemon away at every chance she gets. And while this did get a bit frustrating as a reader, I can understand her reluctance to him considering his past actions, no matter what his intentions were. Unfortunately, her stubbornness ultimately ends with devastating consequences that I honestly never saw coming. I’m not going to give it away, but I’ll say I shed a few tears.
One thing I was sad about was Dee’s character being slightly put on the back burner in this novel. I missed the relationship between her and Katy. Instead, Katy’s time in Onyx is almost completely monopolized by a new character, Blake, or as Daemon would call him: Bozo, due to his jealously that he manages to marginally hide from Katy. I wish I could tell you more about Blake, but that would give away way too much of the plot. However, I did think there was a love triangle brewing… and I’m happy that I was wrong. But the best part of this new character? Fun, fun, fun banter!
“Jesus.” Blake rubbed his throat. “You have anger management problem. It’s like a disease.”
“There’s a cure and it’s called kicking your ass.”
That’s all I’m saying about that.
The plot is so much deeper, suspenseful and complex too. I thought I had an idea where things were going at the end of Obsidian, but I was so wrong. There were so many twists in this book and not a shred of a Twilight similarity, I might add. What I once thought was simply black and white (the DOD, Dawson and Bethany’s disappearance, Katy and Daemon’s connection) was turned upside down. Just… wow.
And the steamy scenes between Katy and Daemon? I knew based on a guest post at Xpresso Reads that Armentrout didn’t plan on shying away from sex in a YA novel, because really, it’s a part of life and coming of age. But, oh, my damn.
Time stopped for us. The world and everything I’d been part of only existed outside the closed bedroom door, but in here, it was only us. And for the first time, there was nothing between us. We were open, vulnerable to each other. Pieces of our clothing disappeared. His shirt. Mine. A button came undone on his jeans… and on mine, too.
Anyway, I’m not sure what it is about the Lux series or Armentrout’s writing that has me begging for more, but I know I am now desperately waiting for Opal. And if the cliffhanger at the end of Onyx is an indication of anything, it’s that the Lux series is like a fine bottle of wine, getting better and better with age.
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[...] in Darcy a bit unnecessary. She already had two admirers, one who reminded me of Blake from Onyx (if you’ve read Onyx, you’ll know that isn’t a compliment to that character), and [...]