I have never read the Lux series that The Darkest Star is a spin off of but trust me I soon will be based on my enjoyment of this novel.

Initially I was drawn in by the cover and then reading the synopsis I was hooked so the moment I was approved to read and review this I jumped on it!

In the first few chapters I felt this book was targeted to a younger audience than I was used to. More on the younger side of ya and the beginning of Luc and Evie (our protagonists) relationship in was outright disgusted. It felt misogynistic and forced BUT and trust me on this it is a BUT situation... Revelations further along in the book shed light on those particular reactions and it made sense! Don't be put off my this! I kept reading and everything made sense and I actually appreciated how well thought out all the writing was.

On that note, the author has written this book brilliantly! You have the same reactions as Evie would and you can easily connect with her and your thoughts and feelings develop with hers as the story progresses and you learn more and more!

Two other fantastic things about this book: representation and social commentary.

Representation: There is a beautiful, positive example of an LGBTIQ relationship in this book and even though it's not a main feature it is wonderful to read about and enjoy!

Social commentary: The divide between the Luxen (an alien race that nearly invaded and also assimilated into earthen life) and the humans is reminiscent of all the political upheaval surrounding refugees and asylum seekers in current society. I love that even Evie our protagonist reflects on herself that being silent isn't choosing a side and she has to actively make a change for the bettering of a situation.

Overall it was a binge worthy read that was great fun. I'll be posting a summarised review linking back to this on my Instagram @booksandyass closer to the release date.

Hot aliens, government secrets, a murderous psycho on the loose, and of course a little forbidden romance, all unfolds with an addictive intensity that will have you devouring the pages and craving more. THE DARKEST STAR takes a stab at rekindling this world of Luxen assimilating on earth beside humans and does so with dramatic gusto that will make one want to swoon and rage all at once. Brace yourself for a new binge-worthy read.
-pooled ink

<b>Let me start on the story-line and its development first </b>

It was really exciting to read about the aftermath – <i>well, aftermath? It’s been a couple of years though</i> - of everything that happened in the LUX books and finding out how things fared ever since saying goodbye to the characters I came to love so much in the Lux series. It's obvious no-one's forgotten about the invasion and the Luxen who wanted to harm humankind. There's a lot of hatred and fear present today because of that and a lot of humans remain skittish around the Luxen. All of this pent-up anxiety is going to take it’s toll at some point of course and I have a feeling this is going to develop a lot more in the next books as well. Things are heating up and are ready to explode..

In this first book of a new series, it’s obvious there’s something major coming our way, something new and mysterious, and that this book is basically a build-up towards that and what I love most of all; an opportunity to focus on some character development before the shit hits the fan – <i>doesn’t mean there isn’t anything happening in this book because there IS, especially towards the end so hold on to your seats!</i>

But… to be honest, it takes some time for the story to take off at first, I think. From early on, it's obvious there's some mystery going on around Evie and Luc and on the one hand, you can't stop reading because you're so desperate to get to that point in the story when you finally get some answers - <i>although a lot of it was quite predictable to me though. But the way Armentrout writes made me enjoy it all the same even though I saw some things coming</i>. I can’t quite put a finger to it, but I also felt there’s not that much happening in the first part of the book regarding the Evie/Luc story-line, as well as the background story-line, up until I hit the 50% mark I guess? Sure, there was some awesome humor present, great characters who made their entrance, new and familiar ones- SQEEL!!!!! But somehow it didn’t wow me as much as Obsidian did back then for example. It didn’t sink its claws into me right away..

When I passed the 50% mark, the story really took off like a freight-train though and it became unputdownable! Armentrout is really good at angst building and then have it explode in the best ways possible that make you balance on the edge of your seat the entire time, holding your breath and have you grabbing for some tissues. The writing is – even though I had some remarks on some things - as I’ve come to expect when reading Armentrout, addictive which made it a really fast-paced read.

<b>character talk</b>

When meeting Luc in the prior books, I was immediately intrigued about the Origin’s in general and his character specifically- <i>he was this kick ass and sometimes scary Origin who had a really fun and sarcastic streak so I was a fan of him right away back then</i>. I am bummed out a bit though for not having a Luc POV available throughout this book – <i>maybe there’ll be one someday just as we got the Daemon pov’s? Let’s hope so!</i> On the one hand, I understand it though, given the development of things in this book because it would’ve given away too much on some secrets regarding the story-line and its development. But on the other hand, I think it'd been better for Luc’s character development though?

Or maybe it’s just that I craved more and couldn’t get enough of him? Lol. I love love looove seeing his development throughout this book. Or rather; I just loved getting to know the Luc underneath that calm surface that we know he likes to maintain. It was such a wonderful journey to get to know the person he really is underneath his calm facade. Sure, he’s scary as hell when he wants to be, <i>DUH -> Origin</i>, and he can kick some serious ass, but he’s so much more and I loved getting to know him the way Evie did; layer by layer being peeled off until there was only this beautiful, kind and caring person left – <i>and don’t forget his sarcasm and his HUGE ego resurfacing every now and then, lol. But we are already familiar with all of that thanks to Daemon, so you can probably understand why I love these boys with their huge ego’s and their huge hearts, sigh. Bottom line; Luc is a fantastic character to read about, he made my heart definitely do some heavy thump-thumps in my chest on several occasions and I’m already craving MORE of him!

Then there’s also Evie. Evie was a really fun main character to follow around. That there’s a lot happening to her in this book is a huge understatement. I felt so bad for her sometimes and I think that Armentrout did a really great job on her character development. I really liked seeing how Evie experienced it all and how she reacted to it. The focus on her mental state was really well balanced out with all of the things that happened, I think and made it easy for me to connect with this character. I’m excited to see how she’ll develop in the next book.

As with the LUX books, there’s a tremendous amount of awesome (sarcastic) humor present, vocalized by some pretty awesome characters. In general, I really liked all of the characters, main and minor ones. There is some awesome friendships present, that I really liked reading about a lot. I cannot wait to read more of the minor characters in the next book as well. I love it when I feel like looking forward to the next book so I can spend more time with the characters. Characters are such a huge part to me of making a book work and the characters in this one are all really great!

<b> Conclusion </b>

Overall, it was a really enjoyable read and a fun first book in this lux spin-off series. Not As good as Obsidian was to me back then, because I kind of felt like there are quite some similarities between this book and the LUX books regarding how several things developed and the characters and their traits and their relationships -<i>which makes this one a bit less original and unique</i>.

That doesn’t mean I didn’t like reading it, obviously, but it Has influenced my rating on the book. I liked the characters a lot, The writing is addictive, the storyline is interesting but it didn’t Wow me. I am really curious though to read the next book and see how things are going to develop from here, especially story-wise since I already have a lot of faith in the characters being their awesome selves because I came to love them a lot – I can’t wait for you to meet Luc, Evie and some new characters as well as getting reacquainted with some familiar ones hehe</i>.

I think it’s a challenge to live up to the LUX legend and even best it. Thankfully there are some new things being introduced which makes it possible for this to become a spin-off series that really adds something more and different to the already well-loved LUX world. At this point, I’d say it’s a fun first spin-off book, with a promise of becoming a spectacular spin-off series when it’s all written and published. *Fingers crossed!

<b>And of course, the million dollar question: Did Lux dethrone Daemon?</b>
At this point, I’m still debating with myself, lol. Let's see how I feel after reading the next book? I have a feeling I’m not going to be able to choose because Luc is quite a phenomenal character already and Daemon as well. DAEMON...But Luc is LUC and what he showed me so far has had me melted into a puddle of a swooning fangirl mess.

Probably should've reread the previous books to get a better grasp on the characters again but, over all I thought it was okay. I found many of the annoying and couldn't really connect with them.

Oh, wow, I loved reading this book! I mean, I loved the original series, and when I found that that Luc was getting his own series, yeah, I was really excited to read it! I loved Evie and Luc's interactions, he was so audacious!

It'd been a while since I had last read the Lux series, so I kinda wish that I'd read them again in preparation for this book. I honestly think you either have to either reread the series, or have never read it, going into this book. Then going back to the Lux series. This in-between that I was in, yeah, it didn't make my reading experience bad, but it wasn't as good as it could've been, and that was my fault.

One thing that I loved about this series was that we got to see the aftermath of the war at the end of Opposition. That's something we never really get in most books, because the series ends. But now we got this spin off series, so yeah, I'm really happy with that!

There were a lot of secrets, that slowly Evie learned, a lot that concerned her. I really enjoyed that! And because of those secrets, and them coming out, well, some threads were emerging. Well, some where separate. And they weren't all dealt with, or even fully explained, so I can't wait to read about them in the future books!

This book was so freaking fantastic, and I can't wait for the next book!

The Lux series by Jennifer L. Armentrout will always be my favorite series of hers. As a stand-alone book this was good. I was thrown quite a few surprises throughout the book but I still wish the story had more to it, Yes we did get background, and the characters are well developed, but the story lacks emotion. I was reading the book as if it were simply facts. The author failed to sway me to a side or to spark an emotion from me through the book which was disappointing. Overall, the story had originality with well developed characters, besides the missing emotions the story was good.

okay okay I'm not too sure where to start with this book!! There is a lot of things to say about.. I was waiting for this book for more than a year!!
When I finally got the ARC in my kindle I was so excited and I start reading it immediately..

But then I star reading it and I was a little bit disappointment, I read about the first 40% percent of the book and the book didn´t involve me.. I was waiting like Lux Series that the book catch your attention since the first couple of pages, and then you can´t stop reading.. well that didn´t happen in this book, and then there was this little details that I said.. Really Jenn?? Like the first time that Daemon appears in the book, I felt that his appearance was unnecessary in that moment, I felt that Daemon deserves a better entrance in this book, but noup.

But around the 50% of the book, Oh God.. Honestly I didn´t sleep last night, is like when you are in a roller coaster, and it starts going up and up and up and the adrenaline starts growing inside of you and then you get to the top and suddenly you are coming down really fast and you start feeling a lot of things at the same time that you cannot even describe them!! Well that´s how I felt with this book when I start reading the second half of the book..

I hope you can see the chat with my friend, I was sending her my reactions while I read and actually those are some of them: "Omg Omg Omg Omg, he is doing it again!!!" " Omg What the Hell??? Whaaat??? OMG OMG look this"

And at this point, I finish it around 3 hours ago and I´m still not sure if I love it or I hate it..

And the reason is this: there are some parts of the book that I´m so confuse, especially at the beginning, there are some details that I´m like... "Hold on, I thought that an Origin can´t do that" and then, the world after the invasion, I hate it, I hate how the world is for the Luxens.. But also I love the second half of the book, what happen next, I never expect that, and then I never expect what happen next after that neither, so is like pfff a big wooow.. Also there are other little details like when Luc said, I hear about a girl that run in front of a truck... And you get so excited because you know he is talking about Kat, even though we just see Daemon and Archer in the book..

And there are a lot of things to say but I´m just going to finish with: there were good people that now is evil, and there were people that it is suppose were death but are alive.

I receive this ARC in change of an honest review

A spinoff on the Lux series after the invasion.
Lux isn't human and he isn't a true Luxen but he is strong, resourceful witty sexy,and powerful.
Evie a high school student who is thrown if to a very complex situation .
Lot of drama,mystery,suspense,romance.
If you read The Lux series you will like this book.
Really intriguing and interesting plot.
Voluntarily reviewed.

Jennifer L. Armentrout is one of my favorite authors, so I'm thrilled to read anything new of hers. Darkest Star did not disappoint! This is a spinoff of the Lux series. While it is recommended that you read that series first, it can be read first. It's a must read!

The Lux series has been and will always be one of my most beloved teen/ya series with unforgettable characters and plots that will literally blow your mind. So when I heard that JLA was putting out an Origin series my heart almost burst out of my chest, and it quickly became my most anticipated read of 2018! Luc was such an intriguing and mysterious character in the Lux series, and it wasn't hard to fall in love with him instantly. We always knew there had to be more to Luc's story and I'm so thrilled that it has finally arrived in The Darkest Star. Diving back into this world was like coming home for the first time in years; I was nervous, excited, and probably a little nauseous because I couldn't wait to start it, but knew once I did it would be over too soon. 

Coming into the book I already knew I loved the characters. Every single one of them had layers upon layers and in typical JLA fashion, she peeled them back little by little as the story progressed. We got to revisit some old characters that we love so much as well as meet new ones that are just as intriguing and relatable as the others we already can't get enough of. Evie was someone who you just wanted to get to know instantly. In the beginning it was easy to see there was more to her than even she knew, and I loved how brave she was. She had fear but she never let it stop her from doing what she wanted. Honestly, she was really good for Luc. Speaking of.. Luc was annoyingly charming as ever and I couldn't help falling even more in love with him. Together these two were amazing for each other; they connected instantly and even when Evie didn't understand it, she felt it on such a deep level that it was hard not to swoon. Their relationship runs so deep and they are connected on so many levels. Watching Luc love her was something I'll never forget. He's such a badass, but when it comes to Evie, he's all soft edges and heart. 

The plot itself was fast paced, witty, and deeply entertaining. It was executed perfectly and I loved every second of it. JLA gives us a better understanding of the Origins and she leaves the door open for so much more that could possibly come, and I have to say I'm really excited about it. I'm serious....the options are endless and I just know she's going to take us on one wild ride. I cannot wait for it! 

**Thank you so much to Macmillian & TorTeen for the arc and the opportunity to read and review this title!**

Advance Readers Copy

Title: The Darkest Star (Origin #1)
Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout
Publisher: Tor Teen
Edition: Kindle
Amount of Pages: 368
Genre: Young Adult, Science Fiction, Romance

Date Read: 08-09-2018

Favorite Quote "I don't people well"

Review:
I was really looking forward to reading this book! I love the lux series and I loved Luc so I was really excited to see him grown up.

What is this book about:
This book is set 4 years after Opposition. The world knows aliens walk among them and they aren't taking it well. People are scared, and some are just giant assholes.
Anyhow, this series focuses on Luc and Evie. For those of you that read the lux series, you know what Luc is, you know what he can do. For those of you that haven't read the lux series, please do so now.
Evie is a 17 year old high school student. Her mother is Silvia Dasher, we met her in the Lux series, and she works for the government.
One night Evie decides to go to a illegal night club with her friend. The night club is known for allowing anyone in, including aliens. Evie's live is going to change after this night and she doesn't even know how much. Ever meeting Luc in the night club she hoped to leave that dreadful night behind her but Luc has other plans.
Things post invasion aren't all about roses. People are getting killed and it all points into the Luxen being the ones who are doing it. People are protesting, wanting the luxen to be round up and be send to special camps and neighborhoods, since that worked oh so wel in history.
The killer is targeting people in Evie's school and it seems whomever is doing this has noticed Evie as well.

What did I like about this book:
I loved seeing Luc again. I really liked him in the Lux series. I absolutely loved seeing Daemon and Archer again.
I am just absolutely excited to be back in the lux world.
Jennifer has some really clever plot twists hiding in this book. Some I saw coming and some completely slapped me into my face.
I cannot wait to read the next book! I really want to see where this is going!

Rating:
5 Amazing Stars

This really was an easy and fun read and I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. The Darkest Star is a spin-off of the Lux series, and when I found that out I was slightly worried as I have not yet read that series. However, even without having read any of the Lux series books, I found the plot easy to follow and I liked how Jennifer L. Armentrout explained the intricacies of the world so that any reader could understand.

This story follow Evie, a young girl living in what is left of the world after the war between humans and the Luxen, an alien race who tried to take over. She and her friend Heidi go to a club one night, and this is where Evie meets Luc, a mysterious boy who Evie can't help but feel a connection to right away.

Although I predicted a few of the plot points fairly early on in the book, I still found myself almost immediately caught up in the story. The plot was fast paced and, the ending especially, was action packed. I liked how the author included the prejudice against the Luxens in this book, and I thought that it mirrored what could be seen in the real world today. There were times when the romance plot line was a little heavy handed for me, but overall I really enjoyed the plot and I am excited to see where it will go in future books.

In general. I enjoyed Evie as a character. She grew a lot from the beginning of the book, but there were times in which I wish she would have just stopped and listened to those around her. Luc was also an interesting character. As I had not read the previous books, I was intrigued about his identity from the get go, and was glad we got to learn a lot about him as the story progressed. The romance between our two main characters was a little insta-lovey for me, but considering the story, it did make sense that the author chose to go in that direction. We will have to wait until the next books to really see how their budding relationship progresses in the next books.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. It was just the action-packed quick read I was looking for and I am excited to see where the plot goes in book two.

I received an eARC of this book in exchange for a fair review.
Ohemgee it was amazing getting back to the Lux world!! I didn’t realize how much I had missed it until I started reading. I am SO happy we got a Luc story, and man oh man is that boy the best. He’s the right mix of sarcastic and wry and frustrating and kind and awesome. And abs. Evie was also awesome and I really loved their story. There were moments where I was frustrated with needing to know all of the things and all of the things taking their time coming out, but the author handled the story well and it was paced in a way that kept me turning the pages. In fact, I read this all in one long 5 your sitting. I HAD TO KNOW. I’m going to need the next book like yesterday.

This was one of my highly anticipated books of the year.I was so excited to be back in this world, one of my favorite worlds from Jennifer L Armentrout.I really enjoyed The Darkest Star, it has a brilliant story line and the characters were lovable.

“Sometimes the truth is worse than the lie.”

So many thing happening in this story that you'll never get bored.It's fast paced,funny,sweet and there is a little bit mystery.I was intrigued from the beginning.I like the interactions between Evie and Luc, I just wanted more.

I'm curious and excited at the same time to see what will happen next!

This was one of my highly anticipated books of the year.I was so excited to be back in this world, one of my favorite worlds from Jennifer L Armentrout.I really enjoyed The Darkest Star, it has a brilliant story line and the characters were lovable.

“Sometimes the truth is worse than the lie.”

So many thing happening in this story that you'll never get bored.It's fast paced,funny,sweet and there is a little bit mystery.I was intrigued from the beginning.I like the interactions between Evie and Luc, I just wanted more.

I'm curious and excited at the same time to see what will happen next!

I'd forgotten how much fun Jennifer L. Armentrout books can be. I remember devouring the Lux series a few summers ago (except maybe not the last one?), and the Covenant series a while before that (except, again, I don't think I ever picked up that last book). I was so happy for the time to come back to this to both this author and this universe! 

The Darkest Star is book #1 in the Origin series, and set in the Lux universe, after the events of the Lux series. In what feels like a familiar fashion, Evie meets the boy she shouldn't be involved with after she goes to a bar she knows she shouldn't be in to begin with. From that moment, the book quickly unfolds, becoming an action-, emotion-, secret-, plot-packed drama of a first book, hurtling toward an ending that introduces as many questions as it answers.  

What I really love about Jennifer L. Armentrout novels is just how much story she gets packed into one book. Sometimes it can feel a little overwhelming, a little messy--so many characters and plot points and feelings to navigate through--but it's just so damn engrossing at the same time. You never know what turn is around the corner--also, the love interest is always the hottest guy in the universe. The Darkest Star delivers on all the best promises of an Armentrout novel.

Where do I even begin? This book was absolutely wonderful! It definitely sucks you in right away with all the wonderful characters, both new and old, and with the amazing storyline. I just had a feeling about what the main twist was going to be right away and was hoping for it and then it was confirmed and I was super happy 😄 There were still a few twists and turns along the way that surprised me and kept me dying to know where the story would go next. Luc is the best! He's absolutely hilarious and I still love him. He is so smart, strong, funny, and caring. I loved seeing more to him than just the sarcastic, jokester from the past. He has so many more dimensions to him and it was wonderful to see. Evie is amazing as well. She may not always be observant as she says, but she's sweet and very entertaining as well. It was fun being inside her head. Even though there were a few missing, it made me so happy when old characters popped up, especially Daemon, he had me laughing the whole time 🤣 There were a few things that were left unanswered, but I'm assuming there's gotta be another book and those will be answered in that book. The only thing I was disappointed by was not getting anything from Luc's perspective. I was hoping for at least a chapter in his head. Other than that The Darkest Star was amazing and I'm already dying for more!

-"It still amazes me. The whole thing. Like how all the basic human rights can be stripped away, but because you have a bed, a room, and food on your plate, you don’t even realize you have no rights."

I'm a big JLA fan and I really liked the Lux series so I might be a bit biased when it comes to this but it felt so good being back in that world! We got even more things explained in this book and really liked that.
I was always a fan of Luc so of course I was excited to read his story and I'm happy to say I'm satisfied.
Well, for now. Can't wait to see what's coming next.

I'm not going to spoil anything, all I'm going to say is if you loved the Lux universe and wanted more of it then definitely give this story a chance.

Back a few years ago I discovered the Lux series as the fourth book was coming out. I devoured books 1-4 and eagerly awaited for book 5. When I found out The Darkest Star a spin off/continuation I was beyond excited. The Darkest Star is a fast read and hard to put down.

While it's not critical to read the Lux series first, I strongly suggest it. It's been several years since I read it and I wished I had done a reread as I forgot some things (but don't worry, Armentrout weaves things that happened in the past throughout the book, so if you've read it before it'll come back to you).

Luc is definitely a force to be reckoned with, but he's likeable. Evie is also someone you can easily like, she has a good mix of fearlessness and fear in her. As things started to unfold I really felt bad for Evie. There is a lot going on in The Darkest Star, which I don't want to discuss due to spoilers, but you're in for a wild ride.

This book was absolutely amazing!! I forgot how good it felt to finish a Jennifer L. Armentrout book.

The first time I read about Luc, the mafia kid, I wanted to know more. He was so mysterious and arrogant and powerful and I just knew he had a story to tell. I rember thinking he must have an exciting past and when I heard he would have his own book series I screamed, I patiently waited for the official announcement and I couldn't wait to read it.

So in this book we get to know Evie (I miss the dual point of views, but I unterstand why this book needed only Evie's), she's a normal teenage girl, trying to live, just like everyone else, after the invasion.

I thought it was pretty amazing how we got an explication of how things were handled after the war, but I was really upset about the treatments the Luxen received even though it wasn't a surprise.

Anyway, Evie's friend, Heidi, is meeting a girl she likes in Foretoken, the club Luc owns obviously, and Evie goes with her even though her mother warned her no to go there.

Now I kind of rember hearing about Evie somewhere so I knew she meant something to Luc so I was expecting their first meeting to be totally weird. I was right. He basically tells her she shouldn't be there and that she doesn't belong in there. She's obviously offended and the there's a raid (more suffering for unregistered Luxen) and Luc and Evie hide in this little closet and Luc suddenly kisses her.

After that her phone rings, they get out and she escapes, expecting not to hear about Luc ever again, but she ends up seeing him because of a lot of situations.

I didn't expect Luc to be this sweet cute guy, I expected him to be arrogant but he is actually so much more, like a nice guy trying to help people in this awful post-invasion world.

I missed not knowing what the hell is going on in a book, and feeling the character's frustration at being left in the dark about important things, I mean I knew some of those things because I read Lux, but I still had a lot of doubts.

Evie is trying to put together all of these things while realizing she doesn't know her world and her every-day life that well while discovering secrets that involve everyone around her.

I think she handled all these truths better than I would have, because I honestly would just cry and lock myself up in my room.

Luc and Evie had this weird, cute friendship going on, they had amazing chemistry and I just loved how Luc showed up because he didn't want to stay away anymore and how Evie wanted to stay away from Luc but kept finding excuses to talk to him or just see him. I love how their relationship is still at the I really like you stage, they're still trying to get to know each other and make sense of their lifes.

The mistery in this book, you know besides all the government secrets, is that a few girls have gone missing and that's related to the chaos going on in Evie's life.

Overall, I think it was a great begging to what I'm hoping will be another amazing series of books. I can't wait for the next one.

P. S. We got to see Archer and Daemon and I just completely loved them and that made me want to read Lux again. I wanted a scene with Katy and Dee though, but then again, this is only the begging.