Bookish Virginia

Disclaimer: I received a free digital Advance Reader Copy (ARC) of The Darkest Star from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I finished The Darkest Star, by Jennifer L. Armentrout a while back, and am just now coming up for air and posting my review. This book’s release date was October 30 so if it sounds good to you, it’s available! As usual, this review is spoiler-free!

Book Title: The Darkest Star (Amazon, Goodreads)
Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout
Genre: Young Adult, Science Fiction
My Rating: 4 / 5 stars

Unlike most people who will probably read this book, I have not actually read much by Jennifer L. Armentrout before this. In fact, this book is actually set in the Luxen world, in which a previous series of books by Armentrout was set, but which I had not read. So for those of you wondering if you can read this book without having read those, the answer is: YOU ABSOLUTELY CAN! However, I will warn you that you will probably be totally sucked into the world like I was, and well, then you’ll want to go back and read the previous series, starting with Obsidian, and I can’t be held responsible for what that does to your TBR.

So without further ado, here are my thoughts on The Darkest Star.

The Good: I loved the pacing of the story. It never dragged along or got too slow, but there was enough backstory and explanation for those of us new to this world. It was just a great combo of detail and description, so I could totally picture characters and places, but then lots of action and surprising moments to keep me intrigued. Evie (the main character) has powerful emotions and big reactions, as well she should (a lot of crazy sh*$ is coming to light), and these are all handled quite well–I felt like I really got into her brain, and I liked the complexity of her feelings. She changes her mind a lot, and can’t quite decide who to trust or what to think, and that made her easy to relate to. There’s a fairly good wrap-up in the ending (no spoilers though) but with enough stuff left open that I’ll be waiting eagerly for the next installment!

The Less Good: Honestly, this is one of those books where I pretty much liked everything. I did feel that sometimes the writing was a bit choppy, as in one sentence didn’t always flow into the next. but that might be more about personal taste than any kind of flaw in the style. I will also say that, as much as I really liked Luc and was totally intrigued by him, he was a teeny bit too *perfect* for me at times. Like, he always had the perfect witty comment and he always seemed to be one step ahead of Evie, and that got a little frustrating. Couldn’t he be just a little less on top of things and falter sometimes? However, I love his broody, dangerous persona, and I can’t wait to get to know him better in the next book.

Wrap Up: If you like YA paranormal romance, then you really should read this book. It is kind of like candy. You have just a little, and then you just want more, more, more. So thanks a lot, Jennifer, now I will be waiting like this lady for the next book to come out: