Book Review: Shadows by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Shadows, is the young adult prequel to the Lux series, by Jennifer L. Armentrout. I suggest reading Obsidian before Shadows even though Shadows is the prequel, because Obsidian explains the whole alien thing more in depth, and describes the dynamics of the world better. If you would like to read my review about Obsidian, go here.

Shadows is a novella, and it is also very sweet…well…until the end. But you already knew that if you read Obsidian first like I told you to. And if you insist on reading Shadows first than fine, go ahead, it’s your choice to read how you want you want to read. But Shadows does explain a lot of the reason why Daemon acts the way he does in Obsidian, and I’m not sure if Daemon would have as much effect in Obsidian if you were to read Shadows first. But again, your choice.

Shadows is about Daemon’s brother Dawson, (I’m thinking Armentrout likes alliteration, although Shadows is the only novel in this series that doesn’t start with an “O”), and a human girl named Bethany. It is pretty much love at first sight for these two. No you’re human so I have to stay as far away as possible because I’ll ruin your life, but, you know, everyone knows we’re going to get together eventually crap. Nope. Just pure love. Well, mostly. I mean there has to be some conflict, right? If you read Obsidian, I bet you can guess who causes it. Hint: it’s not the Arum. Which is actually kind of sad in a way.

The book focuses mostly on Bethany and Dawson’s relationship as Bethany has recently moved to West Virginia and doesn’t really know anyone, and Dawson’s alien buds don’t really agree with him dating a human. We do get some interaction with other characters in the novel, but it usually circles back around to Bethany and Dawson pretty quickly. It’s still developed like a full length novel though, and does have some side stories, but the main focus is just on Bethany and Dawson. Also, side note, what is with all this stuff happening in small towns, and people moving to small towns from big cities? Like doesn’t stuff happen where people already live sometimes, or is there some sort of rule where if you want a paranormal experience you have to move to a spooky small town?

The writing style is also a bit different, as I said earlier this book is sweet, whereas although Katy and Daemon are good together, they’re not really sweet. More like a glowing ball of fire with fangs, in a good way. Where Dawson is more like the female version of Dee. Sweeter and pro-human.

If you liked Obsidian I would recommend you should read Shadows next, and yes, read it before moving onto Onyx. Daemon and Katy will still be there when you get there. But again, Shadows fills in a lot of info about why Daemon acts the way he does in Obsidian, and what happened with Dawson. And Shadows is definitely worth the read just for its own sake.

Are you a fan of teenage aliens running around? Or do you like the more common vampires?