The Darkest Star

Origin Series, Book 1

By: Jennifer L. Armentrout

Narrated by: Saskia Maarleveld

Length: 12 hrs and 11 mins

Publisher's summary

In the world of the Lux, secrets thrive, lies shatter, and love is undeniable.

Number-one New York Times, USA Today, and internationally best-selling author Jennifer L. Armentrout brings her trademark drama and intrigue to a new romantic YA science-fiction series with The Darkest Star.

A girl pulled into in a world she doesn't understand finds herself confronted by long-buried secrets, a betrayal that could tear her life apart...and Armentrout's most swoonworthy audiobook boyfriend yet.

Seventeen-year-old Evie Dasher knows firsthand the devastating consequences of humanity's war with the aliens. When she's caught up in a raid at a notorious club known as one of the few places where humans and the surviving Luxen can mingle freely, she meets Luc, an unnaturally beautiful guy she initially assumes is a Luxen...but is in fact something much more powerful. Her growing attraction for Luc will lead her deeper and deeper into a world she'd only heard about, a world where everything she thought she knew will be turned on its head....

©2018 Jennifer L. Armentrout (P)2018 Macmillan Audio

Great world building

Great characters and great narration. Suspense and drama mixes with romance and fear in this first book of the series. I think it is a good foundation to build upon.

Great story

I would read anything by Jen. I have. I love the story and cannot wait to read the sequel as well.

Knowing he had deep feelings

I really like he didn’t give up on her even when she wanted him to

Another good story!

loved this story. I'm so glad she continued the story...can't wait for the next. J. Armentrout never disappoints.

Good JLA

I liked the story. The narrator is easy enough to listen to but she has only about two female and two male voices. Fast moving dialogue can be confusing to sort out who said what and who all is in the scene. The story is interesting enough. Drags out the big mystery almost to the point I didn’t care by the time it was revealed. I hope the next books focus more on the positive development and deepening of the relationship between Evie and Luc.

Loved this!

The Darkest Star is a must read for Lux fans. I love Luc!

My thoughts

I loved being back in the world of Lux! Over the summer I finished the Lux series, so the story and characters are still fresh in my mind. The Darkest Star picks up several years after the finale in the Lux series. The world is different now that the truth of the Luxen alien’s existence has come to light. Evie Dasher is your normal teenager, juggling high school and a social life. Breaking the rules, she and her friend go to a night club for Luxens and humans. The night doesn’t turn out as planned when Evie meets Luc, a Luxen with a bad boy attitude, and the club gets raided. A rocky start to their relationship leads to further complications and unusual deaths in their small-town. The Luxens integration into society has not been equally welcomed by the humans, which mirrors the American social unrest of the segregated schools in the 60’s and the current political state of immigrants. As frustrating as it was, I think the author made a good choice of including this tension in the story so young readers can view how fear can drive people to panic and treat others cruelly.

This book has the same formula as the Lux series - a cocky alien and a strong-willed human. Evie is tough and smart, but at times her stubbornness annoyed me. But Luc is perfect! He has the cocky attitude but when his secrets are revealed you can’t help but fall in love with him. I loved their banter and chemistry, and their connection was partly predictable and shocking.

This book is a spinoff, but you don’t need to read the Lux series. I highly recommend you do since Daemon and Archer make cameos, and you don’t want to miss all the swoon worthy moments with Daemon in the other books. I love the other characters making an appearance and being mentioned, so I hope in the next books we get to see more of my favorite characters.

This was my first time listening to narrator Saskia Maarleveld and I enjoyed her performance. She sounds like Justine Eyre (the narrator for the Lux series) so it was an easy transition to a new narrator and series. The character voices and personalities were spot on and added life to the story.

The Darkest Star has it all – romance, action, suspense and comedy. I took my time to read this book because I didn’t want this to end. This was a great start to a new series with characters I’ve grown to love. I can’t wait to read the next book!

Wow

This book is awesome and not what I expected!! I’ve love luck and he’s still as awesome as he was but even better.

Loved the story !!

I loved going back into the lux world. After reading the lux series a while back , this book was like a sequel to the alien invasion . It was really nice knowing what happened in the aftermath of everything.

Amazing spin-off!

This book was way better than I expected it to be. I’ve always liked Luc, but he really stood out in the book. I remembered the girl from his past and wondered why Evie was so important to him so quickly. After the twist of the year, it all started to make sense. I knew something was up with Evie’s past, but never imagined what it turned up to be. The twist was a doozie and really added depth to the story. Ms. Armentrout put a lot of thought into it. Best twist I’ve read this year. Lux is by far my favorite YA,,sci-fi series. I’m thrilled I get another run of my Lux fix again. The female narrator was fantastic and I can’t wait to start the sequel to see what’s in store next for Evie and Luc.

Nice to finally have Luc's story.

I was always intrigued with Luc but I had a bit of difficulty separating the 19 yr old adult Luc, in this book to the Luc in Obsidian, with Daemon and Kat. He was about 15 back then and so immature and now, well, I had a hard time separating when he got intimate (not quite sex yet), I guess messed around more than just kiss Evie. I gave it a 4 star because there were several moments with Daemon in it. Lol. Narrator was pretty good, not great but it was doable.