Review: Opal by Jennifer L. Armentrout

 

Goodreads:

No one is like Daemon Black.
When he set out to prove his feelings for me, he wasn’t fooling around. Doubting him isn’t something I’ll do again, and now that we’ve made it through the rough patches, well... There’s a lot of spontaneous combustion going on.
But even he can’t protect his family from the danger of trying to free those they love.
After everything, I’m no longer the same Katy. I’m different... And I’m not sure what that will mean in the end. When each step we take in discovering the truth puts us in the path of the secret organization responsible for torturing and testing hybrids, the more I realize there is no end to what I’m capable of. The death of someone close still lingers, help comes from the most unlikely source, and friends will become the deadliest of enemies, but we won’t turn back. Even if the outcome will shatter our worlds forever.
Together we’re stronger... and they know it.

 

 

CONTAINS SPOILERS

 

Review:

Source: Amazon

 

For starters, it's great to finally be doing a review again. And I finished it! Defiance I stopped because I didn't have time to read and I really, really wanted to read this book. Eventually I'll go back to Defiance and try again, but not soon. Anyway, to the review!

 

Plot: To start off, everyone, including me, probably had high expectations for this book. Mine were mostly met, just not all. The book was amazing overall: funny, suspenseful, romantic, but 5% wasn't doing it for me. I say this because for the first third of the book, I was excited that Dawson was back. I was curious to see what would happen. It was obvious that he would try to run off and find Beth, but thanks to Katy, he didn't. Then in the middle, it started to get boring. What happened was essential to the plan for busting out Beth from the prison, but it just seemed to drag on and on.

 

I guess I want to say it was all the real life drama going on along with the training and the battles. Dee and Katy were still not talking; Blake was back; Dawson was all depressed; and Katy was trying to get Daemon to say 'I love you' while also find time to have sex. I found all this tiring. Friend drama, boy drama, and boyfriend drama. What more could fit in? Oh, parent issues. Mom's missing the bad guy. A lot of typical drama issues. I love the over idea of each, but I felt that were just dragged along behind the actual plot.

 

I'll get to the ending in a sec.

 

Characters: Most are still the same. Katy is still strong head and can hold her own to Daemon, though I think she's grown tougher. Daemon, well, he's the same, but with a sweeter side if you know what I mean. Blake, I hate that he's back, but he did make the book interesting, just not in a good way.

 

The rest of the characters, well, most of the time they were sad or angry because they were missing Adam or wanting to kill Blake. I don't blame them. But the one character that did get under my skin was Dee. I get it that she misses Adam, but taking it out on Katy for the whole book was irritating. I get that she thought Katy lying to her about everything was horrible and that if the truth was told, Adam would still be alive, but it's not all Katy's fault. Most of it was Daemon's. And looking at it from Katy's side, she had the right. The consequences if things didn't turn out as thought would have been horrible if Dee knew. But the one thing that really had me confused was why Dee decided to make up with Katy right before all of them went to save Beth. I think it was forced in a way--Katy could die and Dee would feel bad and all that crap. But I'm happy they did.

 

Romance: What really ticks me off is that 1) Katy said 'I love you' and it took Daemon forever to say it. 2) When he did say it, he said it in his original language, but during sex. 3) He said it in English at the end when the big climax happened and things went bad. Don't get me wrong, I loved the chemistry between the two and all the sweet-nothings scenes and do believe their love was real, but saying "I love you" for the first time, during sex, is just wrong. It should be before that. A little old fashioned, but don't you agree that today, when a guy says "I love you" during sex, he might just be saying it to get more sex?

 

I don't know if that's what you might think, but that's how I do. Daemon wasn't like that, thank goddness, but it was like every time he talked to Katy when they were alone and being intimate, he was always suggesting sex. It got annoying after he kept saying stuff like that over and over, but yet, the way he said it was funny. One thing I love about Daemon.

 

Ending: Holy crap, did not see it coming. The whole impact on what happened made me go back and reread what I read to make sure I read it correctly. The ending defiantly made me want to scream. When you read it, predictable might go through your head, but not for who was captured. I figured it would be one the other shoe. I say this because I peaked at the ending---just the last sentence! But then I read it and was in shocked. To put it plainly, it was horrible.

 

Future: Origin comes out this July, though I don't know why it's not named after a stone. Funny.

 

Quotes:

 

"The bouncer winked at Daemon as he handed him what looked like a business card. 'Ya not normally my type, but I can make an exception.'" pg. 268

 

"You and that damn pen." Katy. pg 290

 

Best part of the book: During a fight, Katy's laptop got fried (again) and later on, Daemon bought her a new one. I loved this scene. Wish I had a boyfriend that did that. *Sigh

 

Rating:                   Cover:

 

The cover wasn't that bad. My only problem with it is that Katy kinda looks drunk.

 

Ending:

 

 

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Stealing Parker

 

 

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