What an outstanding sequel! Jennifer L. Armentrout shines again with this magnificent installment in the Origin series!
THE BURNING SHADOW
by Jennifer L. Armentrout
Series: Origin #2
Genres: Historical, Romance
Publication Date: October 8th 2019 by Tor Teen | Macmillan Audio
Format: ARC | Audiobook
Narrator: Saskia Maarleveld
Length: 16 hours and 10 minutes
Source: Publisher via Mail
Rating: ★★★★★
Goodreads | Amazon
When Evelyn Dasher crossed paths with Luc, she was thrown headfirst into the world of the Lux—only to discover that she was already far more involved in their world than she ever suspected.
Because the Luxen aren’t the only ones with a hidden past. There’s a gap in Evie’s memory, lost months of her life and a lingering sense that something happened, something she can’t remember and nobody is willing to tell her. She needs to find out the truth about who she is—and who she was. But every answer she finds only brings up more questions.
Her search for the truth brings her ever closer to Luc, the Origin at the center of it all. He’s powerful, arrogant, inhumanly beautiful, extremely dangerous…and possibly in love with her. But even as Evie falls for him, she can’t help but wonder if his attraction is to her, or to the memory of a girl who no longer exists.
And all the while, a new threat looms: reports of a flu-like, fatal virus that the government insists is being spread by Luxen. A horrifying illness that changes whoever it touches, spreading panic across a country already at its breaking point.
"You," he spoke. "It's only ever been you. Before. Now. Later. There's been no one else. There…just can't be."
MY HEART!!!!! Luc stole my breath, my heart, my entire soul and being!!! (Can I leave my review there? No? *sighs* All right, but don't judge the mess this will be.)
This book sucked me in so hard. It continues right where The Darkest Star left off and from then on, my life only knew the Origin world; nothing else existed or mattered. The world building Jennifer created is outstanding and otherworldly. Everything from the humans to the Luxen to the post-invasion to rebuilding was done with such care and with details to make the reader feel they were right there in the story as a character.
Jennifer has fleshed out all of these characters, from the ones that are new to the ones that we've known since the Lux series. Evie, a new character, has gone through way too much. In the first novel, she was shy, timid, scared. And now, we have this woman who isn't shying away from all the bad she's seeing, but wants to help and tackle it head on. She also became into this badass woman that had me with my jaw dropped open! Seriously, I was not expecting the mega bombshell Jennifer threw at us about Evie, and I'm still not over it! It took me by such a surprise, but all I kept thinking was, "You go, girl! Kick some ass!"
"I don't care what you call me as long as you call me yours."
Luc *sighs dreamily* I can't say his name without my heart wanting to jump out of my chest like it has a mind of it's own and his hoping Luc is right in front of me so it can hug him (I know, my mind works in mysterious ways). Luc has grown so much from the Lux series. Before, I would see him as a kid; now, as a hot man who makes me drool and swoon! He's matured so much and tackling on so much for someone still kind of young. Because of this, he can be immature at times, but it doesn't take away from who Luc has become so there are no complaints from me.
Something that tore my heart apart was seeing Luc not knowing something specific concerning Evie. He prides himself in having all the answers, but with the person that means the universe to him, he doesn't have them. The frustration he carries is overwhelming and heart-breaking. I mean, it did help in knocking down his ego a bit, but it was still so sad to see him that way.
"You don’t need to worry about me, Peaches. I’m always going to come back to you. That’s a promise."
The length of this book surprised me! I thought it would feel dragging or slow, but it never felt that way. There was always something going on and it felt like a much shorter book than it was. I'm glad Jennifer kept writing and gave the reader so much content to work with and put our brains to work through what was going on. There were so many twists and turns, it was hard to pinpoint everything, which I greatly appreciate!
The ending had me yelling in frustration because I just knew it! I was suspecting another character but it became very obvious who was behind everything! Even thinking about it now has my heart racing. It was an epic ending, that's for sure, to be dropping a bombshell and then the book ends. NOW I HAVE TO WAIT AN ENTIRE YEAR FOR MORE!
AUDIOBOOK IMPRESSIONS:
I mostly listened to the audio for this one and I'm so glad I did! The narrator did a fantastic job in changing her voice to fit each character's personality. Through her voice, I could feel the characters' frustrations, excitement, love, care. I highly suggest going the audio route with this one because it will suck you in even more!Overall, The Burning Shadow is phenomenal, shocking, action-packed, full of twists and turns and a romance that will have you swooning right from the start!
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