“I could always give you a teaser. You bookish people love teasers, don’t you?” –Daemon Black
After a major attack from the Luxen Enemy, the Arum, we find our estranged (yet totally heart eyes for each other) dynamic duo facing another troublesome issue. They now share a very permanent, freaky, alien bond. Daemon manages to save Katy from the brink of death which causes a rift in their lives and in their already strained, yet totally smitten relationship.
Katy finds herself changing and not in the ways she has already graciously accepted (like you know, finding out aliens exist, having a best friend that’s an alien, and defeating several of the Arum all while trying to maintain a normal existence). A fever takes hold of Katy and it is beyond what any normal sickness should or could be. Once in recovery, Katy’s world really starts to turn upside down. Objects around her start to move on their own and as much as she may try, she can not explain these events.
“That’s the funny thing about trying to escape. You never really can. Maybe temporarily, but not completely.” -Blake Saunders
Que the new guy in town; Blake Saunders. Mysterious, handsome, normal. Katy is struggling to deny her feelings for Daemon worried he only wishes to be with her because of their alien connection. Blake walks into her life and he gives her something she is desperately trying to hold onto; normalcy. However, this feeling only lasts for a brief moment when Blake reveals he is just like her. (Without giving away a lot of the best parts you do find out that Katy is now a hybrid. Daemon saved her from near death and because he truly wanted to save her, this mutated her.)
Although the allure of the normal relationship she was trying to grow from is over, Katy accepts this with a lot of strength and courage. (Have I mentioned that I really admire this? Because I would totally want her as my BFF!) Now that she knows what she truly has become and accepting that the aliens next door are a huge part of her life she knows her life will never be normal. You will find that Katy really embraces this. I believe the human part of her just longed for the normal especially with losing her father. It’s possible she felt like that was the final piece. She never wanted to lose that part of her connected to him. She also references her mother and fathers relationship quite a bit and this is a big driving force to make sure what her and Daemon feel is real. Katy makes it clear she will not settle for anything less than true, epic love and who can blame her!
“That kind of love should have been able to beat sickness. That kind of love should have conquered anything.” –Katy Swartz
We get to see Katy continue to be a bad-ass and what I really appreciated was that she NEVER wants to be a burden. She wants to be at the front line with everyone else. Katy was that way as a human and now as a hybrid she truly embraces this. She doesn’t want to waste time being a liability, she wants to be an asset to those she cares about.
One thing is for certain, the slow burn between Daemon and Katy is a scorcher in this book. It leaves you wanting to jump into the book and yell, “just confess your love already!”. I do understand where Katy is coming from for most of the book. It reminded me a lot of vampire diaries (nerd moment) and the sire bond between Damon and Elena. I actually HATED that everyone was so convinced Elena couldn’t actually be in love with Damon, that it HAD to be the sire bond. I ended up switching my feelings a bit with Katy realizing if it were me I would want that epic love but I would need to know it was real. It felt like a moment where it really just kind of clicked for me. As much as I didn’t want her to push Daemon away I understood that you never want to question the origin of love. It needs to be organic, plain and simple.
There is an incredible amount of growth with the characters and there are some… heart wrenching moments. You see a lot more of the Luxen that reside together in town including Daemons ex, Ash. With my reviews, there is a huge part of me that wants to explain every detail and every character. My intentions are for you to read this and get excited to dive into the story, making your own judgements and hopefully falling in love with the characters as I have. I rated this four stars because I found the characters in the end being a bit too hard on Katy. You will be free to cast your own judgements but I felt like the world was forgetting not too long ago she was just a girl trying to read books, garden and live as best she could. (Daemon does end up giving her the credit and the validation she deserves)
On a final note, the love between Daemon and Katy is absolutely real. I love that so far these books have shown me true friendship, a bond between a mother and daughter and how to really, truly believe in yourself. If there is one thing to take away from these books it’s just that; believe in you. You are capable of so much whether it be just waking up every morning, or saving the galaxy. You can do and be anything.
“And you’re mine.” –Daemon Black
