Book Review: Lux Series (Obsidian and Onyx)

I have been reading and watching a lot of different material on aliens this year – from The Ra Material to Roswell, New Mexico to Custodians: Beyond Abduction. It seems to be a theme for me this year – to come to terms with an underlying unconscious fear and learn what these extra-dimensional beings really are about (expect a blog post on my findings before the end of the year). So, when I stumbled upon the YA series Lux about aliens living in human form in West Virginia, it seemed right up my alley.

I am surprised I didn’t stumble on the Lux Series earlier, as it was released in 2012 and follows the life of a girl named Katy as she moves to a new town her senior year of high school, right next door to a “swoon worthy” guy named Dameon. Only, he isn’t really human, and neither is his sister who is quickly becoming her best friend. Katy soon learns that she is really living next door to aliens as she becomes entwined, irrevocably in their world. 

At its core, the Lux series isn’t really about aliens. It is set up as an angsty teen romance series with just the backdrop of aliens living secretly among us. I usually love me some angsty teen romance. I am not one to turn away from the Twilight series or any of the incarnations trying to cash in on their fame. But…this series…it just isn’t that great. 

First, off, that “swoon worthy” Dameon is an a**hole. He is mean and he is just a downright bully. But, the reader is supposed to be okay with a relationship developing between him and Katy – a relationship that is deep and permanent. The way this is built up just doesn’t work. I can look past a lot of bad writing and this, it doesn’t even work on any level. I didn’t end up caring for the couple or their on-again-off-again interest in each other. 

What did interest me, at least a little, was the portrayal of the aliens. I was surprised at how right some of the material was and more in line with actual reports and accounts of aliens. Instead of portraying them as little green men, these aliens were light beings that could manipulate and control the energy of light around them. They even got close to some actual truths when discussing how the aliens traveled quickly from their home planet to earth in seemingly no amount of time by bending space and time. So that intrigued me – maybe the author did some research in this area?

Overall, I just could not get into this series. By formula it has everything that would interest me – but I just didn’t care about the characters. I listened to these on audiobook and almost stopped with only an hour to go in the last book during a major showdown scene. I just didn’t care at that point. But I powered through and finished the second book. Needless to say, I am not going to move on to any more books in this series. 

Have you read the books in the Lux series? Do you believe that aliens exist?