"Shadows" by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Release Date: Entangled Publishing
Publisher: February 21, 2012
Pages: 179

From Goodreads: "The last thing Dawson Black expected was Bethany Williams. As a Luxen, an alien life form on Earth, human girls are…well, fun. But since the Luxen have to keep their true identities a secret, falling for one would be insane.

Dangerous. Tempting. Undeniable.

Bethany can’t deny the immediate connection between her and Dawson. And even though boys aren’t a complication she wants, she can’t stay away from him. Still, whenever they lock eyes, she’s drawn in.

Captivated. Lured. Loved.

Dawson is keeping a secret that will change her existence...and put her life in jeopardy. But even he can’t stop risking everything for one human girl. Or from a fate that is as unavoidable as love itself."

Random note: For some unexplainable reason I ended up reading "Oynx", the second book in Jennifer's "Lux" series before I read this, a novella that takes place before the events in both "Obsidian" and "Onyx". In all honesty, I am very glad that I did- had I read this first, I don't think that I would have had been taken by surprise and experienced all of those feelings (those heart-pounding and rip-your-heart-out-and-stomp-on-it-feelings) that I did while reading "Onyx". Therefore, in my personal opinion I do recommend that you read "Obsidian", then "Onyx", then this book, "Shadows" (otherwise I feel like little in "Onyx" will take you by surprise as you will most likely be able to foreshadow at least 87.3% of it).

In all honesty prior to reading this book I thought that I would have a difficult time discerning Daemon/ Dawson's voices from one another and Katy/ Bethany's voices from one another, however that wasn't the case whatsoever. That being said, while Dawson and Bethany did have their own voices, Bethany being an the epitome of the 'girl-next-door', Dawson being the black sheep of the family of sorts, wanting more out of the Luxen life, I didn't think that they were quite as developed as I hoped that they were, especially when compared to Daemon and Katy (then again, I have to understand that this *is* a novella and therefore there are time/ length constrictions when compared to a full length novel). 

Furthermore, I really quite disliked Daemon in this book- I seem to recall that in "Obsidian" and "Onyx" other characters, such as Dee and Adam, had said that prior to Dawson's death Daemon had been A LOT more easygoing/ friendly, however that wasn't the case whatsoever- he was even more of a jerk in this, when his brother was still alive, than he was in "Obsidian" (I mean, if this is Daemon being *nice* I'd hate to see what he is like when he is REALLY trying to be a jerk).

All in all, I must admit that I am a tad disappointed with this novella (it is unfortunately my least favourite thing that Jennifer has written to date). That is not to say that it is bad, it isn't, but I just wish that there had been more to it- whether it be more developed characters or more to the storyline (I mean, after having read "Obsidian" we basically know what happens in this novella, it doesn't deviate from it whatsoever or gives us anything new).

Rating: 3/5