"...sucked more than a brutal cliffhanger ending." Well, talk about foreshadowing. 
 Actual Rating: 3.5 
 So I was definitely not a fan of the first installment of the Lux series, I hated seeing so many similarities between Obsidian and Twilight and I hated Daemon with the fiery passion of a thousand suns. I couldn't stand his character. Whenever I read a scene featuring him, I was tempted to introduce the book to my wall and ensure that both were well acquainted. In fact, I'm not even sure how or why I finished the book, especially since I am not a fan of aliens. I usually never get into any fiction centered on them but the story must have had something to keep me going. And that something surprisingly made me pick up the next one, Onyx and it made me proceed with the series. 
 Daemon's come a long way, I think. While reading Onyx, I didn't quite buy his "changed personality". He needed a lot of redeeming for his behavior in the first book, but he was likable in the succeeding novel and then he became much sweeter in Opal, that I suddenly started to see the allure of his character. (view spoiler)[When he got Katy a Macbook Air, he put a smile on my face and incited a warm, fuzzy feeling and really, that was a huge development from my initial feelings of wanting to stab him to death. What? I may have anger issues (hide spoiler)] 
 I wasn't so fond of his over-protectiveness, though I guess I could understand it, but I think that was due to the fact that I've read so many stories with over-protective males that the concept just doesn't appeal me anymore. Half the time nowadays, I roll my eyes when I read an argument between the protagonists, with the male character telling the female that she can't do certain things because they're dangerous. However, I will say I understood the sentiment in this novel. I guess Armentrout wanted to show that even though the two characters love each other, they don't always agree on certain issues. She also probably wanted to portray Katy as a girl who can make her own decisions and stand strong alongside her supernatural boyfriend. 
 On the other hand, while Katy was a likable heroine, she did have her bad moments in Opal where I wanted to just give her a little nudge. (view spoiler)[The irrational jealousy she felt when Daemon went to have lunch with his Luxen family. The total obliviousness on her part when she thought Daemon was the one who held her at night. I mean, she usually feels a tingle when he's in her presence so she should have known, but I guess we could blame her lack of knowledge on the fact that she was sleepy. And seriously, how fucking creepy was Blake? The dude has some serious issues upstairs. (hide spoiler)] 
 Additionally, I think Armentrout tried to make Katy seem too sympathetic, especially with her ability to kill and the fact that she thought that she didn't feel remorseful about it. It's like how someone keeps trying to convince you that they don't care about something when in fact all actions point that they do. (view spoiler)[Also, her desire to save the others from Daedalus, though cute, was something she should have considered after they all achieved their goal of rescuing Beth and Chris because she had to have known there'd be others. (hide spoiler)] 
 While Opal did hold my interest for the most part, I believe it started to really pick up toward the end. The whole story was building up to a climax that occurred in the few last pages of the book. Armentrout pretty much foreshadowed all the events, that I totally saw where it was heading (view spoiler)[Granted, I thought it would be Daemon who'd be left behind not Katy. I also guessed that Simon would reappear at the end and Blake would betray them. (hide spoiler)] 
 I've been a bit cynical with the books I've read lately - constantly nitpicking plots, character developments, dialogues and just generally, the elements of the stories - but Opal was captivating, easy to read, funny and it slightly pulled me out of my reading funk. I'm intrigued to see where the story leads.