The Darkest Star is the first book in the young adult Origin series by Jennifer L. Armentrout. The Origin series is a young adult paranormal/sci fi romance featuring aliens. It is a spin off of her Lux series, which I have been meaning to read but I have still not read. But I decided that since they are just set in the same world but don't necessarily have to be read in order, I decided there was no time like the present to binge read the Origin series because book three released this month. And I am so so glad that I decided to pick these books up now. I am loving them! The Darkest Star is hands down my favorite alien book I have ever read. If you have followed my reviews for a while now, you may have noticed that I don't typically read many sci fi books and I read even fewer books featuring aliens, but after reading The Darkest Star, I might have to rethink my position on aliens. I loved this book and all of the characters in it!

In The Darkest Star we meet our main characters Evie and Luc. Evie lives in a world that has already been invaded by aliens called Luxen. The invasion war is now over, and Luxen now live among humans. They wear disablers to disable their powers. Our book starts out with Evie and her friend going to a nightclub that is known to be a Luxen club. There Evie sees Luc for the first time, and her whole world changes. Not right away, because he is a total jerk, but it puts events in motion that Thrust Evie further into the world of the Luxen than she ever imagined. It called all kinds of her beliefs into question, and without giving too much away, there are plenty of secrets in this book (and the next one!)

Evie and Luc crackle off the page! I just love the two of them. They are great characters on their own but they are magic together, and they are not even together in a relationship for much of the book, but still I love them. Evie is so inquisitive and kind, and Luc is so protective and fierce, but with Evie he just a big ole marshmallow teddy bear. It's beyond adorable. This book was the perfect foundation for the series. It sets up the worlds, lets us really get to know the characters and the motivations of everyone and it also has plenty of plot twists and turns to keep the readers guessing. Even though some of the twists were pretty easy to see coming, there were many that truly surprised me. This is a fantastic first installment that has left me super ready and excited to dive into the second book! The origin series is perfect for fans of paranormal romance and science fiction alike.