The burning shadow

Luc and Evie's story continues after the thrilling events of The Darkest Star (2018). Evie's life is now completely different than it was 48 hours ago. She's been kidnapped, almost killed (more than once), and learned that she has alien DNA and that her mom isn't her mom and then there's her alien boyfriend, Luc. Unsurprisingly, Evie is questioning who she truly is, and she's finding no easy answers. She's also dodging bigots at school former friends who believe the alien Luxen, who invaded Earth four years ago, are evil and trying to just be normal. The news of a killer virus that might be controlled by the Luxen isn't helping, either. As Evie pieces together the lies she's been told all her life, she discovers that she's more powerful than almost any other Luxen, and she might be able to save the world for humans, aliens, and every hybrid in between. Armentrout's sci-fi romance series returns in full force. Fans of the first book or the original Lux series will flock to this continuation.--Stacey Comfort Copyright 2010 Booklist

In this Lux spinoff, Evie continues grappling with her identity.Still coping with the big revelation from The Darkest Star (2018) that Evie was Nadia before losing her memory, Evie struggles with who she is and against her attraction to Lucshe's unsure if he loves her or if he loved a Nadia who's gone for good. Meanwhile, April's still involved in anti-Luxen protests while politicians attempt to pass laws to restrict Luxens' rights and freedoms, a storyline with clear parallels to real-world situations. The anti-Luxen camp is also pushing a narrative that sporadic outbreaks of a deadly flu are caused by Luxens. The prose suffers from repetition, with detailed recaps coming sometimes in intervals of only a few pagesbut at least that means the expanded worldbuilding (and the distinctions among Luxen, hybrids, Origins, Arum, and another new type of superbeing) is easy to keep straight. Storylines heat upromances involve nongraphic physical intimacy, and the conspiracies-and-aliens violence hammers in the stakes. As an added treat for loyal Lux fans, characters from the original series appear. Gay and nonwhite characters are nominally present. In typical middle-book fashion, the ending does little in the way of resolving storylines; instead, it involves a character giving pages of exposition confirming characters' theories and explaining a setup for the next book.Aside from a splash of politics, pretty much what readers expect of the subgenre and author. (Science fiction. 14-18) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.