It isn't quite the end of the world but it's close. The Luxen, powerful aliens who can assimilate human DNA, have invaded the United States. Destruction, murder on a grand scale, is all that lies in the future for humanity. Katy, a half-Luxen hybrid, is holed up with her friends Archer and Beth. On a dangerous expedition to get food and medical supplies for Beth, Katy is taken hostage by a group of Luxen. This group happens to include her lost love, Daemon. From the moment he rescues her on, it's a race against time to avoid two different genocides. They have to stop the Luxen from destroying thousands upon thousands of humans. They also have to stop humans from destroying all the Luxen—including all the innocent aliens—and the weaker members of humanity. In a series of daring rescue operations, army negotiations, and disastrous journeys, Katy and Daemon must help their friends find a solution to the alien crisis without getting themselves killed in the process.

For a book with so much action and destruction in its premise, Jennifer L. Armentrout's OPPOSITION is surprisingly lacking in action scenes. While they do occur rather frequently, they are short and often anticlimactic. Various hand-to-hand combat scenes end without much bearing on the plot and without much hostility when they are done. Several personal battles end without any resentment or frustration on the wounded parties. The space in between is filled with beautiful romantic moments between the protagonists, but for a science-fiction adventure there is not a lot of adventure.

Between Katy and Daemon, Katy seems to spend most of her time angry or in a defensive mode; this is very much in the book's favor. While she is quite a traditional female romantic lead, she has some genuine anger and inner conflict over everything which goes on. As a human, she is appalled by the way humanity is being destroyed. As a hybrid, she is horrified at the idea of innocent aliens being slaughtered. She is devoted to her friends to the point of risking her life so Beth will have prenatal vitamins. She is even brave enough to agree to let an alien of another species feed on her energy, painful though it would be, in order to gain his help in the coming battles between them and the Luxen. Katy is an excellent heroine who would no doubt have been very much a heroine even if she had not reunited with Daemon. His presence does add some more sentimentality to her sections of the story, but on the whole it is her character which drives her motivations and they are not always related to Daemon's presence in her life.

The romance itself strikes me as frustrating. Even though they have been separated for their own good, at the first opportunity they come together again. Both of them seem to be aware of the consequences of continuing their relationship right under the noses of the Luxen. This does not stop them from behaving in foolish ways in the beginning of the book. Being surrounded by powerful, angry beings (some of whom have the power to read minds) would deter some people from being openly romantic with each other; Daemon and Katy seem to have no self- preservation instinct when it comes to their love.

There are numerous pacing issues in OPPOSITION. The reader is plunged from private residence to Luxen encampment to government base to underground tunnel to private home again without much of a transition in between. It can sometimes be hard to even know where the characters are and what they are meant to be doing. This is made worse by the fact that the book shifts from Katy's point of view to Daemon's at the drop of a hat. Though these shifts are clearly labeled, if the reader is not careful it is easy to forget which of the two are speaking.

On the whole, this book has a wonderful concept but some of the execution does not hit the mark. As the conclusion to a longer series, OPPOSITION should be trying to close loose ends without opening up more questions. From the very beginning, this book creates more drama and romantic tension than can possibly be necessary. The action sequences being few and far between can add some tedium to a science-fiction story which as a shorter or differently-focused piece could have been a truly amazing conclusion. If you are interested in straight science- fiction stories with a little romance, OPPOSITION might not be the best choice. It can be fascinating at times, but it's hard to switch between romance and aliens at the drop of a hat.

Book Summary

In the stunning climax to the bestselling Lux series, Daemon and Katy join forces with an unlikely enemy to ensure the survival of not only their love for each other, but the future of all mankind.

Opposition will bring forth a new dawn to the Lux universe, where man must stand with alien to survive, and the future, no matter the outcome, will never be the same.