Comprised of five books in all, this series follows Daemon and Katy through the trials and tribulations of being star crossed lovers, literally.
Daemon, an alien, and Katy, a human, predictably fall for one another despite knowing their feelings will bring chaos and possibly death to those around them, and maybe even to them. My first impression about this scenario was “another demon, vampire, God, fantasy plot –why can’t we move on from that?” However when I thought about it superheroes are aliens, Harry Potter is a wizard, and even my favorite book series (Outlander) has a fantasy time travel element to it, so the supernatural doesn’t have to disqualify a book from being good.
And actually, it was good. Aliens were a supernatural twist I hadn’t read in an YA novel before and it was a nice change. There was quite a bit more action than I expected, and even some mystery and plot twists I didn’t see coming. The implications of aliens on earth, the consequences of their discovery, the future of the planet, were are part of the story, and the detail given to each subplot was really thorough and made you invested in reaching the conclusion. But what I really liked was the story of Daemon and Katy.
I suppose this might mean I really am a romantic. Or maybe I’m trying to relive my youth vicariously through teenage characters. Either way, reading about these two sitting in class, trying to downplay the obvious tension between them and convincing themselves its distaste rather than attraction, reminded me of the excitement of first loves. How it consumes you, and you spend every waking moment wondering if the object of your affection feels the same way. How you try to downplay it as a way to protect yourself, but are simultaneously drawn to it. How you’re never really quite sure it’s real because it’s hard to believe you could have such intense feelings for someone else, or that they could have them for you.
Take away the whole alien component and it’s a nice little trip back to the emotional roller coaster that is first love. Or to your younger self, where decisions were made based on emotion, not practicality or logical thought. When everything in your world revolved around that one person you fell for and the only thing that mattered was being together, the way you think life will be before you have to grow up and get a job.
I read a quote once, “Love is when the good is good enough to overlook the bad.” I still think that’s a bit of a pessimistic view, although there is an element of truth to it. Love isn’t always perfect, and sometimes staying in love means the good outweighs the bad. So it’s nice to revisit that stage of your life when you’re young and idealistic, when love is love, without any disclaimers or concessions. I think love is like that in the beginning, and sometimes we need to be reminded that it still can be that way if we let it.
Michele Lenard 