Posted on  20/08/2024 17:19:42

My rating: 5 dark and addictive stars!


I chose to read this book because of the cover. Not the one on GR, the new one from Amazon. Because it is so hot hot hot!!!

And guess what!? It's even hotter on the inside!!

'He is beauty and perfection mixed with rage and violence.' And this goes for both the bad boy on the cover, as well as for the story within.
M.J. Vieira is giving us here both darkness and brilliance, in a tone matching the voice of her male MC: 'a combination of an angelic choir and the screams of the damned' .

Addictive is the best term to describe this tale that will grab you by the scruff of your neck from the very first page and won't let you go till the very end.

Jade is found crouching over two decapitated bodies licking the blood from her hand. She is of course classified as paranoid but of course she doesn't believe it. Because 'Paranoia is for crazy people in straitjackets, who think the ice cream man is going to harvest them as his next dairy delight.' Not for her, and especially not for this 'new' her.
This Jade is an animal, she is not me. 'Great. Now I'm thinking of myself as two different people", I mutter under my breath my words laced with exasperation.

So you have to wonder what is really going on. Is Jade paranoid or not really? Especially since she is promptly drugged and plunged into sleep only to wake up in a different world, that seems perhaps even more real then the previous one. A dark and mysterious world where she meets, and I quote, 'the man of every woman's dreams' and at the same time, 'one scary motherfucker' . His allure is terrible and his strength horrifying and yet he is fire and uninhibited passion.

'What are you?'
'I am power. I am everything you wish you could be Jade', he rumbles. 'I can give you everything you've desired. I'll make you a warrior the world will fear. Legions will cower at your feet and I will be at your side.'

And of course Jade chooses to be with him. Malum, a being revered as a God on Lux. He takes Jade with him into yet another reality where Jade finds herself with no memories of her past, or even herself. Dreams plague her, of another life, but she is always made to forget.

Malum treats her like a Queen, and is deeply in love with her... Or so he claims. He calls her his 'Pet' and keeps her on a tight leash, because he loves her so! (*snort*) But Jade is somehow ok with that because here, in this world, she is 'beauty, lethality and grace all rolled into one glorious package.' And Malum's touch is addictive. Jade thrives by his side, as Captain of his guard, tirelessly working to keep the people safe from the Rebels.
Everything seems to be perfect for a while, until doubts start to creep into Jade's mind. Doubts stirred by a particular rebel, as well as Malum's contradictory behavior.

As Jade struggles to hold onto her soul and discover her past, Malum seeks to possess all that she is. And if one's soul is not worth fighting for, perhaps that of a loved one is.

In a world where nothing is at is seems, where Jade herself is complaining that 'I am getting a headache from all this: shouldn't, wouldn't, couldn't'; she needs to make a choice that will affect a lot more than herself.
'There is no room for error and the stakes have never been higher'.
So 'be wary of all and trust none' and brace yourself for the truth cause it's a hell of a kick that you won't see coming!

A dark, bloody and brilliant tale, written in a compelling manner, Lux by M.J. Vieira is a nail-biting, edge-of-the-seat read that you won't be able to set down. And it ends in the mother of all cliffhangers. Not because the story doesn't have a proper end, but because by then you have become so addicted to it, that you simply NEED to know the rest. I'm grabbing my copy of the sequel ASAP. Because... I simply must know how it all ends!!

If you love dark fantasy with a solid mystery, kick-ass action and a compelling story, you have got to give this a try! It is fabulous!

Happy reading! :)

Check out this book and more of M.J. Vieira here