Review: Obsidian by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Obsidian (Lux, #1) by Jennifer L. Armentrout
Published: May 8th 2012 by Entangled Teen
Pages: 335
Rating:  

Starting over sucks.

When we moved to West Virginia before my senior year, I'd pretty much resigned myself to thick accents, dodgy internet access, and a whole lot of boring... until I spotted my hot neighbor, with his looming height and eerie green eyes. Things were looking up.

And then he opened his mouth.

Daemon is infuriating. Arrogant. Stab-worthy. We do not get along. At all. But when a stranger attacks me and Daemon literally freezes time with a wave of his hand, well, something... unexpected happens.

The hot alien living next door marks me.

You heard me. Alien. Turns out Daemon and his sister have a galaxy of enemies wanting to steal their abilities, and Daemon's touch has me lit up like the Vegas Strip. The only way I'm getting out of this alive is by sticking close to Daemon until my alien mojo fades.

If I don't kill him first, that is.


"Why are you such an ass?" The words came out before I could think twice."Everyone has to excel at something, right?""Well, you're doing a great job."
-- Jennifer L. Armentrout, Obsidian


2014 couldn't have started any better. Obsidian was my first book to finish after two P.M. No regrets! It was full of poking with pens, similarities and aliens with a big appetite.

To start with the similarities, by reading other's reviews after finishing this book, I immediately found that issue we all had in common: Obsidian's similarity with Twilight. I read the Twilight series way too long ago for having a proper opinion on them, yet I do know all of the events. Once you start comparing, there is no going back. This is the reason I didn't get to enjoy it to the fullest. I hate to be actually writing an paragraph about this, but it is there and you just can't ignore it. For starters, Katy is Bella and Daemon is Edward. When I dug deeper into the story, not only the protagonists but many other characters were similar too. Dee is Alice. Ash is Rosalie. Adam is Jasper. Even Matthew reminded me of Carlisle in a way. Now it might seem like the biggest issue in the world; it's not. Obsidian is like Twilight, but it fixes everything. It's Twilight, in the way the novel should have been. It's so much better.

The plot itself started out like Twilight but ended up being completely different. I got a fresh take on the alien aspect with the explanations you'll need. I got gripped at one hundred pages in, and thanks to the variety of Daemon's sarcasm, love scenes and action scenes, I finished Obsidian in a jiffy. It starting with the mystery of figuring out what the Blacks are could have been enjoyable, if only I hadn't read the synopsis. It's no fun to read about something mysterious when you already know the answer. Furthermore, I did love the rest of the book because I hadn't spoiled myself on those. The thing I enjoyed the most was probably the development of Katy's and Daemon's relationship and the plot twist with Daemon's sibling.

I laughed so much while reading. Katy's conversations with Daemon were the best. I loved reading them because you never know what you're going to get. Daemon Black is that character who has more mood swings than a girl on her period, which always leads to unexpected events. Unlike others, I didn't fell in love with this jerk. Even though I knew there was a reason he was acting that way around Katy, it did not make up for it. What did, were the chapters at the end told from Daemon's point of view. It made me like him a bit more, because now I understand he's just really bad in social contacts. In his comparison to Katy, she was the character I loved. Jennifer L. Armentrout did the best job in creating a character to whom we, as the reading community, can relate. She has a book blog! Do I need to say more? Probably.

Katy shows the usual struggles of a teen, such as fitting in. She's hilarious, able to stand up for herself and even knows to say to right thing in situations to damn Daemon. These two may not have had sparks flying when they met, but they came eventually. Bloody hell. Their chemistry made Katy's computer blow up. I would definitely want something like that when I find myself a boyfriend. Katy and Daemon took the word chemistry to a whole new level. The romance scene was very well described, leading to heated pages I appreciated very much.

Obsidian definitely has its clichés and similarities, yet it had to be a book I loved. I'm currently reading the prequel to the Lux series, Shadows, and I can't wait to get started with the sequel.

Aurélie Cremers is an eighteen-year-old living in Belgium. As an active member on Goodreads, Edelweiss and Amazon, she's always spreading her reviews to express her opinion and influences her followers to read the books she fairly enjoyed. When she's not writing, you can find her at her local bookstore or in a classroom. With her blog, "Exploring Pages", Aurélie hopes to gain a larger public in the near future and to continue that what she'll always love doing: writing.

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