Review: Obsidian – Jennifer L. Armentrout

Posted 30 July, 2015 by Linda @ (un)Conventional Bookworms in Reviews / 28 Comments

Review: Obsidian – Jennifer L. ArmentroutObsidian by Jennifer L. Armentrout
Series: Lux #1
Published by Entangled Teen on 8 May 2012
Genres: Fantasy, Paranormal, Young Adult
Pages: 294
Format: eBook
Source: Kindle Freebie
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3 Stars

Starting over sucks.

When we moved to West Virginia right 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

Obsidian was a little confusing in places, and I was quite frustrated with Katy because of her suffering from something very close to insta-love/lust when it came to Daemon. She said he was a jerk, but then she went all googly-eyed at the thought of him anyway.

My Obsidian review:

There are many tropes in young adult novels – and sadly most of those I don’t really enjoy – that were present in Obsidian. More or less absent parents, as Katy’s father had died, and her mother worked a lot, it was almost as if Katy lived on her own. Also, Katy was really the girl-next-door, at least in her own mind, and so Daemon’s attention, even when he was acting like a douche was something she was able to see as partly positive, because hey, the hot guy was talking to her. And the fact that Katy’s instincts told her to stay far away from him, but she ignored those instincts and became best friends with his twin sister, and spent quite a lot of time with him as well. That being said, there were also parts I really enjoyed!

The fact that Katy was a book-blogger made me like her, even though she also annoyed me quite often. Sadly, we didn’t really get to see much of her blog during the story, because her computer wasn’t working, due to Daemon getting upset and blowing out all the light-bulbs in her house, and frying the laptop at the same time. Obsidian did include some pretty cool mythology, though, and when it was finally made clear what exactly Daemon and his sister and their friends were, it did make sense in a way.

The overall story-line didn’t really cover very much though, Obsidian was about Katy moving to a new town, meeting the douche-bag / gorgeous boy next door when she went over to ask for directions, and then realizing the tiny town was a place where people were very separate from each other. It also didn’t make any sense to me at all that Katy’s mom would want to move just before Katy was starting her senior year in high-school! It had been three years since her father’s death, why couldn’t her mom just wait one more year before deciding where to move, and let Katy go to whichever college she chose? And why, in one of the few moments she was actually present was the mom pushing her daughter towards the neighbors, just because the boy looked ‘hot’? I was definitely shaking my head at that one.

There were some battles, between good and bad paranormals, and Katy always somehow ended up in the middle of it – even when she was told to stay away, and not do anything, she would do the opposite and run straight into danger. Why did I give this book three stars, then, you ask? Well, because, as I said, the writing was good. And I actually enjoyed reading Obsidian enough to want to read the next Lux story, and the power-struggles amongst the paranormals were interesting.

Written in first person oint of view from Katy’s perspective, I saw the world through her eyes, and I don’t think I would have made any of the same choices she made. However, I had to admire her persistence, the fact that she didn’t back down from a challenge, and that she cared enough about her mother to not make life too difficult for her, even after being moved across the country and away from her friends with little notice.

Some of my favorite Obsidian quotes:

The day my internet was hooked up was better than having a hot guy check out my butt and ask for my phone number. Since it was Wednesday, I’dy typed up a quick “Waiting on Wednesday” post for my blog featuring this YA book about a hot boy with a killer touch – can’t go wrong there – apologized for my extended absence, responded to comments, and stalked a few other blogs I loved. It was like coming home.

Yuck for her. And hot damn for me. I started digging holes in several strategic places. My through felt dry. Beautiful Face. Beautiful body. Horrible attitude. It was the holy trinity of hot boys.

We didn’t speak as we dried off and dressed. We started back home silently. It seemed neither of us had anything to say, which was actually nice. I liked him better when he’d lost the ability to speak.

 

Reading this book contributed to these challenges:

Linda @ (un)Conventional Bookworms

About Linda @ (un)Conventional Bookworms

Linda is an English as foreign language teacher and has a Master's degree in English Language and Literature. She's an avid reader, blogger, compulsive one-clicker and a genre omnivore. Ever since she learnt how to read she has been seen with a book or two in her hands everywhere she goes.

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28 responses to “Review: Obsidian – Jennifer L. Armentrout

  1. I really enjoy this series, still to finish the last two books but I did enjoy it, saying that I haven’t read it for several years, maybe time for a re-read. You are totally right though it does have a lot of those repeated ingredients that YA books have but I do have a soft spot for Jennifer L Armentrout’s novels so I’ll let her off!

    Heather @ Random Redheaded Ramblings recently posted: BLOG TOUR - Swords around the Throne by Ian Ross
  2. LOL It’s been awhile since I read Obsidian, Lexxie, but I remembered I loved it. Immediately got the second book and inhaled it as well. Reading your review, I realize I didn’t look very deeply at it. Yes, I can see all those tropes and how they were used. And that they’re annoying. But I didn’t pay any attention to them when I read Obsidian. I just enjoyed the banter between Katy and Daemon…and thought it was fun. So I’m glad you enjoyed JLA’s writing. And hopefully you’ll continue in the series because the plot actually gets meatier. Some of those tropes are still used but I think the story outweighs them. (although, I haven’t finished the series yet) Lovely review, my dear!!

    Happy Thursday! I can’t believe it’s already Thursday. Berk and I leave in the morning. We have to be at the airport at 4 a.m. Ugh! I’ve been meaning to message you all week to ask about *must-see* things in NYC. Anyway, I hope your week has been fabulous. Even if you’re losing track of what day it is. 😉 I kinda like that idea. I think being by the ocean has that effect. Enjoy the rest of your day!! **BIG HUGS**

    • LOL Brandee. I think I was reading it with a pretty critical eye because I was also working on my paper on love triangles in YA dystopia novels. This one isn’t dystopia, but it is YA, and so, I guess I had my student cap on while reading.
      I’ll definitely continue with the series, the mythology is well done, and the writing is good:)

  3. I’ve heard good things about the Lux series. I loved her Covenant series.

    The first quote you pointed out made me smile. If I were reading this series and came upon it, I’d think of you and your blog immediately. 🙂

    Xyra recently posted: Ba-Na-Na!
  4. Oh dear, she’s one of those with the “don’t tell me what to do” attitude, isn’t she? lol
    I’m wary of characters like that because they tend to make me dislike them, but since I haven’t read any Jennifer L. Armentrout books, I might give this one a try. I haven’t read much books about Aliens, anyway. 😀 Wonderful review!

    Blessie (Mischievous Reads) recently posted: Why I Had to DNF You... [#1]
  5. I read this just prior to its release and liked it quite well, mainly because I had never read an alien book and was taken to how it was so different than I expected. I have to wonder how I would view it if I read it today. I almost think that I would notice things that normally bother me in the books that I read now. I liked that Katy was a book blogger too. We don’t see that very often in a character.

    • I wonder how I would feel about some books I read before I started reviewing, Suzi, because I know the way I read has changed, at least a little bit. Reading about a blogger was fun! Even if Katy annoyed me a little bit, that was definitely something that made me like her as well 🙂

  6. I had a lot of mixed feelings about this one as well. I loved Katy – when she wasn’t with Daemon or thinking about him. It was one of those situations where I wanted to love interest part to completely fall away from the book, so that I could enjoy it more. The mythology was GREAT, but the romance….you could tell in was written on the heels of the Twilight craze.

    Lyn Kaye recently posted: Garden Gazette: July Wrap-Up
    • I’m so glad I’m not the only one with mixed feelings, Lyn. The writing is really good, and as you said, the mythology is well done, too. But Katy *sighs* she is smart and funny, why would she want to hang out with Daemon so much – she states several times that he’s an arse, so I don’t understand her at all!

  7. Kristen

    I see this book all over the place. I’m glad you were honest with your review, I get really frustrated with the girl who drops everything for a hot guy, even when he’s a douche sometimes. I also don’t know that I’d like the book blogger aspect. I’m not sure if I’ll pick it up in the near future even though the mythology sounds good and the quotes you shared make me want to read it a little more.

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