Sunday 20 July 2014

Book Review: Obsidian (Lux #1) by Jennifer L. Armentrout


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.


Starting reviews is always a little difficult for me and this one is no exception. So... Let's start with the cover and how much I bloody love it. I mean, look at it! The background is insane and the male model on the front is exactly what I imagine Daemon to look like. Pepe Toth was the perfect choice for the cover, plus he's super insanely attractive. I find the cover a little haunting with the murky colour, smoky background and Daemon's stunning green eyes which are represented really well - exactly how I saw him in the book.

I love it when the guy in the book makes me swoon and speeds up my heartbeat because it helps me invest in the story and in the female protagonist's feelings. Daemon, ugh. He was simply perfect, cocky and a little to confident in himself but I loved reading about him and Katy and their (extremely slow) developing relationship. Daemon was hot... and not just because he was basically a giant light bulb. LOOK. AT. HIM.



I love, love, loved the three main characters, especially Katy. The main reason I identified with her so much was because she was a book blogger and a lot of her thoughts matched my own internal dialogue. I was surprised every time she brought up Waiting on Wednesday or how it pained her to write a one star review. She was so relateable, not only because of the above reason but she was a lovely character to read about and I liked watching her develop as a person throughout the story. Daemon, as I've mentioned above, was swoon-worthy and some of the things he'd say to Katy, well insinuate is a better word, would get me a little hot under the collar. AND THE ENDING OF THIS BOOK.. My oh my I can't wait to see how this little challenge plays out. *Claps hands excitedly* That kind of leads onto the next thing I loved about Katy's character; she didn't give into Daemon. Sure, she slipped once but as a whole she stayed true to herself and didn't give into him even when he said he wanted her. There was too much doubt for Katy and lot of girls would just throw caution to the wind and be done with it but not her! We ended up only getting one or two kisses but, as most of you know by now from my other reviews, I love it when the tension is dragged out to the point where I'm gonna explode with all the feels!

“Beautiful face. Beautiful body. Horrible attitude. It was the holy trinity of hot boys.” You sure as hell hit the nail on the head with that one, Jennifer!

Dee was an awesome character too. She brought an excitable quality to the story, wherever she popped up she'd always bring a smile and I think she had a part in making Katy who she was by the end of the book. From the get go Dee tried to make Katy feel like she had a friend and when Dee nervously said that she thought of Katy as her best friend my heart melted just a little. She could be nervous, bouncy, excited, extremely happy and kick ass all in one go... She could also eat for an entire army. *Cough* me *cough*.

Now, this may seem like a con but it's not, trust me. So, the twists in the story weren't realistic because, come on, they're alien problems but they weren't incredibly, unbelievably dramatic either. Everything that happened made perfect sense and there was always a reason behind all the plot twists. I find in paranormal novels, the problems are very hyped up and filled to the brim with useless drama, not all, just some. Obsidian wasn't like that, as I explained above.

As with all Jennifer Armentrout books, the writing was magnificent (and I don't use that word a lot) and flowed beautifully from scene to scene. I had a clear image in my head and the characters weren't just figures with blurry faces.

I read something I didn't read the first time around; the bonus scenes at the end. It was really nice to see Daemon's side of things. A lot of the time it seemed that Katy's feelings were one sided, I could tell he lusted after her but after reading some of the scenes from Daemon's point of view I can see it wasn't so one sided. He was just better at hiding his feelings than she was.

Now for the cons... THERE WAS ABSOLUTELY NOTHING WRONG WITH THIS BOOK! It was perfect, perfect, perfect.

Character development was subtle but after making my notes before this review I realised there was a lot more than I thought! Katy developed a kick ass fighting streak. She put Dee and Daemon and even the triplets before herself when she led Baruck away from them and put herself in danger to save the others even though she only likes one of them all the time. Daemon stayed the same but hey, I'm not complaining. He's sexy as hell.
We got to see both sides of the lovely Dee; the badass fighter and the excitable girl who yearns for a normal life, one where she has a human best friend and isn't expected to find another Luxen to be with forever.

I liked reading this again and picking up stuff I missed the first time around. Now I'm a book blogger I understand what YA is and what she was talking about when she mentioned posts for her blog. I remember the first time I read this book and thinking 'wtf is ya?' Now it's all so clear and so much more relateable!

2 comments:

  1. I REALLY need to read this series! I've only read one of her books before - Don't Look Back - but I did really like it.
    Great Review :)

    Mily x

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    1. Thanks, lovely! You should absolutely read them, Opposition (the last book) is releasing soon which is why I'm rereading:) x

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