Naomi's Reading Palace: Review – Obsidian by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Title: Obsidian

Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout

Series: Lux # 1

Genre: YA Paranormal Romance

Published: May 8^th 2012

The Blurb

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.

My Review

After all the hype and reading Shadows, I was beginning to think that the Lux series wasn't living up to the hype. Boy, was I wrong!! Daemon Black is worth it and so much more!

Katy and her mother have moved to West Virginia because her mother has decided it is time to put the death of her husband behind her and start fresh. Katy’s mother encourages her to go next door and introduce herself to the kids there that appear to be her age. After finishing off some chores at home Katy decides to head over and introduce herself and ask for directions to the store for some supplies. When the door opens, Daemon Black is standing there in nothing but jeans (drools on keyboard). When Daemon asks Katy a question, all coherent thoughts have fled and she is speechless until he start’s becoming the asshat he is and in the end he was able to “flip her bitch switch like nothing else!”

After Katy heads to the store she meets Dee, Daemon’s sister and they kick off a great friendship. They end up spending a lot of time together, even though Daemon disapproves. When Dee leaves town and hides Daemon’s car keys, he is forced to go over to apologise to Katy and make plans to go swimming with her so that Dee will give his keys back. Katy has no intention of forgiving him or going swimming until Katy’s mother returns home and Daemon uses his charm on her and she accepts the plans on Katy’s behalf!! From there, Katy notices things and is able to see that the Black family is not who they seem. Things don’t add up and things happen which are unbelievable to her and she has to spend time with the Black family to keep safe.

In Shadows, I didn't think that the whole alien thing was going to work for me, but when I started Obsidian it did! Mostly because I love the bad boys, which Daemon definitely is, and Katy is an innocent girl who can’t help but be attracted to bad boys! I enjoyed learning how Katy is a blogger and actually participates in a lot of the memes that I do. I think it helped me to connect with her. She may be an innocent good girl, but has spunk as well. Especially because she is sick of being walked over and has decided it is going to stop. So when Daemon tries to tell her to stay away from Dee, she was more like, “Hell No!”, and I loved that about her, sticking up for herself! I was totally, “You go girl!” Her other passion is gardening, which my black thumb cannot relate to at all, but I loved that she was doing it as her way of being able to connect with her dad, it was beautiful!

The love, hate, love relationship between Katy and Daemon kept a lot of spice in the story and it was so much fun watching them bicker!! Just when Katy thought Daemon was coming around, he'd turn into an asshat! Some of the names Katy called him were hilarious and I was cracking up at the witty things that she would think! Oh, and how she loves giving the middle finger salute!!

“Thanks,” I muttered and added under my breath, “Douchebag.”

He laughed, deep and throaty. “Now that’s not very ladylike, Kittycat.”

I whipped around. “Don’t ever call me that,” I snapped.

“It’s better than calling someone a douchebag, isn’t it?” He pushed out the door. “This has been a stimulating visit. I’ll cherish it for a long time to come.”

Okay. That was it. “You know, you’re right. How wrong of me to call you a douchebag. Because a douchebag is too nice of a word for you,” I said, smiling sweetly. “You’re a dickhead.”

“A dickhead?” he repeated. “How charming.”

I flipped him off.

Katy seems to attract bad luck after meeting the Black family, as strange things keep happening to her. But she manages to soldier on and try to continue with her life. If I hadn't read Shadows, I would've been in the dark about a lot of things, so when certain things occurred, I understood what was happening. I would have been seriously puzzled otherwise.

Jennifer has an amazing writing style which kept me fixed to the pages and I found it extremely hard to put the book down as I was glued to the plot. It has plenty of action, fights and clever remarks, everything I love in a lively read. I could see lots of similarities between Daemon and Katy relationship and Dawson and Bethany's (in Shadows), which will continue to be a challenge in future books. I am going to jump straight into Onyx now, I think I am addicted!!