Review ~ Obsidian by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Obsidian

(Lux #1)

By Jennifer L. Armentrout

4 out of 5 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.

So I finally took the plunge and decided to read this after so many friends on Goodreads raved about it.  OK.  I get it now.  What took me so long to read it?

Katy and her mother are looking for a fresh start and end up in West Virginia.  They have a strained relationship but it's great to see the growth through out this book.   Katy is a book blogger.  That's right, she reviews books and takes it very seriously.  Oh how this amuses me so as a blogger, it's really quite funny.  But knowing she needs to try to socialize, her mom talks about the kids next door that are her same age.  

“Well, one is a girl who looks about your age, and there’s a boy.” She grinned as she stood. “He’s a hottie.”

A tiny piece of egg caught in my throat. It was seriously gross to hear Mom talking about boys my age. “Hottie? Mom, that’s just weird.” 

Mom pushed off from the counter, picked up her plate from the table, and headed to the sink. “Honey, I might be old, but my eyes are still working fine. And they were really working earlier.”

So Katy makes her way over to the neighors to ask for directions and we meet Daemon.  Whoa.  He's an ass.  Big time.  But  I love how Katy tries to stand her ground and not take his shit.  But it's not easy.  She quickly strikes up a friendship with his sister Dee and is around him more than she prefers...

“What— are you deciding to talk to me now?” Smiling tightly, I grabbed a handful of mulch and dumped it. Rinse and repeat. “Yeah, it’s kind of a hobby. What’s yours? Kicking puppies?”
“I’m not sure I should say in front of my sister,” he replied, his expression turning wolfish.
 “Ew.” Dee made a face.
The images I got then were totally R-rated, and I could tell by his smug expression he knew it. I grabbed more mulch.
“But it’s not nearly as lame as this,” he added.

I really enjoyed this story a lot and from the very first chapter.  The characters are engaging from the start.  The back and forth banter between Daemon and Katy is highly entertaining, even if he is a big jerk at the beginning.

Daemon stared at me a moment, then laughed. It was a deep, rumbling sound. Nice. Sexy. Oh God, I looked away. He was the kind of boy that broke hearts and left a long line of them shattered behind him. He was trouble. Maybe the fun kind of trouble, but he was also a jerk. And I didn’t do jerks. Not that I did anyone.

But soon enough Daemon melts just a little.  He's very protective of his sister and though I was guessing at this point as to why, we don't know til later.  He's kind of manic in my opinion.  He can be a jerk one moment, then the next he can be pretty sweet.

“I’ve always found that the most beautiful people, truly beautiful inside and out, are the ones who are quietly unaware of their effect.” His eyes searched mine intently, and for a moment we stood there toe to toe. “The ones who throw their beauty around, waste what they have? Their beauty is only passing. It’s just a shell hiding nothing but shadows and emptiness.”

But at school?  I love when he pokes her in the back during class.  They just have such great tension between the two of them.

Overall I really enjoyed this book.  Dee and Daemon are so different than any other characters I have ever read about.  Being aliens, they really are detached from the human world and it's fun to read how they adapt to situations.  The plot is good, there are bad guys and they make their presence known.  I love finding new series because I get attached to the characters.  I am so happy that these fabulous new characters will have more stories to tell and you can be sure that I will gobble them up!


Other favorite quotes:

 He slowly lifted his head, placing his other hand on mine. “Remind me,” he paused, drawing in a stuttered gasp, “to never piss you off again. Christ, are you secretly a ninja?”

My palms itched to have a close encounter of the bitch-slap kind with his face. “I dislike you so very much.”

“No. You don’t.”

Obsidian available at: Amazon ~ Barnes & Noble ~ Book Depository