Monday, May 13, 2013

Review: Obsidian by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Obsidian by Jennifer L. Armentrout Obsidian (Lux #1)
By Jennifer L. Armentrout
Publisher:
Entangled Teen

To Sum It Up:

Katy Swartz is the new girl in town—a very small town in West Virginia. Her next door neighbors happen to be around her age, but one meeting with Daemon Black leaves Katy vowing that they’ll never be friends. Daemon’s twin sister, Dee, is completely different from her brother, though, and Katy quickly finds herself hanging out with Dee. Of course this means crossing paths with Daemon, too, and there’s something odd about both him and his twin. Katy’s eyes are about to be opened to a world that seems straight out of one of her beloved books but which poses a very real danger to her.

Review:

I remember when Obsidian first came out, and it seemed as though everyone had Daemon Black’s mug as a profile picture. Curious to see what all of the fuss was about, I dutifully purchased a copy of Obsidian then proceeded to do what I usually do with new books: let it sit on my bookshelf for months and months. My cousin Ally strong-armed asked me to buddy read this with her, and so I dusted off my long neglected copy.

I’m always skeptical of books with heaps of hype surrounding them because I typically wind up being the lone weirdo who fails to like a much-loved book. Through the first few chapters of Obsidian, I was a little worried about how it was going to work out. While I was interested, I wasn’t head over heels in love with it.

As I continued reading, though, I found myself thinking about the book when I had to put it down to, you know, carry on with life outside of books. I can’t say exactly when Obsidian became a page-turner. This was just one of those times when a book gradually grew on me until one day I realized how much I was enjoying it.

I liked Katy from the beginning. She’s a book blogger! I had to laugh when she talked about writing up her Waiting on Wednesday posts and checking for new comments/followers. The blogging details were spot-on. I also laughed at how Katy’s thoughts kept drifting back to Daemon despite how much he enraged her. And Daemon is rage-inducing. There’s a definite Twilight-esque vibe at times to Katy and Daemon’s relationship, but to her credit, Katy doesn’t get all angst-ridden over him. She really does hate him sometimes, and not in an I-Love-to-Hate-You way. Katy doesn’t put up with Daemon’s mouth, either; she matches him insult for insult.

As for Daemon, the face that graced many a social networking media avatar, I found him to be as grating on the nerves as Katy did. He’s a Grade A ass: arrogant, rude, and occasionally plain crude. Having said that, there was a part of me that was highly amused by him sometimes, in spite of my better judgment. Like most bad boys, Daemon has a reason for behaving like a jerk—he’s just trying to protect his twin sister, Dee. I didn’t think him as much of a jerk after that, although—and I know this goes completely against the tide of popular opinion—I didn’t find myself as in love with him as so many other readers are. We’ll see if that changes with the sequels.

My favorite aspect of Obsidian was its take on aliens. I really liked how they were portrayed in the novel and how Jennifer L. Armentrout made it seem entirely possible that they could be walking among us. Right now. The amount of alien books I’ve read numbers in the single digits, but Armentrout’s aliens definitely make me want to read more. Obsidian isn’t an overly complex novel, but it was very entertaining. I am impatiently waiting for my copies of Onyx and Opal to arrive.

All in All:

Sometimes a light, fun read is in order, and that’s what Obsidian was for me. Although I wasn’t blown away by it, I can understand why the Lux series has such an ardent following. And who knows? Depending on how the next two books go, I may yet sign up for a Team Daemon membership card.

12 comments:

  1. I just read this a little while ago and felt exactly the same way! Although, I think I was less forgiving of Daemon than you were. I didn't like him at all until the end, and even so I was definitely far from head over heels in love with his character. I'm kinda interested in seeing whether or not my opinion changes in the next couple books, too. Great review! :)

    The Novlist

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    1. I felt so weird when I didn't instantly fall in love with this book (and Daemon), and it just goes to show the danger of going into a book with very heavy expectations. I try not to do that, but having heard so much about this series beforehand, it was really hard not to. I ended up really liking Obsidian, though, and I hope the next two books are equally enjoyable. I'd love to hear what you think of them, since we had such similar thoughts on Obsidian.

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  2. Ok, I got really excited when I saw you were reading this!! Like you, I rushed out to get Obsidian last year only to leave it sitting on my shelf...in my defense though, I'd picked up JLA's Covenant Series too and after much debate, I started that series first and now I feel like I should finish one before jumping into the other >.< Anyways, moving on - I'm glad you sound(ed) as skeptical as me about this series and how much you'd love it...but I am even more glad you ended up enjoying yourself so much!! I'm really curious now as to how much you'll like the rest of the series! Brilliant review, I loved reading your thoughts - as always :)

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    1. At first I thought my skepticism was going to be justified, but that wasn't the case. While I wasn't epically swept away by this, it was truly fun to read and I'm quite hooked on the series now. I have the Covenant series on my TBR, and I'm curious to see how it compares to Lux.

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  3. I didn't have high expectations but it also didn't grab me immediately, and when it did I thought it was pretty funny that I'd feel compelled to mark quite highly. I'm all caught up with this series and the others are also a fun (& addictive) read :). Super review, Lee.

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    1. There is quite an addictive quality to this series! I had exactly the same experience reading this- it was on the average side for a while, but in the end, I had to admit that I had a lot of fun reading it and rate it accordingly.

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  4. I have heard that this is a fun series, I need to check it out some time!

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    1. I regret not starting it sooner, and I can't wait to continue reading the series!

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  5. Isn't the book blogging thing fabulous? It just gets better with each book too. It really is a fun read and I couldn't believe how much I enjoyed this book about aliens. I am like you with being able to count on one hand the alien books I have read. Fantastic review! Jaclyn @ JC's Book Haven.

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    1. I loved that Katy was obsessed with books and her blog. I'm definitely looking forward to more of her blogging anecdotes. I should have the other two books this week, and I'm seriously considering just reading them instead of my library books.

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  6. Yay you got to Obsidian! It all honesty I still need to get to book two...

    I too loved that Katie genuinely hated Daemon at times, and we believed she did. It was refreshing. But you're right, I didn't fall in love with Daemon either, he was definitely as ass most of the time. And when I found out why he was such an ass I too realised I couldn't really hate him, more just get annoyed at how he acted sometimes.

    I agree with lot of what you said!

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    1. I found Katy and Daemon's squabbling really funny, and I think if they'd gotten along, I wouldn't have enjoyed the book nearly as much. I'm reading Onyx now, and I wish I had the time to read it all in one sitting!

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