Obsidian by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Daemon's eyes are smoldering. *sighs*

Title: Obsidian

Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout

Page count: 335 pages

Publishing date: May 2012

Publisher: Entangled Teen

My rating: 4 out of 5 stars!

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.

I can't tell you how much I enjoyed Obsidian. Most of the reason being Daemon related. He is that mysterious, snarky, and rude type of guy that I just adore in YA. And believe me when I say that Daemon Black is all of that and more. 

Katy has had to move from Florida with warm beaches and lots of stuff to do to a tiny town in West Virginia. AKA: in the middle of friggin' nowhere. Desperate to escape the depressing memories of her late husband, Katy's mom has picked up all of their possessions and she and Katy moved in the summer before Katy's senior year. Because Katy's mom is never at home because of work, Katy is sure that she'll be spending the summer (and her senior year) alone for the most part. That's okay, though, because Katy's used to it. Besides, she has her book blog to keep her busy. 

She had no idea that things were about to get really really weird. 

It doesn't take Katy long to realize that this town is weird. People stare. People whisper. And her neighbors, Daemon and Dee Black, seem to be the source. As Dee befriends Katy and they become close, Katy can't help but feel like something is off. Dee and Daemon's parents are never around. Their friends seem to despise Katy because she's friends with Dee, explaining that she is one of "them". And Daemon? He's hell bent on making Katy's life miserable for some reason. 

And then one night everything changes. In a desperate act that saves Katy's life, Daemon reveals what he is. A Luxen. An alien with powerful abilities. Taken to earth as a child when their home planet was destroyed, Dee and Daemon, along with their friends, are trying to live as regular humans. 

Katy takes this in stride. She had her suspicions that something was going on with the Blacks and their friends but she just wasn't sure what it was. She never thought it could be aliens, of course, but after everything is revealed she doesn't curl up into a ball or freak out. I respected her because, heck, I would have done the same thing. ALIENS!? Come on, that's awesome. Especially when the aliens are as awesome and hot as Daemon. 

PLOT

After Katy's in the loop on the alien "mojo" happenings, it's also explained to her about the DOD, or the Dept of Defense. The government knows about the Luxen and as long as they are peaceful and keep to the US regulations and laws then they are able to transition among the humans. But there's one tiny little problem. The government has no idea that the Luxen have powerful abilities including transforming into a human form of light, superhuman speed, moving things with their mind, and all that cool jazz. Daemon & company are terrified of being caught because being caught means that the DOD will take them away. They'll disappear forever. Like Dee and Daemon's brother, Dawson. Gone. Poof. Dead. 

That's not their only problem. The Arum, another alien race, live to seek out and destroy Luxen. They are dark beings and live to suck the soul straight out of Luxen. They have no remorse, no sense of emotions. Only the need to destroy fuels them. 

Needless to say, they're alien demons. 

I don't want to go into detail about the happenings in this book because of spoilers so I'll just say that there is a lot of character growth that happens in this book. Lots of craziness ensues. JUST READ THE BOOK, DANG NABBIT.

THE ALIENS

I'll admit, I like aliens. A lot. It's something that hasn't been overused (but I feel that will be very soon after The 5th Wave series by Yancey but besides the point). I like that the paranormal aspect of this series isn't about vampires, werewolves, or angels because they've been so overdone it's not even funny. Vampires & company might as well be yeast bread burning in the oven because it's just that overdone. Seriously. So aliens? Aliens is something fresh to the YA world. Something new. 

The Luxen have the typical bad A abilities that make all paranormal creatures so dang popular. The Luxen could probably beat Flash in a race. They can set things on fire. They can move things with their minds. Their eyes can change color based on their emotions. These are all things that we've seen done before so I wasn't too surprised. But... Luxen have a true form and it's not as a human. They are made of light. Literally. They're kind of like a light bulb. When it isn't in use, the Luxen are in human form. But when they tap into their true form, they light up like a bulb. Gone is human form. They still hold the outline of a human but that's it. Everything else is pure light. I think it's super interesting and unique. It makes the alien aspect of this series stand out when compared to other paranormal YA series. I JUST LOVE IT. 

CHARACTERS

Katy:

I have so much respect for Katy. She's got some of the typical qualities of an overdone MC in YA series like the "I don't think I'm beautiful" or "I just moved into a small little town in the middle of nowhere" that usually shows up nowadays. And while that would normally irk my nerves when reading a book it didn't this time. I will chalk it up to the fact that I love Katy so much. She's such a bad A character. She doesn't take crap from anyone and I love that about her. Daemon treats her like crap for a large portion of this book and she dishes it right back to him. I love that she doesn't go running off in tears because he said something mean. She stands up for herself. She defends herself to Daemon's Luxen family. And she gives Daemon the middle finger. So. Perfect. Katy's spunky, smart, and has a sense of loyalty to the people that she cares about. She deals with so much crap in this book but she always finds a way to get through it. And while she does she does it with wit and sarcasm. She's a fictional me, you guys. 

Dee:

Dee is most definitely the sensitive and sweet character in this book. She's so kind and caring to people, and I love that. She balances out the jerkiness that Daemon possesses. What I like about Dee is that she's known for her niceness but she also doesn't have a problem with getting a little feisty at times when it comes to protecting the people she loves. I like that she's a really open person and isn't afraid to talk about her feelings. She's kind of like an open book after Katy knows that she's a Luxen. I love that she brought Katy into their little alien family fold. It just goes to show that she's a very hopeful person. She wanted Katy as a friend and, despite everyone saying that it wasn't going to work, she was hopeful that it would. To sum it up: she's awesome. 

Ash:

She's the one you love to hate. The typical beautiful-but-mean girl of the group. She dated Daemon back in the day so of course she's going to fall right into the cliche I'm-going-to-hate-you-because-you're-trying-to-get-with-my-ex with Katy. I CAN'T stand that. They're exes for a reason. And even if Ash still wanted to be with Daemon, they weren't together. Daemon is allowed to do whatever he wants. And I hate that Ash immediately hated Katy because of Daemon. She's Luxen so it would be more reasonable if she didn't like Katy because she didn't trust her. But over a guy? SO CLICHE. 

Daemon:

How do I explain the awesomeness that is Daemon Black? He's SUCH a jerk. He's rude, snarky, arrogant... but oh so brilliant. He comes off as this heartless guy that doesn't care about hurting feelings. He has no problem with speaking his mind. If he wants to say something, he'll say it. If someone gets upset about what he says? Too bad. He doesn't care. He's aggressive. He thinks that getting physical and fighting can solve all his problems. He's impulsive, angry, and just a little bit crazy. 

BUT HE IS AMAZING. Why?

Because that's the Daemon he wants everyone to see. Besides his Luxen family, he doesn't want anyone to care about him. Feelings will get himself or someone he cares about killed. Or both. That's why he comes off as such a jerk. He makes it his job to push people away. People who care about him are liabilities. Problems. And he has enough problems to deal with. But underneath that layer is someone who really does care. He feels guilt. He feels sadness. He cares. He just doesn't show it to many people. 

So before you judge him on the way he acts just know there's so much more to him than meets the eye. He's fiercely protective and loyal to the people he loves. He'd do absolutely anything for Dee. He protects his family. He's killed to make sure that his family stays safe. The most important thing to him is the safety of his Luxen family and that's what matters the most to him. He's constantly wired for a DOD or Arum invasion so it takes him a long time to really trust people. But once he realizes that someone has pure intentions and really does care... once he lets his guard down, he's a different person. He's still arrogant, snarky, and everything else but he can also be kind and caring. It just takes him time to warm up to that. 

In other words, Daemon Black is one of my fictional crushes. I can't help but love a brooding and misunderstood male lead. Daemon, please love me.

THE ROMANCE

I love a hate-turned-love kind of relationship. Katy doesn't take any of Daemon's crap and Daemon is all too happy to tell Katy like it is. This should end in utter disaster, right? But the longer Katy and Daemon bicker and try to get under each other's skin, the stronger the chemistry between them grows. I can't say that they're my favorite fictional couple (see Juliet and Warner from Ignite Me), but I do like them together. When they aren't trying to piss each other off, of course. There's just something about their relationship that is so real. It's not an instant connection between the two. Sure, they're attracted to each other, but they don't base their relationship off of it. In fact, for the majority of this book it's an on-and-off again kind of romance. One moment they're connecting and the next moment they're pissed off at each other. Nothing comes easily to their relationship and I think that's why I like it so much.

MY THOUGHTS

I'm really glad I read this. I'm currently on the fourth book of this series right now and I can't wait to review this entire series. I enjoyed the characters and the plot (even though I won't go into details he-he). Overall, it was good. Not great because there is always room for improvement, but this is a solid 4-star book. I enjoyed the writing style of Armentrout. Nothing was too choppy or awkward. Sentences flowed nicely. I didn't feel like there were any "fluff" chapters that needed to be cut out, so yay. 

All in all, I totally recommend this if you like aliens and snarky and sarcastic characters. Oh, and because of Daemon Black. Always Daemon.

                                                                         Until next time,