Book Review: Obsidian

Title: Obsidian by Jennifer Armentrout

Release Date: Dec. 6, 2011
Publisher: Entangled Publishing
Pages: 226 pages
Genre: Paranormal Romance, Science Fiction
Source: Publisher
Buy: Amazon, Barnes & Noble

Goodreads Summary: 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.

Jennifer Armentrout is quickly becoming known as a hot writer in the YA/paranormal/urban fantasy market and with good reason. Her novels are very exciting and highly entertaining. Obsidian is no different.

I am a character driven reader so I will talk about the story a little and the characters a lot. While Obsidian is science fiction, it is light on the sci-fi and heavy on the romance and action. I have not read a lot of YA paranormal romance that involves aliens so Obsidian provided a nice change for me. Armentrout gives you just enough back story on Dee and Daemon to answer basic questions but I am hoping the next book will give us more history on them.

The story is told from Katy’s perspective and she is a very likable character. Katy is a quiet girl who likes to read, blog (yes guys, she has a book review blog!) and garden. She is also, loyal, brave, spunky and fights back when someone tries to put her down (love that). Her father’s death from cancer three years before left her sad and lonely and created distance between her and her mom. The family dynamics in this book are interesting. While the main characters are all teenagers, parents or guardians of any sort are rarely around. Katy spends a lot of time by herself so when she meets Dee, Daemon’s twin sister who seems just as lonely as she is, the two form an instant bond, much to Daemon’s chagrin.

Katy and Daemon have an immediate physical attraction to each other, but thankfully, no insta-love. As a matter of fact, these two are at each other throats (and not in a good way) throughout most of the book. Daemon is very attractive but such a jerk! Normally, I not a huge fan of this type of male lead but Daemon is, well, complicated. While he never mistreats Katy, he is very rude and mean to her verbally. Hot or not, no girl should put up with a guy like Daemon but to Katy’s credit, she does not stick around because of him but because she values her friendship with Dee. 

Daemon attempts to push Katy away from him and his family are understandable under the circumstances but I will admit that I did not fall for him right away. Katy is no pushover and matches his insults with her own. The snarky verbal tennis match between these two is one of my favorite aspects of the novel. In the hands of another writer, I would have hated Daemon but somehow, Ms. Amentrout worked him under my skin and I’m happy to say that he has grown on me.

While Katy, Daemon and Dee and well rounded characters, there are secondary characters that I would love know more about in upcoming novels. Obsidian is a fast paced, exciting, sexy and fun read and I am really looking forward to the other books in the Lux series.

Content: Sexual situations, heavy profanity, violence and underage drinking. Obsidian is one of those books that walks the fine line between YA and adult urban fantasy. There is a ton of sexual tension between Katy and Daemon and their steamy scenes are definitely more appropriate for older teens and adults.

My Rating: Really Good!