Obsidian by Jennifer L Armentrout

Obsidian (Lux, #1)

by Jennifer L. Armentrout

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.

Reviewed by violetpeanut on

4 of 5 stars

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First, let me say that the cover completely turned me off. It looked like the typical cliche teenage romance novel. The only reason I gave it a chance was because it got such great reviews from a pretty wide variety of readers - not just the hysterical fangirls lusting after the hottie male protagonist. I'm glad I did give it a chance because it's one of the most fun reads I've had in a while.

Despite my thorough enjoyment of the book, I cannot give it 5 stars because the plot is an obvious Twilight ripoff. Twilight with aliens instead of vampires. Average girl moves to new town and develops a love/hate relationship with the hot boy who has some extra special powers and saves her life. She becomes best friends with the sister while the rest of the family hates her. The hot boy eventually confesses his true nature and the bad guys come after the girl to get to the guy. The author even makes a veiled reference to Twilight at one point so she obviously knew what she was doing.

Despite the obvious similarities, there are a few things that make this book better than [b:Twilight|41865|Twilight (Twilight, #1)|Stephenie Meyer|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1307515757s/41865.jpg|3212258] in my opinion. First, the dialogue was well written. It was by turns funny and dramatic without becoming cheesy. Second, the lead protagonists had a much more realistic relationship. The relationship between Edward and Bella in Twilight always struck me as disturbingly obsessive. The relationship between Katy and Daemon was funny and heartbreaking and infuriating and much more true to what a "real" teenage romance can be while still building enough romantic tension to satisfy the reader. Third, it was just all-around better written. This was a quick read for me that drew me in immediately (once I got past the awful cover). The pacing of the book is perfect (especially for the target audience). The plot moves along nicely while still filling in enough details of the back-story for things to make sense.

All in all, 4 stars for a very enjoyable, if not wholly original, read.

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 12 April, 2012: Finished reading
  • 12 April, 2012: Reviewed