Review: Obsidian (Lux #1) by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Publisher: Entangled Publishing (First Published November 2011)
Genre: YA, Paranormal Romance, Science Fiction
Format: Kindle
Source: Purchased

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.

Slapstick and Sweltering Alien Paranormal Fantasy

After reading the synopsis, I knew that it would be entertaining if nothing else. In a couple of paragraphs, I have already read the phrases, "stab-worthy" and "alien mojo"...so, come on, I know this will be good.

The Summary

Katy Swartz moves with her mom to a house (with turrets?) in West "By God" Virginia. Her mother is a work-a-holic nurse after her father passed away due to Cancer. In an attempt to make some friends and appease her mom, she goes next door to meet her neighbors and comes face-to-face with a handsome well-muscled chest instead. Only, this chest is attached to a mouth that Katy can't help but want to slap, consistently. Daemon, and his twin sister Dee, are of the alien variety and end up saving Katy's life a time or two. Not only that, but Katy whom Daemon has dubbed "Kitten" steps up to the plate and returns the favor. By the end, Kat's life can't possibly go back to being boring.

The Bad

I'm going to start with the bad this time, because there is simply too much good to get through. The only bad that I caught in this book was how unabashedly mean Daemon is to Katy. It made me wonder how on earth, she could find him so attractive while he was being such a jerk. Katy says, "Daemon was hot, but he was a jerk." She also says, "Beautiful face. Beautiful body. Horrible attitude. It was the holy trinity of hot boys." Thankfully, I could tell due to some inference that there was a reason that Daemon was acting this way, but I still wonder how Katy can be attracted to him.

The Good

Daemon was so hot, she couldn't help but be attracted to him. Jennifer Armentrout gave me a character that literally swelters off the page. He reminds me of 'Got Milk?' ads because he is so often chugging it back. I was actually very proud of Katy because she went toe-to-toe with him so much and there was no backing down from her. Since Daemon calls her Kitten, I could tell that he didn't think her drastic stands had much bite. Their banter had me laughing out loud and shaking my head.

Katy herself was a fun character to get to know. She is a book blogger that doesn't think much about her looks and she really enjoys redesigning her blog and receiving new books in the mail. I instantly felt a connection with her as I am certain most other book reviewers did because she talked about posting Waiting on Wednesday posts and almost crawling out of her skin when her laptop breaks (I literally just went through this). She is not a push-over, too naive or whiny character. As a matter of fact, I often got to hear her inner dialogue telling herself to get it together, mostly in her father's voice.

I also need to touch on Dee who was a breeze of fresh air. She is described from Katy as not being bubbly,  just really alive. For me, she almost is the perfect best friend. Katy will need a friend that breaks her out of her shell and gets her to have more fun, and Dee fits this so well. Dee has a take-charge attitude and will get her to go watch movies or get together even when she would rather go back home and post a review.

The Romance

I am thrilled that I didn't see an instant in love from any of these characters. There may have been super fireworks of attraction, but not love. From what I said above, Daemon was so mean to her in the beginning that if Katy had fallen instantly in love with him I really would have had to stop reading. However, that doesn't say anything about their chemistry, which was fantastic. "Then I shifted my gaze, and my eyes locked with Daemon's. Even though several tables separated us, my breath caught. There was something...wicked in those emerald-colored eyes. Consuming. I couldn't look away, and he didn't either. The distance between us seemed to evaporate."

Conclusion

The concept for the story was very interesting and well executed. There weren't any huge information dumps that were hard for me to understand. I was a fan of the language and the way it was written. Kat's head is similar to mine and she likes to make up phrases that use the words: monkey, babies, ninja, and mojo. As I stated earlier, the characters are fantastic and the chemistry is off-the-charts. I could not set this book down until it was completed, and the instant I finished it I bought Onyx which is the 2nd in the series. I highly recommend this book.

Excerpts

"To Daemon, my arrival was the beginning of the end. The apocalypse. Kat-mageddon."

"'You sure are shy, aren't you, Kitten? I stilled. 'Why do you call me that?' 'Because it makes your hair stand up, like a kitten.' Daemon was laughing at me. He pushed back farther, the water lapping at his chest."

"I stepped toward the edge with my hands on my hips. 'Happy?' Daemon lost his smile and stared. 'I'm never happy around you.'"

"'Why don't you come here?' There was no way I was going near him. Not even if he dangled a cookie in his hand."

"His chest rose and fell, the deep bottle-green of this eyes shifting by degrees. It was a powerful, almost electric feeling that coursed through me - answering something in him? Well, that was strange, foolish, and illogical. He hated me."