Obsidian by Jennifer L. Armentrout – a Review

Obsidian by Jennifer L. Armentrout is the first book in her Lux series.  This is another YA series, and it is a very good one. No vampires, no werewolves, no ghosts, no angels….this one is about aliens who pose as humans, and wow they are all gorgeous. 

Aside from that, this is an excellent start of this series. 

Katy is our heroine in this story, and when you finish this book, you will love her.  She is such a normal 17 year old girl, a book lover & blogger lol, and she has the misfortune to have to leave her life in Florida to move with her mother to a small town in West Virginia, where some people are strange, or perhaps they think she is the strange one.  Almost from the start we get to meet Katy’s next door neighbors, .Daemon and his twin sister Dee.

When Katy knocks on her neighbor’s door, it is Daemon who opens the door…and Katy openly stares at the gorgeous hot young man, who is standing there half naked. But the beautiful Daemon immediately turns off Katy, with his sarcastic rudeness.  She meets Dee later, and they become fast friends.  But Katy and Daemon have a tense early relationship, though there is an attraction on her part; but he is nasty, mean and rude to her all the time; a complete opposite from Dee, who is sweet and ultra friendly with Katy.  

Katy manages to match Daemon with rebuttals to his sarcasm, much to his humor.  I loved that Katy stood up to him, and didn’t take his arrogant infuriating crap.  But Daemon did have charm, when he wanted to show it, and it totally confused Katy.  She never knew which Daemon she was going to face.  At times he was such a jerk, as she loved calling him, and other times, he showed a gentler nicer side.  He was hotness personified, and Katy had a hard time keeping her composure. Daemon does push her buttons, and it was a funny scene at the school lunchroom, when in front of everyone, she dumps a plate of spaghetti over Daemon and the girl with him, after a nasty comment.   Very funny and you find yourself cheering her on.    

Daemon, Dee and many in the town are not human.  They are aliens (Luxen), who are made of light, and take a normal human pose.  They always keep that look, but can shift to the light only in true form. Their planet was destroyed many years ago, and those that came to earth, learned to survive and keep their secret from other humans.  They for the most part are the good guys, as there are bad aliens (Arum), who want to kill the Lux, to steal their essence. 

Daemon does save Katy twice from danger, and as she becomes closer to Daemon, she begins to see things, like the light, speed, and other signs.  The last was the way he saved her life, and she forces him to tell her the truth.  To know about them is dangerous for Katy, as the Arum will find her by her trace of being with them, and torture her to tell them where they are, or from the government, who want to keep the Lux aliens a secret.  The bottom line was a relationship between a human and Lux is taboo.

The end was exciting, as Katy, Daemon and Dee are in a fight for their lives.  This story was a great read.  It had a super romance between the two leads, despite Daemon’s early rudeness, as their chemistry was hot.  The alien storyline was different then the norm we are used to, and it worked so well.  Jennifer Armentrout did a great job putting the pieces together to create this story, and showed a wonderful sense of humor.  She also brought in some good characters, and I loved Dee’s friendship with Katy. I must say that early on, when reading this story, which part is in the high school, made me think of Twilight.  The ending is open ended, as we must wait for the next book to continue the saga of Daemon and Katy and the rest of the Luxens. i personally cannot wait to continue this series.

READING ORDER
1. Obsidian
2. Shadows (prequel)
3. Onyx

Reviewed by Barb