OBSIDIAN by Jennifer L. Armentrout Book Review
Series: Lux, #1
Publication Date: May 15th 2012 by Entangled Teen
Rating: 
– Poor | 
Book 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.
Obsidian by Jennifer L Armentrout Book Review Overview:
- Mary Sue-ish characterization aimed at book bloggers
- Over-repetitive descriptions of vanity
- Lack of chemistry
There are so many things I want to say about this book that I don’t even know where to begin. Unfortunately, most of them are negative. It sucks because I loved Jennifer L. Armentrout’s Half-Blood passionately. It also sucks because my best friend, Loreal, bought me a copy of this book for my nook – and if you know me, you know that I never ever buy anything for my e-reader. (Library for the win.) I had high hopes for my second read from author Jennifer L. Armentrout, but unfortunately, OBSIDIAN did not meet my standards of a good read.
Yeah, argue with me on this one, but Katy is not just coincidentally a book blogger. Honestly, she struck me completely as a not genuine character. She reminded me of a Mary Sue – a fan fiction term that I hate using when reviewing a book, but there’s really no better way to describe Katy. Katy is a Mary Sue for the book blogging community. She’s snarky, kind of kick-ass, and stubborn with a banging body but she doesn’t know it! GASP! And the best part is… she reviews books on her book blog! I don’t know… I just felt like OBSIDIAN by Jennifer L. Armentrout was trying too hard to cater to a (very) specific target audience and it was obvious. I don’t want Katy to be the idealized version of myself. I want her to be her own unique character.
And then of course, there’s Daemon, the love interest – or as how I like to think of him: The Biggest Jerk Ever. OBSIDIAN by Jennifer L. Armentrout plays on the whole forbidden romance between human and alien. Alright. I usually eat up forbidden romances like it’s nothing. But the romance in OBSIDIAN by Jennifer L. Armentrout was just all wrong for me. It didn’t even feel like Daemon was playing hard to get for me. He was just a jerk. He would have a rare tender moment with Katy in one scene then totally acting like she’s nobody the next. Not acceptable. Not sexy and definitely not cool.
… And don’t get me started on the over-repetitive descriptions of how sexy Daemon is. Because seriously, I got it the first time. The guy is a looker. But I really do not need a reminder every time the guy pops into a scene.
I couldn’t even enjoy the excessive banter between Katy and Daemon because the chemistry itself felt a little too forced. I didn’t feel an internal struggle with Daemon. I felt like he could turn off or on his views on friendships with humans. The danger about the friendship didn’t really sink in with me, and because of that, Daemon’s excuses were pretty lame without some strong backing.
Unfortunately, nothing went right for me in OBSIDIAN by Jennifer L Armentrout, and I will probably not continue with the series.
Other Book Reviews:
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Justin’s Book Blog
About the Author
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Find the Author
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Jennifer L. Armentrout Lives in West Virginia. All the rumors you heard about her state aren’t true. Well, mostly. When she’s not hard at work writing, she spends her time, reading, working out, watching zombie movies, and pretending to write.
Ouch – sorry this one didn’t work out! Sometimes they’re just not meant to be.
What a bummer! I’m still going to give it a try…but with greater caution…
Great review!
Sierra @ Yearning to Read
I haven’t red the book yet but I think it’s quite nice to read since I am a book lover! Nice blog by the way.
I loved this book! Everyone should definitely read it despite this review – I thought the chemistry and characters were great and the plot very interesting! One of my best friends and I constantly joke about Daemon and Katy’s sassy relationship and we couldn’t wait for the second book to come out. I hope this review didn’t turn anyone off to Obsidian; all other reviews I read raved about it.
Hi Hannah, I’m glad you liked this book, but it’d be great if you could respect other people’s opinions, instead of saying “read it despite this review”. We’ll do the same for you.
I wasn’t trying to be disrespectful in any way. I know how reviews work – they tell people their experience with a product or a book, whatever it may be, and at least with me, when something gets a bad review, I think twice about buying it or experiencing it. My thoughts were only to let people know that I thought Obsidian was worth reading, and even if they’re turned off to it bc of the reviewer’s opinion, they might still want to give it a chance.
Of course, it doesn’t help that I love to read and hate it when anyone tells me what not to read.. Or tells me something I love isn’t good. Maybe it’s why I’m not a blogger or reviewer – I could never let my opinion influence so many individuals to not give a book a chance bc my experience was poor. I’m sorry if I offended anyone; all I wanted to get across was that I loved Obsidian. I’ll definitely stop frequenting this blog, or any book blog. They really aren’t my cup of tea. Thanks for your time.
I tried reading this one a few months ago and just could not get through it. When I heard about the main character being a book blogger, it just seemed really contrived, especially since JLA is so popular among bloggers. It might be a fun read, but it wasn’t my cup of tea at all.
When I first heard about Obsidian, I had the same thought: it feels like Jennifer is trying to pander to bloggers! That’s part of the reason I never read Obsidian (like you, I loved Half-Blood). Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Cialina.