Obsidian
Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout
Series: Lux, #1
Published: 12 March 2015 by Hodder & Stoughton
(first published 2011 by Entangled Teen)
Format: Paperback
Source: Purchased
Links: Goodreads
Synopsis:
There's an alien next door. And with his looming height and eerie green eyes, he's hot... until he opens his mouth. He's infuriating. Arrogant. Stab-worthy. But when a stranger attacks me and Daemon literally freezes time with a wave of his hand, he marks me. Turns out he has a galaxy of enemies wanting to steal his abilities and the only way I'm getting out of this alive is by sticking close to him until my alien mojo fades. If I don't kill him first, that is.
When Katy moves to West Virginia right before her senior year, she's anticipating a whole lot of boring. The last thing on her mind is getting involved with her sexy, exasperating neighbor – and then finding out he's guarding a mind-blowing secret.
Rating:
Review and Discussion:
[Just a head's up, there are some mild spoilers sprinkled throughout this review.]
The first time I read this book, I was too much of a snob to enjoy it. I was sticking my nose up at it the whole time, too busy comparing it to Twilight to enjoy the story itself. I didn't give it a rating.
The second time I read this book, I went into it with a more open mind, and I came away obsessed. I fell hard for Daemon Black, and I didn't really care about anything else. I inhaled the rest of the series, because I was totally hooked. I rated it four stars.
And now I have just finished reading this book for the third time, a good eighteen months after my second read. This time around, whilst I enjoyed it immensely, I also read it more objectively. This time, I have rated it three stars.
The greatest thing about this book (and the series overall) is how addicting and fast-paced it is. Things are a little shaky and awkward in the beginning, but in no time the story moves into action-packed scenes and heart-racing excitement. The characters are snarky and entertaining, and the whole concept aliens being on Earth is just so intriguing that it's hard to not enjoy Obsidian.
But it is problematic, and I can acknowledge that.
Katy's character is fantastic, and it is easy to love her for her witty remarks and book nerdiness. She is entertaining, kick-ass, and whole-hearted, but she also has her setbacks. Whilst she is strong and independent, she also makes idiotic decisons concerning her life and the safety of those around her. She is proud, and this comes in the way of her common sense at times. She has a number of hobbies, including gardening, reading and blogging, but they are superficially explored that they seem like flat additions to her character in an attempt to make her seem more well-rounded. And although she is logical at most times, her internal monologue is sometimes so sketchy and unrealistic that it's hard to truly see her as a genuine, whole character.
Her friendships are similarly undeveloped. Though she is seen to make friends with two humans in this book, Lesa and Carissa, it is hard to really see them as a substantial part of her life. Katy often talks about going shopping with them, eating lunch with them, or hanging out with them on the weekends or after school, but we rarely see these scenes. And when we do, they are glossed over as Katy hurries to get her story back to the more exciting aliens in her life. Lesa and Carissa have so much potential as characters, but I feel that they are neglected by the author; despite creating them to give the story a grounding in humanity, it's hard to be convinced by this device when the characters are so flat and poorly developed.
Katy's friendship with Dee is a complete 180-degree turn. Dee is very involved in Katy's life from the beginning of the book, becoming her instant best friend, and in a way, this is more annoying than the typical YA trope of insta-love. Their insta-friendship was hard to swallow, because it just wasn't developed in any real or meaningful way. The friendship was somewhat developed, but Dee's character remained flat and unexplored. The friendship was more believable than her character. It was frustrating to hear that they were willing to sacrifice so much for each other, when I had no idea why they were doing it. They didn't read like best friends to me, and so it was hard to be convinced.
The title of Most Problematic Character, however, must be awarded to none other than Daemon Black, the fictional boyfriend who can set my heart racing just as quickly as my rage. Though I love to hate him, I do, without a doubt, adore his character anyway. His arrogance, cockiness but undeniable sweetness makes it impossible for me to not love him. But at the same time, these attributes are his downfall, and I can completely understand and agree with people's criticisms of him. Daemon is not a nice character, and for most of the book, he is awful to Katy. The brief reprieves of his niceness do not excuse his awfulness.
Daemon is rude, vile, controlling, demanding, and abusive at times. He is outright rude to Katy, controlling of who she can go to the school dance with, demanding that she do as he say, stalking her home from school, and just being unnecessarily cruel. I understand this, and I see why he is problematic, but because I have read the whole series before, I find myself able to look past this, because he does significantly develop as a character. Though his arrogance does remain, his other problematic traits are overcome and he develops into a wonderful, well-rounded character who can have my respect. He earns it eventually, but it's hard to give him the time of day when he is so blatantly awful in this first book.
Aside from the characters, there are also problems with the plot and the premise. I've already touched on friendships, but another plot issue I had was the occurrence of seemingly irrelevant and unconvincing events. Katy and Dee going to the restaurant in town, gardening, going for random walks with Daemon to a secluded and random lake for no reason, the constant on-again-off-again raining that seemed to happen, the sudden school dance, and the truck just coming out of nowhere. A lot of what happens in this book is unbelievable, unrealistic and plain eyeroll-worthy. There was no build up to these events, they all just happened suddenly, so it was difficult to see them as something relevant to the plot when they were so clearly superficial plot devices to bring out a brief soft side to Daemon or reveal something about a character. These scenes, without a doubt, were entertaining, but they just had no substantial purpose. It all felt like filler.
I had similar feelings about the paranormal/alien elements of this story. The concept itself is incredibly interesting and exciting and thrilling, and I don't deny that for one second. But I feel that it could have been developed and revealed in a better way. The way aliens are revealed to Katy read like a news broadcast, or a page from a history book. It didn't read like a conversation. It was definitely more for the reader's benefit than Katy's, and it was hard to ignore this. Every explanation was so formal and dull, when they should have been more interesting. And some explanations weren't even given, they were just accepted, which was even more frustrating. It made it seem like the author didn't know her own aliens, and that doesn't sit well with readers. I really wish the aliens could have been developed more in this book, but they are explored in more depth throughout the series if you continue on.
This review must make it sound like I despise this book, but I honestly don't. I love the series because it is so ridiculous and so much fun. It is fast-paced and full of action, and that is what I love most about this book and the series. And whilst I overlooked its problems in my previous reads, I feel that I have developed myself as a reader and am able to have a critical eye on issues, acknowledge them and discuss why they are problematic, but also still enjoy them. As the saying goes, "your fave is problematic", but that doesn't mean they can't be your fave. Acknowledge their mistakes, but don't let that prevent you from enjoying the story overall.
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