Book Review: Obsidian by Jennifer L. Armentrout

I've recently started reading the Lux series by Jennifer L. Armentrout, and I cannot recommend it enough. I literally could not put it down, to the point where I was pulling out my phone and reading a few paragraphs on my Kindle app while at the store with my sister or hanging out with my friends.

• Addicting: 10/10
• Originality: 7/10
• Fast Paced: 7/10
• Funny: 8/10
• Romance: 10/10
• Overall rating: 42/50

Do not pick up this book unless you have the time to read all of Obsidian and the sequel, Onyx, in a row.  While it would be optimal to marathon the entire series in one go, most people, myself included, have things like work and sleep and laundry that prevent us from making the commitment to reading 5 books nonstop. I personally found the end of Onyx to be the best stopping point to resume my normal life, and once I read the rest of the series, I will let you know about the other stopping points that worked best for me.

Pick up this book if you like

• Paranormal romance
• High school dramas
• Funny pop culture references
• Romances where the couple has a love/hate relationship

Skip this book if you hate

• Cliffhangers

If you are not sure if you will like it and you have a Kindle or the Kindle app, I recommend you download Obsidian from the Kindle bookstore because it is currently available for free. It's a no-risk trial of the series! You literally have nothing to lose by getting this book (other than hours of your life due to reading it nonstop).

That's it for the non-spoiler part of this book review, click the link below to reveal my discussion including spoilers.

I must confess the main reason I have restarted book blogging is because of this book series. The main character is a book blogger, and I really love how this character not only loves reading, but loves reading books other than 'the classics'. I also love how there is only minimal judgement in terms of her reading taste. Daemon will occasionally tease her about the books she reads, but that has more to do with their teasing relationship than anything else.

Speaking of their relationship, I really liked how Katy and Daemon had a case of insta-hate with a dash of insta-lust, as opposed to the insta-love that often occurs in romances. To be fair, the insta-hate is a common trope in romances as well, but it is a believable trope, as opposed to the insta-love trope, which is almost always terrible and the only instances in which it works in fiction is when there is some sort of magical reasoning for it (see Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl and The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern) and even then a lot of people will still get annoyed by it.

As I mentioned in my first post talking about this book series, there are a lot of parallels to Twilight. (Twilight spoilers ahead!) The main character has just moved from the south, is living with one parent, and loves to read. She is not very social, and yet makes several friends quickly, and has a special out-of-town dress shopping trip for the upcoming dance. There is a hot but moody boy who has frequent mood swings, and he keeps telling her that 'it would be better if we weren't friends'. Boy saves her from attempted sexual assault, and prevents her from getting hit by a car, eventually revealing the truth about him and his family/friends.

That being said, these books have a lot of differences. Twilight is a forbidden love story, where the main obstacle is the fact that their natural roles are predator and prey. Obsidian is a love story where the forbidden aspect of their romance is a minor inconvenience, and the main obstacle stems from their inability to get along and imagine the other complexly.

Another aspect I liked about this book was Katy's friendship with Dee. I adore Dee. She is so adorable and bubbly and starved for friendship, I just want to hug her all the time. I feel like a lot of books don't show a lot of female friendships that aren't catty or backstabbing or otherwise unhealthy, and I am always pleasantly surprised to find books with happy female friends. Of course, this book did have the catty relationship between Katy and Ash, but my personal rule for books is that the main character needs to have at least one good female friend for every girl she does not like, and with Katy's friendships with Dee, Lesa, and Carrisa, this book more than balances out with 3 to 1.

Well, that's all I have to say about this book. I'm not sure if I'll review each of the next four books, or if I'll do one big review of the entire series. Either way, I'll be writing up at least one more review for this book series.

Happy reading,

Katie