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

Title/Series: Obsidian | Lux #1
Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout
Publisher: Entangled Teen
Published: November 23rd 20111
Format: Paperback | Pages: 335
Genre: YA, Paranormal, Romance
Source: Amazon
★★★★★ (5/5) Stars!!!!!

Jennifer L Armentrout | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

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.

With the release of Opposition quite literally just around the corner, like most of you other Lux fans out there, I decided to do a reread before it arrives. When I got the beautiful email from Amazon telling me to expect my book to arrive on Tuesday I squealed and ran to the bookshelf and pulled Obsidian through Origin off my shelf and plopped them down on my desk and instantly lost myself in the bliss of this world I love so much. It doesn't matter how many times I've read them, this will be my 4th of Obsidian, every time I still feel the tingles and my heart still swells and the frustration still sweeps through me. I still feel everything the same way I did the first read through. 

I got about half way through the book and the thought occurred to me that it might be fun, or at least interesting, to attempt to try to write a new review. See way back when I first reviewed it I was still really new to this whole thing. I was awkward, shy about what I should or shouldn't say, I really hadn't "found myself" as a blogger. I cringe just thinking about going back in the archives and reading it. You never know, this may end up being worse than anything I wrote originally but I'm going to give it a shot.

The entire Lux series is always going to hold a special place in my heart. Obsidian was the first book I read that really made me fall in love and understand the appeal of the whole paranormal genre. Before that the thought of reading about witches, vampires, werewolves especially aliens, sort of freaked me out a bit. I just didn't get it. Something about the cover of this book called out to me as I was browsing through Barnes & Noble, though when I read what it was about I passed. It actually had me right up to the line about 'the hot alien living next door'. But still I kept coming back to it until one day I finally just caved. I'd try it. What would the harm be in that?

In my old group of friends in Florida, I wasn't the quiet one, but I never skipped class, maintained a 4.0, and was pretty much a good girl.

Katy makes it really hard not to like her. Seriously. Just ask Daemon. He spends the highly entertaining 30 chapters that make up this book trying his hardest to do just that. Not like her. She had me within the first paragraph. No joke. How could I not instantly like a character who loves books just as much as I do. But the more I read the book the more I fell for her. She's funny and expressive and she doesn't take crap from anyone. Most especially Daemon. He pushes her and she pushes him right back. I love her strength and determination. And she had just the right amount of snark at just the right times that have me laughing still on the 4th read through.

Beautiful face. Beautiful body. Horrible attitude. It was the holy trinity of hot boys.

Daemon Black. Even his name is like whoa. This guy started it all for me. He was the first very alpha male, cocky type of character that I not only liked from the first moment he appears on the pages, but instead of going through bouts of 'Wow, what a jerk!' I instead found myself liking him more and more as the book progressed. Instead of wanting to close the book and walk away like I normally would when faced with a main character like that...he stole my heart. There's just always something about Daemon. I guess deep down I always believed in him and wanted to have hope for him. He turned me into a typical girl, falling for the bad boy. I love it!

"Kitten," he murmured lazily. A clear warning in his eyes. 

I ignored it. "Not even if you were the last thing that looked like a human on the face of this Earth. Got that? Capiche?"

I've never felt that kind of chemistry before as I have with Katy and Daemon. Even when they're fighting or arguing you can still feel that zip of electricity bursting through the pages. The build up of tension is simply perfection. I still to this day haven't quite experienced that feeling with a book as I have with these two characters. Don't get me wrong I have loved a lot of books since I first read this. But it always comes back to the Lux series for me.

"...He won't stop until he has me. And he will use you to find me, especially since you came back..."

This isn't your typical romance. Sure all of the will they or won't they is great and has you hanging onto the words and flipping pages with speed and enthusiasm. But there's also an element of danger that escalates throughout the book. Not only with exposure or  from the government but there's also an enemy alien race to cause problems. This book kept me on the edge of my seat, heart pounding.

Obsidian started my JLA addiction. She's like my bookish crack. Everything she writes is heaven. Her stories are refreshing, her characters are so full of life I feel like they'll walk off the pages at any minute. I could read and reread anything this woman writes again and again. She's converted me 3 times over with this single book alone. Paranormal, alpha males and aliens. Never thought I'd see that day!