Obsidian by Jennifer L. Armentrout.

Obsidian by Jennifer L. Armentrout. 


Information.
Pages: 266.
Publication: December 6th 2011/Entangled Publishing.
Buy it: Amazon | The Book Depository |


"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."


Review.
If you've been on my blog before you all know, I love Jennifer L. Armentrout's YA series, Covenant (find my Half-Blood review here) and now she has grabbed my attention once again with her Lux series. Seriously though, Armentrout is taking the paranormal genre by storm in the last few months!


In Obsidian, we meet Katy. An average seventeen year old girl who has just moved to a small boring town in West Virginia from Flordia. Now moving and knowing no-one is hard and what  makes it harder is finding out your new next door neighbor is a huge douche yet is ridiculously good looking. And what makes it even harder is when your douchey, good looking neighbor does not want you to be friends with his sister, despite her enthusiasm to be friends.


The story is told from Katy's point of view. Katy is a timid girl who enjoys spending her time, like me, reading and blogging and sometimes, doing fits of gardening, which is not like me at all. What makes Obsidian so credible is the fact that Katy is relatable. She has lost father to illness three years previous, which has created a strain on Katy and on Katy's mom, who works two jobs, so parents are barely heard about throughout the story. Not only is Katy relatable but she is brave, loyal, independent and stands up for herself. She also has some very good comebacks for her neighbor, Daemon. 

Katy is quite introverted and when she meets Dee who is very excitable and bubbly yet tinged with loneliness due to Daemon over-protectiveness, Katy finds a new friend and confidant. Dee is a sweet character and her infectious personality permeates through book and into your soul!


And what about Daemon you ask? Well, Daemon is my favorite character. I LOVE sarcastic, witty, knowingly arrogant characters yet you cannot not love them characters. Put him with his 'kitten', Katy and you have some brilliantly written matches of insults and retorts. The chemistry between these two is electrifying. 


Obsidian is a fast paced, funny and action filled exciting debut to the Lux series that has me and will all of you waiting for the second book, Onyx. 


Rating: 5/5.


Here is the cover for the second novel in the series, Onyx, out in May 2012:

Half-Blood (Covenant #1) by Jennifer L. Armentrout.

Half-Blood (Covenant #1) by Jennifer L. Armentrout.Information. 281 pages.
Published 18th Oct 2011/Spencer Hill Press.

“The Hematoi descend from the unions of gods and mortals, and the children of two Hematoi-pure-bloods have godlike powers. Children of Hematoi and mortals-well, not so much. Half-bloods only have two options: become trained Sentinels who hunt and kill daimons or become servants in the homes of the pures.” – Half-Blood blurb.

Review.
Half-Blood is a new book, published around the 18th of October this year so it may a bit a difficult to find.

I would advise before reading this book, read the novella Daimon that Armentrout wrote which better explains the main character, Alex’s, story. Daimon can be downloaded for free, here at Goodreads.

In Daimon, the novella, Alex’s mother was killed by a group of daimons, but Alex was lucky enough to escape. At the beginning of Half-Blood, she is found fighting the Daimons that have been following her by Aiden, a Sentinel. She returns to the Covenant where she must catch up in her training to be allowed to become a Sentinel or become a slave.

I had been waiting for this book to be released and I will openly admit that I was not disappointed at all. It was full of action from the first page which made for a gripping and exciting read. As well as action, there was drama, romance as well as twists throughout.

The plot was fresh and interesting with interesting facts about Greek mythology. The novel was not lagging anywhere which kept the reader wanting to keep turning the page.

The characters were very well written. Alex is a kick-ass, stubborn and strong female lead that has a dry yet fantastically witty sense of humour. She interacts really well with all the other characters in the book. She made for a really entertaining first narrative to read through.
Speaking of characters, I loved the boys in the book. Aiden who seems deliciously dreamy and Caleb, the best boyfriend which every girl wants were both great characters and I want one of each for myself. I even had a soft spot for both Seth and Deacon who made for great minor characters.

The romance is in the book is also very entertaining. It is not overly pushed and rushed and does not take over the plot either. Although, a little foreseeable, it was still romance that did not make you want to gag.

Half-Blood definitely deserves a read especially if you like Dru from The Demon Trapper Series. Both Alex and Dru have similar humorous tones. Half-Blood is an enthralling which I utterly recommend.

Rating: 4.5/5.