Lux (1) - Obsidian by Jennfier L. Armentrout
The best alien romance ever! Obsidian, the first part of a pentalogy by Jennifer L. Armentrout (in German Obsidian Schattendunkel, in French not out). I read it in English in the Collector's Edition Lux Beginnings with Onyx (Onyx Schattenschimmer) and bonus content on 801 pages. Girls 16-death.
Katy is book-crazy, practical and tries not to make her Mom more trouble than necessary. Until her Mom forces her to move to a one-trafic.light-town in oh-my-God West Virginia. An absolutely boring and save environment for... everyone. Or so Katy thinks. But the fabulous looking twins next door prove her wrong: Dee and Daemon are as different as night and day. The girl is funny, optimistic, friendly and soon becomes Katy's best friend. Daemon, on the other hand, is a douche, dangerous... and freaking hot. And he tries to do everything in his power to keep her from his family, as if she was dangerous. But how? Well, Katy's about to find out, when weird things start to happen and her life's endangered in several ways...
Great humour, wonderful characters, hot story, tense as hell. Really, I mean it! You know a book is good when you forget to eat. And get cramps in your arms from holding the book for hours without flexing muscles. However, let's get in a little more detail about the characters: Katy is nearly more crazy about books than I am (which I thought is impossible) and really clever, funny and independent. She loves deeply, is altruistic, loyal and trusting. Sometimes a little too trusting.
Daemon is the one "human" in her life who absolutely drives her crazy with his comments (not in the crazy-in-love-way. Well, at least not at first), but she never lets him get away with anything, even at the expense of her own safety. Their word wars are G.R.E.A.T. But Daemon is more than a (hot) idiot, even though he does really antisocial things (the Laptop-frying scene? Really?) he's extremely deep, with many facets and as intense, altruistic, loyal and intelligent as Katy. He only hides it out of reasons you discover later on – or in the bonus chapters. But that hidden character of his behind his douche-y-ness is why I like him.
Dee is a "freaking ball of sunshine". In every sense of the words. Really, there was never a character who had as much energy and optimism.
The other characters are something as well. I don't like the Thompsons, well, except for Adam, he's fine. He's a good boy. But Ash and Andrew are well done as well, they have their reasons for behaving like they do – at least towards Katy.
Mr. Matthews is interesting, there's way more to him than meets the eye.
As for Lesa and Carissa: I like them, they're funny. I like especially how much they try to get Katy and Daemon together, it's funny – and how they always play fight.
Apropos play fight, to get back to my favourite couple in here: Daemon and Katy. His pen. Oh!!! I like that guy, how he ticks Katy off and makes her go out of her comfort zone – and how they get each other, in a way. Because even though there are secrets, they understand a lot more than they know. Well.
I like how Katy finds out. All these little hints about Dee and Daemon, and how Katy begins to wonder whether or not she has what her father died of – and how Daemon goes from hot to cold in a moment, when one of her questions or comments goes into the direction of what they are – and remind him that she has to stay away from his family.
The background of the characters is wonderful. Katy's Mom, for example, how Katy struggles with her always being gone – not because Katy couldn't manage at home without her, but because she misses her. And because she actually wants to be another person than the one her Mom expects her to be – the person she has always been. She wants to be bold, more brave, more noticeable. Well, around Daemon she definitely is. I like how much she grows in the first part. From the girl who thinks of herself as average to someone who stands up for what she believes in, who doesn't let anyone else win if she doesn't want to. I like how she struggles with her ethics when she's thinking about her – she doesn't want to make more work for her, but she wants her to be there, like at the hospital.
Spoiler:
I love this scene, by the way. How Daemon saves her, and how he takes care of her. How she calms down when she looks at him. That's so cute.
There are a lot of other moments the two of them share – and which I love. Unfortunately, they are usually ruined by Daemon, sooner or later. The lake scene's great. As is the ball, how his eyes nearly fall out at the side of her, how he tries to protect her from Simon – and how she won't let him because she doesn't want to be that kind of girl who needs everyone to protect her. It's so understandable – even though in this situation, it would have been better if she let him drive her home. But then, she would have lost Daemon's respect, especially because she couldn't have the chance to fight against the Arum.
I like these fighting scenes, by the way. Especially how a) her fear is described and how she b) later on turns more or less into the angel of justice. This is so, so epic. And, besides, it's fascinating to see that Katy, as a loving, ethic person who values all kinds of life, can be pushed so far to do that – and how she doesn't really feel guilty – and how that frightens her. Because this was self defence, it was the only way for her and the people she loved to survive, but it's also a life she's taken, and her calmness about it is frightening.
And I so love how she and Daemon wake up next to each other – oh, and I love how she finds out about him (the scene) and how she and Dee talk after that. Her relationship to Dee is just wonderful, Dee is just wonderful. You can't help but like her.
Jennifer L. Armentrout is really good at this, good at creating totally diverse characters, who absolutely make sense, have their own background and reason for doing what they do. And with whom you fall inevitably in love with. Besides, her books are always tense, funny and full of interesting worlds and ideas. I hope she never she never stops writing – the day she would would be a bad day for us.
The world she creates here is absolutely fascinating and believable. I didn't know about what the Black's were and I didn't guess it until he told Katy – that was before I bought the Collector's Edition. I love the background and powers of this race, and I adore the role the DOD plays in here – it makes it realistic, the fact, that some humans know and others don't and that the government tries to a) control them in any way possible and b) tries to use them to their own advantage.
So, all in all: Characters, ideas, style and the incredible humour and word wars deserve stars. So, five stars and SoGH for Obsidian!
Prequel
(not before series):
Extra:
Sequel: