18 April, 2017

REVIEW: OBSIDIAN by Jennifer L. Armentrout


Title: Obsidian
Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout
Series: Lux #1
Genres: YA, Aliens, Paranormal
Publisher: Entangled Teen
Release: 2012
Source: Library book
Pages: 299 (English), 400 (German)

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BLURB:
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.



EXPECTATIONS: I own a paperback bindup of first and second books in English but I have noticed that whenever I take a book from library in German I end up DNFing it so I decided to take Obsidian because I expected somehow a lot from it. Plus German covers are really pretty in comparison to horrible English ones. 

THE WORLD: Simple and very ordinary except for an addition of aliens called Lux and Atum. Basically Lux are the light, jup the overused trope of aliens that are super shiny light basically. And then Atum are the bad ones who come from shadows or are shadows actually and they hate light and so they want to kill Lux. Yes you heard me right, the bad guys are killing the good ones because they are jealous, cuz that makes a lot of sense. Anyways yeah...that's what you get in this book. 

CHARACTERS: Okay so before I start let me just tell you that if I read this book in ordinary way aka in english I would have DNFed it after 20 pages. But because I wanted to kinda prove the point that no, I do not DNF all books I read in German I actually forced myself to read it all. All 400 pages of torture. So yeah, if you love this series I advise you to maybe not continue reading this review because I really hated it and it will not be a pleasant review. I actually noted things down because I knew I will forget things simply because there were so many. So yeah...off we go. 

Okay our main character is Katy, she is a senior in highschool who has lost her father to cancer a few years ago and now her mom decided she needs a change of scenery and so they end up moving to a small town in West Virginia. From first sight Katy is pretty likable, after all you think all girls who love books and write blog about them must be super awesome! But that was my biggest mistake. Why? Because Katy is an embarrassment to us all who like books or write blog in addition. The worst representation ever. Katy is a super arrogant 'I am better because I read' bitch. She looks down on basically everybody. When a friend asked her to interact with his friends who were cheerleaders Katy was pretty much as good as offended. And oh let's not forget how people who drink beer at the party are idiots. Actually in german you have Idiot and Vollidiot, which would be an idiot and a complete idiot and of course to Katy everybody who party, drink cheap beer cuz you know she is an expert on which beer people drink, and yeah everybody at homecoming party are complete idiots. And Simon, the guy who actually asked her on a date to homecoming because he is interested in her as a girl, he was the biggest idiot of them all because did he not know that by saying yes to the date Katy actually meant she wants nothing to do with him but going alone would be worst. Complete idiot, how could he not understand. The only complete idiot in this book was Katy herself. And the fact that she read...the bitch doesn't even take notes in class and not even once she actually did homework. I mean when Simon asked if she understand math class she said she hopes somebody took notes. Are you kidding me? Also Katy buys this dress that shows her decollete but then when she goes to the actual party she ends up covering herself because omg everybody is looking at her decollete. Well maybe do not buy a dress with decollete till the ground then. Also, I actually noted this in Goodreads. So when Katy is leaving homecoming party there is this description: 'The most cars we passed had misty windows and some were still rocking.' Are you kidding me? She judges people and then basically next day she is as good as losing her virginity to Daemon who doesn't even like her. So all girls in school are sluts but when you taking your pants off it's absolutely normal. Yes of course...cuz this is Daemon. There are many more things I hate about Katy but let's leave her for now and move on on other shining stars in this book. Okay so Daemon...now I know many girls are dying whenever anybody says his name but really? So the dude bullies Katy, is super possessive. Like Katy wants to go to after party with Simon and Damon literary tells her she is not allowed. Or how he made fun of her all the time. I don't mean just sometimes, he literally was making fun of her ALL THE TIME. The very mean type of fun. And don't tell me it was because the dude thought he can push her away by making her hate him. Like are you kidding me? Daemon is now one of my most hated male characters ever, I feel pure hate and disgust toward him. I might not like Katy but nobody is ever gonna treat women like this and get away with it. Who else? Oh yes Dee...so she is supposed to be this bubbly super absolutely breathtaking girl...jeans and a pullover...yeah that is super awesome breath taking, I also thought so. Anyways I just did not buy it. This whole I wanna be your best friend from day one...way way too forced. Way way too much. I would have see this even if I was 12. Yeah...and other Lux...just made no sense. 

ROMANCE: Of course it is not about aliens surviving or Atum trying to kill Lux. Whole 400 pages is about Daemon abusing Katy and author calling it a romantic hot stuff. We clearly have a different understanding of what is romantic and what is hot. Even Fifty shades of grey did it better. And one more thing, Katy and Daemon fall asleep next to each other. In the morning they wake up all over each other. DO NOT tell me this is normal. If you fall asleep to a stranger you do not wake up all tangled up with a person. Reality check, please. Nobody is gonna buy this, Jennifer L. Armentrout, nobody! 

GOOD: Katy does not talk much about blog or books to be honest, it's mentioned more to make her look smart. Like Rory Gilmore in last seasons. I read books so I am smart. But anyways, the mention of blog made me kinda want to write more on our blog. And also hope I am not like Katy. 

BAD: Whole book is bad. Not even bad, it was absolutely horrible. It was lacking common sense and just pure logic big time. Also, I come from family of M.D.s and forgive me for pointing it out but we were told from beginning Katy's mom works in hospital. And then when Katy was in hospital her mom was called via loudspeakers away few times. But then later we find out she is actually a nurse! Now don't get me wrong I have nothing against nurses, they are super sweet and doctors without them are like without hands but seriously in what kinda of hospital nurse is called via loudspeakers twice in like an hour? Doctors yes all the time but nurses? Are you kidding me? Do your research Jennifer L. Armentrout. 

OVERALL: I wasted valuable time but hey I did not DNF yet another book I was reading in German, goal achieved! Anyways there is absolutely no way I will read anything from this series or Jennifer L. Armentrout again. I have read her Dark Elements series and I liked Roth but the rest was pure bullshit and Lux now proved me enough that my time is too valuable to waste on these books. I am sorry if you liked this series, we all have our guilty pleasure reads that make us super happy, but for me this book basically...yeah just made me wanna scream how much I hated it. 1/5 stars just for the mention of books and book blogging. 

What do you think about OBSIDIAN?