Jennifer L. Armentrout

From Jennifer L. Armentrout, author of the Covenant series, comes the unputdownable first novel in the New York Times bestselling Lux series. Aliens are the new vampires, and sexy Daemon Black will set your pulse racing... 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

Obsidian (Lux - Book One)

When seventeen-year-old Katy Swartz moved to West Virginia right before her senior year, she'd pretty much resigned herself to thick accents, dodgy internet access, and a whole lot of boring, but then she spotted her hot neighbor, with his looming height and eerie green eyes.

a Lux novel

Obsidian

Kaitlyn Kuehn 

“I like staring at the sky. There's something about it. It's endless, you know."

Monicap

Second Read: Jan 2016
The writing in this book kept getting in the way of the story. I'd continually do double-takes, nitpick the dialogue (real people don't talk like that), rewrite lines in my head, that sort of thing. It was very distracting.

The fact that Katy blogs seems like an obvious but well-meaning ploy to appeal to internet readers. I wholeheartedly believe Armentrout made Katy a book blogger as a way to thank the book bloggers who had promoted her books in the past, but to me it seemed cheap and forced. 

All in all, though, taking into account also the positive review below, I still feel that this a very good book, but I'd change my rating to four stars. For the sake of integrity to my original thoughts and feelings, I won't change the star rating on goodreads.

First Read: April 2013
Plot: 5/5
Wow. EPIC-NESS. Like, seriously? Here were freaking aliens, man. I do love me some aliens.
This book called to the Scifi nerd in me. That which gets all fangirl-y over TV shows like Falling Skies, Stargate, Battlestar Galactica, Firefly. The one who gets excited to watch those bad movies on Syfy. The one who squealed when Defiance cam out because, Omigod it’s a scifi show on Syfy, lets watch it!
And, you know, this book was just seriously badass.

Characters: 5/5
Katy: Omigod, I was rooting for her the whole way. Spaghetti dumping to hating Daemon to making out with him. I understood and her reasons and I definitely approved of all her actions. Although I wish she’d slapped him. I really like how Katy’s character was basically a shout-out, an ode, if you will, to all us readers. Like, I’m not sure how well a casual reader would have identified with her, but I think the author wrote her character like that so us aid readers could identify with her better, and it worked.
Dee: Her character could easily be perceived as ‘fake’, but she’s not, you know?
Carissa and Lesa: I love these two completely normal characters just got thrown into the mix, to highlight the differences in each other, and also to throw relief onto everything else that’s happening.
Daemon: I do not love him because he reminds me of Damon from TVD. Sure, maybe I imagine him as Ian Somerhalder in my head, but that’s not why I love him. Not. At. All. 
Daemon here is so antagonistic, and the way he and Katy were always nipping at each other, I found myself waiting for, wanting the times when these two were thrown into a situation together, everything is just so much more FUN when they’re in the same room as each other. Will they yell at each other? Will they have a moment? Will they kiss? (I spent most of the book begging them to do so)

Romance: 5/5
I think I may have accidentally talked about this n the characters section. But really, it bares repeating. Whenever Daemon and Katy were in the same room together, I got excited wondering what would go down. The first half of the book I spent urging Katy to slap him (because her really did deserve it). She didn’t :(. And then they had their first moment, and then another, and I was like, Kiss already! They had a couple really good kisses towards the end. Also, for those who are sick of insta-love, they waited a good five or so months before any of this kissing happened, so, points for that.

15/15

Malia

Date read:
 January 15-January 16, 2020 

 Actual Rating: 3.50 STARS 

First and foremost, there are a few things I don't like about this book. When I was way younger, I was really into those male characters being arrogant jerks, thinking that it was kind of cool and charming of them. But the more I mature, the more my reading taste for characters slowly changes. Now, I easily get frustrated when I read about them. Like seriously, why does being a douchebag became kind of attractive to some people (including my younger self)? I was getting that vibe from Daemon Black, being an ass a lot of times, but maybe I'll give some benefit of the doubt. At least, he was not a hopeless case kind of an ass, but somehow redeemable. Somehow, he managed to successfully show his sweet side, just don't let him open his mouth for a long time. I'm not really into him, but I don't hate him either. There's a chance to really like him, maybe in the next reads.

The next thing was really the most annoying part for me. The female character, Katy, oh my! Not that she annoyed me all the time. I just don't like it whenever she constantly drool over Daemon. Like, sis! Calm the fuck down, for Pete's sake! It irritates me the most whenever she can't 'take off her eyes from Daemon's body' and repeatedly fantasized about him while openly staring at him. What the hell? Maybe because of his 'power' that she somehow can't control her senses whenever she's with him and it affects her logic. But, dude, I just can't take it anymore when she was describing Daemon's body whenever they're together, and that was with every damn chapter. It seriously looked to me like she was some sort of a pushover or something every time she can't resist him, contrary to the time when she promised herself she's done with being the pushover Katy. Control your hormones, girl, please. He's irresistible but you should keep your dignity. LOL

Other than that, I actually enjoyed this book overall. It was quick read and despite having some frustrating problems, I managed to look past it while reading I still look forward for the next books in the series and I'll probably pick it up as soon as I can.

chloe rae

I was hoping I'd like this book more than I actually did, but it was still pretty dang enjoyable.
For some reason, though, I found both the main character and Daemon to be SUPER annoying at times. Mainly Daemon. I thought he was an asshole, and not the kind that we love to hate. I only started to like him about 3/4 of the way through the book, and even then he was super confusing and bi-polar. I guess I understand why he acted the way he did, but it still made me angry.
And I liked Kat's character but I also found her a bit rude. I did like her courage and how she refused to take crap from Daemon. She was definitely funny and her point of view was nice to read from.
All my dislikes aside, this book was still crazy fun. I couldn't seem to put it down, especially towards the end. I loved Dee and Lesa and Carissa. They were fun additions, for sure. And I'm not going to say much but I DEFINITELY found the alien aspect really intriguing. They're definitely a different kind of alien and I loooved that. Seriously.
So am I going to read the rest of this series? Probably. Maybe not now, but I have to know what happens to the characters next. This is a fast novel and maybe not the best book you'll ever read, but still worth it.

Zahra

I don't know what to think of this. I loved it but i hated it. 

Let's get on to the things i love first:
- The overall story. It is original and refreshing, not many YA books about aliens out there.
- The pace. It was slow-paced at the first half of the book and fast-paced at the last half, just perfect

Things i hate:
- That cover. Hate it, hate it, hate it.
- The characters. I don't get it why everyone seem to love Daemon, but definitely not me. He was so full of himself, a compelete arrogant jackass. And Katy, she was so annoying and unbearable. It was like her life revolved around Daemon. Ugh. Honestly, the only character i liked is Dee. The others? Either they are annoying beyond beliefs or i just can't be bothered to care.

Club Bocker ꙳✧˖°ﾟ

What can I say? I'M IN LOVE WITH DAEMON he's a bad boy full of sarcasm, so sexy and katy is the representation of us, she's so cute, they make a perfect couple.

Izzy

I really tried to like this book more really. But while reading it i kinda had a déja-vu moment like I already read this book. Maybe I just get old for this sort of young adult books. 
The characters were amazing though. I really loved Daemon and Katy was also a nice female protagonist. Perhaps because she's such a book nerd like I am. Except for the fact that a hot guy wants her but whatever. She didnt annoy me for a second and that is something rare in the Young Adult section.

Mia Caven

yes, this series is absolutely sooooo very “episode”, so very cliche, but sooooo very addicting. TWO YEARS LATER and I still cannot stop thinking about this book. it is about a non-human (technically, made of light) species. One of them, the main character, falls in love with a human, the main female character. it is about their relationship, their world vs earth, and… I won’t ruin the rest. But my obsession with these characters is otherworldly. The covers are awful hence why I listened to the audio books but the books are chef kiss to say the least.

Sabrina W

I haven't read a book like this in awhile .. where I absolutely love the main guy character. So dreamy.

It's a good book, really easy to read, nothing too in depth. I could have read it in a shorter amount of time but wanted to space it out so I could enjoy it more.

Recommend the read. 
So glad I bought it and can't wait to buy the new instalments.

Sara Uribe

I fell in love with this book from the first chapter. I found it to be very addictive to read and I couldn't wait to finish it and get to the next book. Jennifer Armentrout knows how to suck me into her books, and this is another one that I could not put down. I didn't expect to love this book as much as I do, but the dynamic between Katy and Daemon had me drawn from the first time they were introduced to each other. Can't wait to read the rest of the books in this series.

becky oh

Now I know why this series is so famous 😌I was in a BIG reading slump before I read this, not finding any books that made me finish the book or getting so excited to read a new book and finding it so disappointing. I had about 20 books I DNF-ed before I met sexy Daemon Black and being sucked into the world of aliens (no regrets).

I definitely loved the first books of the Lux series and THANK YOU SO MUCH TO JLA FOR GETTING ME OUT OF MY READING SLUMP!!!

Briar's Reviews

Obsidian by Jennifer L. Armentrout is a YA piece full of aliens and intrigue.

This book didn't sit as well with me as I had hoped. I seriously am loving White Hot Kiss by Jennifer, so I thought why not pick up her Lux series? For whatever reason, this book felt like something I would have loved back in my high school days but not now. When I was crushing over Twilight, Vampire Kisses, Vampire Academy, House and Night and so on, this book would have done it for me. As an adult, I'm not totally into it. I can still appreciate how ooey gooey this YA is and all the tropes it follows, but it kind of bored me (if I'm being honest). 

I'm thrilled to see aliens though! That is something I haven't gotten a lot of in YA, probably by pure luck alone. That selling point really intrigued me and made me stick through the book. It's got a cool feel, and I'll definitely be reading some Cliffnotes of the other books, since I don't think I'll be continuing on with this specific series. But I will definitely be grabbing more books by Jennifer in the future.

If you love YA (with angsty teen drama) and aliens, grab this book! It is an excellent novel for pre-teen and YA readers. To me, it felt like it was catering to those pre-teens going gaga over Twilight back in the day. That was the audience that I felt was being catered to with this book (and there's nothing wrong with that). Daemon felt kind of like Edward Cullen with his creepy nature, his suggestion of not being friends or close to them, and his magical powers. The giant group of alien buddies also gave Cullen like vibes. I didn't totally like the whole "let's insult the girl to try to win her heart", but that never has been my favourite trope in YA romances. 

Overall, this book wasn't for me but it was a fun little book to jump into.

Two out of five stars.

karrington pease 

Rating: 5 

This is my second time reading this book by Jennifer Armentrout. She is my FAVORITE author. I have read almost all of her books and loved each and every one. She does a fantastic job building magical worlds where readers have the chance to fall in love with their characters and their stories.

This is one of my personal favorite series. Katy is so interesting to me; she's quirky, funny, sassy, and genuine. I felt like I could really connect with her as a character, specifically, through her love for books and reviewing! I loved how she was sweet and kind, but never took any shit from Daemon. Although this is a young adult read, it did not carry the whiny, annoying and immaturity vibes that some YA series do. Katy is super likable and reminds me a lot of myself. I absolutely loved her best friend Dee. She is full of so much energy and her characters feels SO genuine. I LOVED the bonding between these two women and how they were able to create such an close relationship even after the big secret was revealed. What I love about these series is that although Katy's plot/storyline is intricately intertwined with Daemon, the secondary characters shine and Katy's relationships with other female characters in the book are not overpowered by Daemon. 
Daemon is HOT! I think I have found my new book boyfriend. I am usually not into the bad boy who is super douchey to the female lead of the book, but there is just something so sinfully swoony about him! I can and always have been able to see through all his bullshit too. Daemon adds that angsty and frustration that EVERY high school relationship has. He is funny, annoyingly charming, and his character shines through the pages.
After reading this book for the second time I am reminded why I love this series so much. It is such a breathe of fresh air in the PNR genre. It is so different from most series in its genre. The world building is beautiful, in my opinion. I did not feel lost or confused at all. And like the first time I read it, I could not put it down, even though I already knew the ending. That takes a lot for me! I just love this series so much! If you are looking for something refreshing and new, full of smart ass remarks, humor, and swoon worthy love MF, I HIGHLY recommend this series! You will not regret it!

Also ich fand’s in der sechsten Klasse toll!

Leon

Abby Champion

freya.nightwolf

Inezbennink

Giulia Giacometti

Although I liked the idea of the story, I did not really like the main characters (yet). The writer might have meant it to be funny/cheeky, but I think Deamon is just outright mean towards Katy. Also don't like how he calls her Kitten, it's just demeaning. However, the story has potential and many people are really enthusiastic about the series, so hopefully it will get better. 

Positive: reads really quickly, love the idea of aliens.
Negative: not the best writing, don't like Deamon so far. 
Audiobook: not really good, especially Damian's voice. I would suggest reading the (e)books instead.

Courtney

4⭐️. Well, I finally met Daemon and although he is definitely problematic, I like him.

Tayla 

I really liked the Lux novels I felt that that author set a good stage for the rest of her story in this book

Fátima Martins

3.75

Contras: 
- Es literal una copia de Crepúsculo pero con aliens.
- Daemon is an asshole y bastante insoportable.
- Los diálogos a veces dan mucho cringe (aunque creo que es culpa de la traducción).
- the book it's pretty bad ngl.

Pros:
- Es adictivo
I LIKE IT. I NEED MORE.

Barbara Kovács

I think it's obvious, but..
IT WAS THE BEST BOOK I EVER READ!
I can't wait to read the second book.
Daemon was so hot, I loved every moment of this perfect book.
I can't say anything, I just finished it and I can't find words. It's awesome, Ms. Armentrout. Good Job.

Annabella

Although JLA can sure as hell create wonderful characters and is awesome at romance writing, I have to say this was kind of a "yeah but no but yeah" to me.
It's the first book in a series so it's normal for it to be not totally clear or gripping. 
Daemon pov was like sealing the deal, since the potential of the story is awesome.
Can't wait for Onyx.

Caroll-Ann

I read this like 6-10 years ago and couldn’t remember a thing at all. And since I’m currently sick and can’t really concentrate enough to read an actual book I decided to give this audiobook a try since the german version is currently on spotify for free. And the story itself is okay, isn’t really game or life changinf but still a good story.

Obsidian (Lux - Book One)

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