Obsidian

Lux, Book 1

By: Jennifer L. Armentrout

Narrated by: Justine Eyre

When 17-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. Things were looking up...until he opened his mouth.

Daemon Black is infuriating. Arrogant. Stab-worthy. It's hate at first sight, but when a stranger attacks her and Daemon literally freezes time with a wave of his hand, well, something...unexpected happens. The hot guy next door? Well, he's an alien.

Turns out that Daemon and his sister have a galaxy of enemies wanting to steal their abilities and Katy is caught in the crosshairs. Daemon's touch has lit her up like the Vegas Strip and the only way she's getting out of this alive is by sticking close to him until her alien mojo fades. That is, if she doesn't kill him first.

©2011 Jennifer L. Armentrout (P)2013 Tantor

Critic reviews

"The beginning of Armentrout's new Lux series is a thrilling ride from start to finish. A cross between Roswell and Dawson's Creek, this series is guaranteed to hold your attention and have you begging for more." (Romantic Times)

Good Read Bad Listen

Would you try another book from Jennifer L. Armentrout and/or Justine Eyre?

I would try another book from this author...But so help me, if they all have the same narrator I might gouge my eardrums out through my eye sockets. I can hardly handle the narration.

What other book might you compare Obsidian to and why?

It has some of the feel you get with Unearthly and Alienated but the most obvious straight up comparison would be Twilight.

How could the performance have been better?

By choosing a narrator that sounds like the characters. Not so whiney, bar room seductive'ish. It sort of ruins the story when you can't stop picturing the person performing. I like to be able to have that "movie in my head" where I can imagine the characters with each nuance in the performance. Virtually impossible.

Could you see Obsidian being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

Yes. To be honest I kept picturing Ian Somerhalder as Daemon. I could be biased due to how well he plays the I love you I hate you I'll kill you all rolled into one type roles.

"Twilight" as it should have been written

What made the experience of listening to Obsidian the most enjoyable?

The storyline is wonderful, full of emotion and tension, and the writer truly knows how to use the language to transport you there. Unlike Stephanie Meyer, Armentrout has way more than 5 words in her vocabulary, and is not repetitive or banal. She writes the narration equally good as the conversations.

What other book might you compare Obsidian to and why?

"Twilight" as it should have been written. The story is pretty much the same, even with same events, but aliens instead of vampires and the lead female character is not lame and absurd.

How could the performance have been better?

This reader simply cannot do male voices. She sounds ridiculous in a male role, and one must be able to ignore her shortcomings not to lose interest in the overall story. You also cannot tell one female character from another, but luckily, there are not many situations in which conversation is written in a way that characters are not differentiated by narration.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Definitely laugh. There is plenty of good humor here, and the sense of loss is well described.

Any additional comments?

This is NOT a YA book, as one reviewer already observed.

Loved it!!

Would you listen to Obsidian again? Why?

Yes I would listen to it over and over again. You want so bad to hate Daemon at first but you know he has something special, and it hooks you.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Obsidian?

I love it when Katy dumps spaghetti all over Ash and Daemon.

Which scene was your favorite?

My favorite scene is the school dance.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The whole book moved me. I really wanted to hurt Daemon a time or two.

Any additional comments?

It will captivate you. I have to admit that it took me a few chapters to get over Justine Eyre's voice. It has a certain tone and drag to it, but like any book you get use to it and don't notice it because you are too interested in what she is saying instead of how she is saying it.

Potentially good series. This one isn't great.

I have been meaning to check out this series so when I saw book 1 on sale at Audible last month I picked it up. I am not sure why the ratings are so high for this ho-hum teen angst sci fi. Armentrout is a decent writer so there weren't any annoyances in terms of POV, style, or general writing. The story was just weak.

I think there is enough potential there to make it worth checking out the next book but if its more of the same I will abandon the series. This has very strong overtones of Twilight crossed with mid-80s Harlequin. I don't care for Justine Eyre as a narrator so that was another mark against this audiobook.

Fun book. Couldn't stop listening.

Though it is definitely not original, the writing is clear and well-paced. You can see where the story is going and it feels like a retelling of Twilight, but it is fun anyway. I enjoyed it. The narrator is great. My only complaint is her voices for the men. It's as if she has never been around a man who was mentally handicapped or groaning at something. It doesn't prevent the story from being enjoyed though. 4.5/5

5 stars

Omg! I really loved this one and how fast pace it is! It has total Roswell tv show vibes! I loved Justine's narration. I can't wait to see what happens next.

Holy Alien Hotness

Daemon Black is so delicious you will want to be called "Kitten" all the time. Katy tries to resist being around him... but it doesn't work. The UST in this book is good. And it's a great YA read. All the stars.

This story shines no matter the format!

Story review:
This was my 2nd read/listen in the audiobook format and my 4th overall time reading about feisty, book blogging human Katy and "I'm just that awesome" alien Daemon (pronounced "Day-mon" and not "Dee-mon"). I was sucked in all over again in spite of my frequent irritation with narrator Justine Eyre's narrating style and mispronunciations. Make sure you have Onyx, book 2 on hand so you can dive right into it.

My tags for this novel are…
YA Paranormal (Aliens) Trope / Unpredictable / Easy-to-read / Entertaining / Action-packed / Wonderful characters / Witty / Original / Page-turner / Romantic

My Top Favorite Moment is:
I have so many, but I'll pick their angry discourse turned passionate make out session at Katy's house.

Performance review - my rant:
All audiobook producers should make sure they have the narrator(s) reach out to an author to confirm how to pronounce names and terms, especially when the author has created a unique paranormal reality like Jennifer Armentrout did here. I've listened to quite a few books narrated by Justine Eyre, and most of the time I do enjoy her acting choices. This performance just happens to be one of her weaker ones for me.

My overall recommendation is to read the book yourself first in either e-book or physical book format, and then use the audiobooks as a way to reread the series easily. I dare you not to get hooked either way!

Up next: I'm already ears deep into my reread of the sequel Onyx (Lux series #2).

Could not put it down

Starting from the first chapter all the way to the last, you will beg for more. Daemon Black is such an ass, but he is in such a way that makes you want to love him. Which you end up doing so by the middle of the book (possibly even before then). He teases Katy to the point its adorable.

Justine Eyre does get a lot of negativity in the way she pronounces Daemons name. I just want to come to her aide by saying that although Daemon would normally be pronounced as "day-mon" she probably pronounces it as "dee-mon" because *** in the book *** Daemon's sister (Dee) introduces herself to Katy and tells Katy Daemon's name. We already see that Daemon is an ass smothered in jerk sauce so Katy's response in "Daemon? Well thats fitting"

Just my 2-cents on the matter.

Just ok, not horrible but not outstanding

This book was ok, not great but not horrible. I knew it was a young adult paranormal series before I started it, but it needed more hanky panky in my opinion. Also, the narrator is just ok too. But she pronounced the main character’s name wrong throughout all 5 audio books! That did bothered me!!!