Publication Date: December 2011
Publisher: Entangled
Pages: 266
Series: 1st in the Lux Series
Acquisition: NetGalley
Summary:
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. (from Goodreads)
I was: disappointed the alien premise was overshadowed by a toxic romance.
My thoughts:
It's hard for me to rate this book so harshly because really, I loved the premise. I have always had a soft spot for alien stories (thank you X-Files ;) so I was pretty excited to read Obsidian. Honestly though the fact that there were aliens in this story is the only thing I liked. I just could not get over the destructive relationship between Katy and Daemon.
I feel really strongly about Daemon - and not in the way most of you do. I think he's dangerous, as a character. He is not the type of boy that any girl should hope for. Take away the fact that he is an alien, strip him down literally and I'm sorry, I don't care how hot he is - engaging in any type of relationship with him isn't healthy. I very much felt like if he were short with a face full of pimples and a lazy eye Katy would never have spend even 1 second of her time with him. As a reader I cannot equate hotness with redemption. I cannot justify in my mind why Katy lets him insult her and after looking into his eyes, feels the need to apologize to him. Not healthy at all people!
Destructive, dangerous, ugly. Not hot or romantic or swoon worthy. I had zero respect for Katy and it was hard for me to stomach their interactions.
Daemon is not a boy any girl should swoon or pine for. There are evil boys in YA lit, there are bad boys with a heart of gold and then there are just assholes. I doesn't matter that he's hot or that he's special or that he may really love his sister. He is a horrible person. He is dangerous and full of himself and he treats Katy like crap and she basically says please sir can I have some more. Again, I had absolutely no respect for Katy throughout the entire book.
Final verdict:
So, really, not a whole lot of love from me on this one and I won't be continuing with the series. Yes the aliens are cool - mainly because we don't see a lot of contemporary alien YA books these days. But rather then being a really cool alien book with some romance, I felt like Obsidian was a bad romance book that happens to involve aliens.
While I don't think I'll be recommending this book much in the future I would still say, if you have Obsidian in your TBR pile to give it a try. Mostly because just about everyone I know who has read this has loved it. I'm thinking this one might be a 'not for me but maybe for you book'? Although...that relationship...I'm having a hard time getting over how toxic it is.
If you've read Obsidian I would be interested in knowing your thoughts on Katy and Daemon's relationship. For me, it was a deal breaker but for you, maybe not?
Overall Rating:
2 / 5 Stars
0.5 Shadows (February 2012)
1.0 Obsidian
1.1 Chapter 26 of Obsidian from Daemon's perspective (posted on author's blog)
2.0 Onyx (May 2012)
3.0 Opal (December 2012)
Linkage Love:
Author's blog
Goodreads
IndieBound
I have to say that I was quite surprised by your review. Not in a bad way though. I am half tempted to go out and get the book just to join you in your POV. But then I think of my list of review books that I am already working through and I know that it'll be far later before I can get to it. But anyhoo, I wanted to say thank you for sharing such an honest opinion, especially since you know that it may not follow the trends.
ReplyDeleteThank you Starr! It was a hard review to write - getting my thoughts in order and trying to present my feelings.
DeleteI wonder if the writer intentionally wrote a dysfunctional relationship. Either way, if a dysfunctional relationship isn't fun for you to read, it's not to your taste.
ReplyDeleteHow were the other parts to the story? dialog and narration style? I have a thing about dialog - if it doesn't fit the characters (as described) then it tends to pull me right out of a book. Hearing about their toxic romance has me wondering if this book doesn't have a HEA, or if they (like so many other couples) stay together even though their romance is bad romance. :)
Enjoyed your review and thoughts
If you take out the romance, the rest of the story is actually very good. The characters weren't my favorite but their dialog did fit them well.
DeleteNot sure about the HEA yet - still 2 more books in the series to go.
Thank you!
I think that there is a tender part of Daemon, but you're right, he is a jerk. But really, I wonder how much of it is that he wanted to protect her, especially before she knew what they were. He didn't want her drawn into their world. But maybe I'm too much a defender?
ReplyDeleteBrandi from Blkosiner’s Book Blog
As a new comer to a small town Kat's in for a eye opening experience when she moves next door and meets Daemon, becomes best friends with his sister Dee, whom I completely loved and inadvertently gets mixed up into their world. What I love about Kat is that girl not only holds her own, she can dish it right back to Daemon. She's a stubborn, independent, resilient, character who doesn't take crap from anyone, and she can hold her own in some of the fabulous action packed scenes. Plus she's snarky and I love that.
ReplyDelete