Obsidian and Lux series review by Jennifer L. Armentrout

                Hello!  I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!  Also I have to say it because I’m proud of myself; I am a 2014 NaNoWriMo winner!  Yep I did my 50K words in less than 30 days.  My first draft of my book is not finished but a major bit of it is and I’m one step closer to finishing it.  More on that soon though, promise.  Now on to the review!

                As with my Delirium review I’m going to split my reviews into two sections.  The first part I’ll be discussing the first book in the series in detail spoiler free, then I’ll add a warning before diving into the rest of the series so those not caught up can still enjoy part of the review and have something to come back to.  I read the Lux series prior to YALLfest so that I would be able to discuss the book with the author if I got the chance and I am glad that I did. 

               

                First, let me explain that I LOVE this series.  I give it 5 Stars right off the back.  The series contains 6 books*, 5 in the original and then a prequel novel.  Also in case you haven’t heard of these books yet, don’t let any cover confusion fool you, they were put out recently as bind-ups with the first 2 books, Obsidian and Onyx in Lux:  Beginnings and books 3 Opal and book 4 Origin in another bind up Lux:  Consequences.  That was done, in my opinion, to match the final book in the series Opposition, which has the prequel Shadows as the last quarter of the book.  I ordered them with the new covers, for obvious reasons.  If it isn’t obvious please check out my Bookish Pet Peeves post to understand. 

Matching series covers!  And they are sparkly!

          

                Obsidian starts us out on this journey following Katy.  I have to say I adore this character; she might be one of my all-time favorite characters.  She is a total book nerd, she has a blog and her passion is reviewing books.  I was in love with her within a page.  She was so normal and real to me.  She’s starting over in a new town, her mother deciding they needed to move to West Virginia before her senior year to get a fresh start in a new place.  She’d resigned herself to be bored, focused mainly on getting online and I can relate.  Then she saw the hot neighbor, Daemon, and things started to look promising…until he spoke.  Yep for every ounce of sexiness he had, and there was a lot, there were equal parts arrogant and stab-worthy.  A rocky stay to say the least, but as she becomes friends with his sister, who is thankfully much friendlier than her twin, things continue to get weirder.

                 It’s a battle with him she didn’t even realize she had started by simply moving next door.  As if she had any say in that.  They don’t get along at all.  But when she’s attacked by a stranger Daemon saves her life by literally freezing time.  Yep.  All those paranormal books she loves to read and review are spilling into her life because the hot arrogant guy next door and his sister are, aliens or Luxen.  If that wasn’t strange enough for her to process, saving her life left a mark; a mark that attracts another form of alien, Arum, who want to find them and steal their powers.  So now she’s stuck with Daemon until the mark fades and she and by extension Daemon and Dee are safe.  Then again can they be near each other for long without killing each other?

Original covers and random note I learned at YALLfest, the cover models for these used to date in real life.

                 This was my first ‘alien’ book.  At least the only one I know I’ve read.  And it was a slam dunk.  If I wasn’t hooked on the main character being a book blogger who references books I have or plan to read in the near future then there was Daemon.  He is the quintessential bay boy we love.  He seems all distant and rude but he has his moments that mess with a girls head and heart where he has a soft side.  He has his reasons and even knowing that Katy calls him on his crap.  Another reason to love her, she is strong and determined, not easily pushed around.  She takes in everything and then makes up her own decision.  Stubborn.  Katy and Daemon are both stubborn.  But man when they are together, even hurling insults, they sizzle.  You can’t wait for something more to happen, for a wall to come down, and you can’t put the book down until it happens, and then you can’t put it down because it happened. 

                Another great thing is that although Katy and Daemon do take up a large portion of the story other characters add to the story and develop the story and each of the characters.  I love Dee almost as much as I love Katy.  She is beyond spastic and adorable.  I could easily picture her in my head and I wanted to be her friend.  Oh and did I mention the action.  There is constantly something going on.  There is a lot of fighting and accidents and such that you find yourself constantly clutching the book waiting for another blow.  There are a lot of battles to fight in not only the first book but the series.

                *****Series notes so spoilers ahead*****

                First I have to say this.  Daemon and Katy are so sexy they literally blow things up with them connect.  Okay that’s out there.  Even though they have that connection, its undeniable, I liked her doubt.  She is a normal girl who he’s made fun of in the past, sure for his own reasons, but she isn’t able to just say ‘okay that’s great we’re perfect’, she has doubts and she questions his motives.  She made him work for it, which is a nice change of pace for him. 

 

                The love triangle-ish thing.  I almost got concerned for a moment worried they were going to mess up a perfectly good story for no reason but as it developed I found it feel into my loop holes.  Katy isn’t looking to lead people on but she is confused and looking at all of her options to figure out the truth in how she feels.  Plus when you have two guys pursuing you and you have questions about ones motives, why not test out your own feelings as well.

                But the thing I love most about this series is that is brings up the same truth.  It doesn’t matter what you are, there is good and evil it isn’t contained to a species.   You have both good and bad in everyone and no one is better or without fault.  That is flushed out.  Even more that you can do bad things but still change; there is always the choice, the option of doing good.  Dee had a long journey of her own and she developed substantially, at one point I was scared I would lose her as someone I rooted for.  She was dealing; they all were in their own way, with deaths.  Because let’s be honest there is a lot of death in this series and it is horrible and sad and it brought on a serious case of the feels.

                *****Spoilers Ended*****

                I highly suggest you pick up this series and give it a read.  *Also while working on this review I found out something interesting, apparently there is an adult spin-off stand alone in the Luxen world Obsessed.  I have no idea how I am just now hearing about this but I have bought it by phone and will be downloading it to my kindle as soon as I get home.  So I can’t speak on that one but I’m sure it’s just as amazing as the others.  Please share your thoughts on the series, the blog, reading, writing, whatever below.    Also in the spirit of the holidays share what you are most thankful for in our bookish world.