Obsidian by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Title: Obsidian (Lux #1)
Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout
Published: November 23, 2011
Publisher: Entangled Teen
Genre: YA Paranormal Romance
Buy: The Book Depository

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.

Where to start, where to start..

Obsidian is exactly what you expect it to be. It's your typical YA Paranormal Romance, and I mean that in the most respectful way possible. There's the nerdy/shy girl who catches the eye of the dangerous, mysterious guy. A little bit of action, a sprinkle of life-threatening accidents, a whole load of romance, and there you have it! 
What I'm trying to say is that this book is just average, some good parts, and some bad.
Just.. average.

What these paranormal reads have got on their side, though, is that they're so damn easy to read! Given the opportunity, almost anyone could finish this in one sitting. The pacing is pretty quick, and I did enjoy some aspects, particularly the banter between Katy and Daemon, in the way you don't really want to admit. The whole 'alien' premise was actually surprisingly interesting, but then again, it wasn't at the forefront of the book, more or less taking a back seat in the Romance's car. 
So yes, I did actually enjoy some parts of 'Obsidian', but there was just so much I didn't like too..

My biggest problem with this book is probably how secluded I felt, and I have a theory as to why this happened. Most books nowadays, are gender-blind, meaning that no matter your gender, there's something featured in the story that will most likely appeal to you. But with this book I felt like it was so rigid in its attempts to entertain its target audience, that I was left out. 
I'll just say it flat-out, I felt like this story was directed toward girls. You could argue that the action and 'alien' aspect could interest anyone with the stereotypical 'guy's taste', but there's so little of that in the actual story, most of it consisting of the relationship between Katy and Daemon, that it sort of fails in its purpose. 

As well as feeling the book was written exclusively for its target audience, I also had a problem with the writing. Not the style, because as I said it was really easy to read, but how the character development was off at times, how the over-arching plot didn't feel concrete enough to support a whole series, those little things. They're just little things as you're reading, but when you take them all into account, it makes for a disappointing conclusion.

So altogether, Obsidian wasn't a bad read, it had it's high points, but not without the very low ones too. Which, as I said in the beginning, equates to an average book.