Awhile ago, I read Half Blood by Jennifer L. Armentrout and while I thought it was fun and enjoyable read, it had too many similarities to Vampire Academy for me to enjoy it fully. So, I put off reading Obsidian. Even though I love stories about aliens in high school. I had an obsesison with Roswell when it was television.1
Well, for some unknown reason, though Stacee’s fangirling is is definitely to blame, I picked it up the other day for something light to read during the slow times at work.
I immediately became unreasonably angry at anyone who would dare talk to me at work. I hated every single thing I had to deal with and just wanted to go home. More so than usual.
And then on my way home I missed my bus stop because I was too busy reading.
And then I stayed up really late finishing it. And then I read Onyx the next day. And then I was very angry at myself because now I have to wait a month for the third book and WHAT WHAT WHAT???!?!?!?
So, okay. I loved these books. They are fast paced with lots of characters and secrets and powers and…well, not the best mythology ever but certainly not the worst. Nothing like the alien mythology in I am Number Four which makes so very little sense. This one mostly made sense. And Katy, the main character, asks all the questions that the reader is thinking. Which is nice.
Oh Katy. I just love her. She’s quiet and nerdy yet spunky and stands up for herself against all the over bearing aliens.
I will say, I didn’t really like the whole book blogger thing. It felt too much like an in-joke and in-jokes always bring me out of the stories. I liked that her love of books was reflected accurately in this. That is, more similarily to how my love of books manifests and less like…Bella Swan or whatever. There was more than the classics and “respectable books” on her shelf (and on every other surface) and people made fun of her book choices. That was nice. But her being a book blogger was just weird.
I have a similar problem with how Cassandra Clare and Holly Black mention each others characters in their books. It just draws me out of the story.
I loved her even more Onyx. I loved that she made stupid mistakes and didn’t know who to trust and than had to face the consequences of her indecision. And those consequences were huge! And afftected more people than just her. I loved that she wasn’t just automatically forgiven. Everything about her journey through both books felt real and right to me. Even when I was yelling at her that she was doing stupid things. I understood her reasoning for doing stupid things.
Except in one instance. I really felt that she would’ve drawn a line there. But it didn’t affect my enjoyment of the story at all.
And, of course, there’s Katy’s relationship with Daemon. The over-bearing (HOT!) alien mentioned before. I love that we never see anything from his point of view (in the main novels anyway. There are plenty of extras) but his reasoning behind everything that he does is clear. And he’s a jerk but Katy doesn’t let him get away with it and once he decides that being a jerk isn’t working, he apologizes and totally understands why Katy doesn’t quite trust him.
And they have fabulous chemistry! And I also like that the romantic plot lines don’t feel awkward and aren’t shoved into the middle of the plot-plot lines. You know? Like, when they’re worried about dying they aren’t also worried about making out. Even though both worries play an important role in the story.
I absolutely cannot recommend these books enough. I fell in love with the characters and the plot and style so fast and it’s such torture waiting for the next one.
Why would I do this to myself? Why wouldn’t I have just waited until the third was out? It’s as if I enjoy the pain.
Can it PLEASE be December 11th NOW????