Review: Obsidian - Jennifer L. Armentrout

Reading level: Ages 15 and up
Paperback: 400 pages
Publisher: Entangled Teen; 2 edition (May 8, 2012)

 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.

I went into this not expecting much. I thought it might just be really corny. I couldn't be more wrong

Listening to Katy talk about her blog made me smile. A main character who was like me, a big gushy book nered, how could I not love it? When we first meet Dameoon I kinda wanted to punch him. But I quickly fell in love with his sister Dee. And watching Dee and Katy grow closer as friends was nice even though Daemon never lets an opportunity go by to tell Katy that her and Dee shouldn't be friends. I also loved the love/hate between Katy and Daemon. I loved the scenes with them, the tension and feelings really came through. Now lets get to the part you all want to hear about...the Aliens...yeah I know, I feared for the worst too, but I enjoyed the Alien aspect, and the powers we begin to see them demonstrate. 

The story really never seemed to slow down once it got started, and kept me reading cause I just had to know what would happen next. I gave this one 4 stars, and really guys go give this a read if you haven't already!

Review: Half-Blood - Jennifer L. Armentrout

Paperback: 304 pages
Publisher: Spencer Hill Press; 1 edition (October 18, 2011)
Language: English

The Hematoi descend from the unions of gods and mortals, and the children of two Hematoi-pure-bloods-have godlike powers. Children of Hematoi and mortals-well, not so much. Half-bloods only have two options: become trained Sentinels who hunt and kill daimons or become servants in the homes of the pures. Seventeen-year-old Alexandria would rather risk her life fighting than waste it scrubbing toilets, but she may end up slumming it anyway. There are several rules that students at the Covenant must follow. Alex has problems with them all, but especially rule #1:Relationships between pures and halfs are forbidden. Unfortunately, she's crushing hard on the totally hot pure-blood Aiden. But falling for Aiden isn't her biggest problem--staying alive long enough to graduate the Covenant and become a Sentinel is. If she fails in her duty, she faces a future worse than death or slavery: being turned into a daimon, and being hunted by Aiden. And that would kind of suck.

I wasn't sure what I was getting into when I started this one. I read just as many great reviews as I did negative. I have to say though while I see the things the negative reviews mentioned none of it bothered me. But the good things I read, I whole heartedly agree with. 

In the beginning we meet Alex who is a half blood, she is running away from daimons and not quite getting away. Enter Aiden and company to the rescue. From there we are submerged into the lives, beliefs, and ways of the Pures and Half-Bloods. Alex is dangerously close to becoming a servant in the home of her Pure stepfather. all she wants is to finish her training and become a sentinel. The problem? Her mother took her and ran away which put Alex very far behind in her training. Aiden the very hott Pure volunteered to train her during the summer to try to get her caught up with the others her age.  During all this Alex starts to feel things for Aiden, which is very bad news, Half-Bloods and Pures are not allowed to be together. As more problems are laid at her feet we watch Alex step up to the plate. she doesn't back down, she does things that I would never be able to do. She learns her destiny and even though she isn't happy with it, she stares it in the face. 

Alex is a strong character who amazed me over and over throughout this book. The action was tense and exciting. The lore behind this world sucked me in. Aiden was another great character who usually left me in a puddle on the floor. I think I'm babbling hehe. Jennifer has made a huge fan out of me. Rich lore, great characters, plenty of action, snark, and some steamy bits! This one gets 5 stars from me!