Obsidian is just Twilight with Aliens

[@JamesTullos]

I forgot to mention that one of the positive reviews on the cover is from RT Book Reviews. If Russian state propaganda thinks it's good, it really must be special.

[@Strannik01]

I just want to point out that the "RT" in _RT Book Reviews_ stands for "Romantic Times," not "Russia Today." _Romantic Times_ was a major (maybe only) magazine, at least in United States, dedicated to romance novels.

[@redforest9269]

@@Strannik01 We're lucky James isn't a news host, then. XD

[@Strannik01]

@@redforest9269 James is lucky that he didn't put that in the video. Editing it would've been a pain. As it is, it's just a comment, and we can all have a good chuckle about it.

[@redforest9269]

@@Strannik01 That was what I was doing? Was there confusion? O.o

[@zainmudassir2964]

I like RT

[@abbey5899]

I really like that you’re completely willing to engage with YA romance on their level, and criticize the execution as they fit within that genre instead of the more common ‘oh no its full of romance trope’ criticism

[@danklegosi6084]

Yeah romance is great,and if done well it really elevates stories to new heights. I enjoy a nice touch of interesting romance beats or elements

[@marl3ymarl3y86]

“I feel very seen, but very attacked” quote of the century for all occasions

[@n.l.g.6401]

"Why is the love interest always a dick to the protagonist at the beginning of these books?" EMMYBRONTE has entered the chat. SPEARSHAKER69 has entered the chat. AUSTENTATIOUSJANE had entered the chat.

[@Starkiller111100]

On the one hand, I applaud your masochistic work. On the other hand, if you didn't make these videos, I would live in blissful ignorance of the existence of these... literary pieces.

[@arnouth5260]

More like shit-erary pieces, ha. I’ll see myself out.

[@cassiemoyles4177]

Generous wording....

[@RawbeardX]

sparkling aliens would have been a banger for the green screen

[@waveringeyes8277]

I like how "twilight-clone" has now become a genre

[@LittleMissLounge]

The whole male-lead-being-an-ass-to-the-female-lead trope has been a thing since the days of early cinema. I'm sure there are early literary and staged examples, too-especially since a lot of them were adapted to film-but I'm not as well-versed in those. Actually, now that I think about it, regency-era literature went to that well quite a bit. Also Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing. I guess you could include The Taming of the Shrew, but I fucking hate that play, so I don't. IMO, it's only fun when the female lead claps back. Otherwise it's just some dude being an asshole to a woman for most of the story until he has an implausible change of heart. I don't see how that could be appealing, even to fans of you-can-fix-him-with-love stories.

[@AbelDuviant]

Hating the taming of the shrew is so fucking based holy shit. I remember seeing a movie adaptation of that and just being appalled at the message of it. It was a modern version, and in the end it ended up being like "Women should obey and be submissive. Don't get a prenup, everything should go to your husband. Be submissive and you'll be happy." Hated it. So much.

[@lunab541]

@@AbelDuviant thankfully theres a movie called Bluebeard's Eight Wife that makes fun of the concept of the taming of the shrew. I never thought I would feel vindicated by a 1930's movie but there you go

[@nhmisnomer]

Pride & Prejudice is the earliest romance book I'm aware of that used the trope. But it's great b/c while Darcy was a complete dick, he realized it over time and made direct amends for it. Lesser talents use the trope with no real character arc.

[@morethanjustasloth5528]

Nothing annoys me more than a story that makes aliens mundane. How come an acid trip can inspire crazy shit like lizard people who hatched from the moon and made Facebook or Archons from higher dimensions farming our negative emotions, but the best most professional writers can do is make things that act just like humans with a few weird traits or superpowers?

[@douglasdea637]

I agree. Last year I read some of John Norman's Gor books. What surprised me was that his aliens, the Priest-Kings, feel alien. They aren't just humans in rubber suits.

[@morethanjustasloth5528]

@@douglasdea637 For me it was Asimov's *The Gods Themselves.* Not one of my favorites, but I love how the aliens from the other universe actually felt like they were from another universe, while also not handwaving away the details by claiming they're beyond our comprehension or something, going so far as to have major parts of the story happen from the perspective of the aliens.

[@douglasdea637]

@@morethanjustasloth5528 On the other hand, I'm currently reading James P. Hogan's Giants series and unfortunately the aliens are just Humans in funny suits. (In the second book, when we get to meet them, we don't even learn what they call themselves.) It reads like a soft Star Trek story.

[@petrfedor1851]

May I suggest giving shot to All Tommorows. It depict future of humanity on scale over half billion years where our descents throw evolution and genetic ingeneering (done by people themself And forced uppon them by external forces) becomes alien creatures. And some regular aliens show up as well.

[@nicole7884]

I really like how fair you are. I watch a lot of book reviewers; some seem to only read or talk about books they hate for the entertainment factor. But you seem to watch/read a variety of things and really seem to want to like or at least give everything a chance. As if your doing this from some sense of actual enjoyment and it makes me want to go out and try to read new things as well

[@arnouth5260]

One small correction: due to the expansion of the universe, the observable universe actually has a radius of 46.5 billion lightyears, not 13 billion.

[@jonathanmulondo9206]

I guess Twilight really did have a major impact on the "paranormal" romance and teen soap opera genres. Practically every major YA novel that comes out is like Twilight

[@zelassin]

did paranormal romance exist at all before twilight? never been into it so i wouldn't know

[@jonathanmulondo9206]

@@zelassin sort of. Interview with a vampire could be considered the first major paranormal romance

[@Mecharnie_Dobbs]

@@jonathanmulondo9206 Were the characters teenagers?

[@Mecharnie_Dobbs]

Twilight had the biggest focus on the romance, to the exclusion of everything else, but supernatural beings in adventure stories need love too.

[@jonathanmulondo9206]

@@Mecharnie_Dobbs no. But in a weird Way the characters were like Teenagers in a sense

[@abcdef27669]

The story starts in West Virginia. '"Almost heaven", people!

[@dxlltopia]

😔 my current wip started as twilight with aliens but now it’s like a sci fi/ fantasy adventure novel

[@marl3ymarl3y86]

It’s only up from there

[@annaelisabethgeissler]

my wip started as genderbent twilight without aliens and now includes aliens... fascinating how that works XD

[@johannageisel5390]

Oh, please tell me more! (Both of you.) I'm curious. My current WIP is aliens without Twilight. XD

[@annaelisabethgeissler]

@@johannageisel5390 Mine is basically shy boy meets old vampire girl, they have to deal with problems from her past and over the course of like the first two books they slowly fall in love. Book three starts like 500 years later in the future, where aliens from a nearby planet finally deem earth worthy of a visit, and it turns out that vampires are actually a sort of failed science experiment from that alien planet, sent to earth a few thousand years ago in hopes of getting rid of them.... It makes more sense with more details, this is the very, veeery shot version. XD

[@johannageisel5390]

@@annaelisabethgeissler That sounds pretty interesting! Hope you succeed. :)

[@funpolice5821]

Say no more! You had me when you told me that the legend that is Damon is the champion of karate and friendship for everyone.

[@OLISAxo]

Clicked on this sooo fast because yes, twilight with aliens is a very accurate description of this book. Please please read her Half Blood series, I keep trying to decide if that story has stuck with me because it's so good(??) or so bad. Either way it's the series of hers I finished but couldn't get through this one

[@kathyross9903]

Read vampire academy. Jennifer copied Richelle Mead.

[@kathyross9903]

Half blood series is a ripoff of vampire academy

[@TaffyLaffy91]

Lol this used to be one of my favorites of the twilight era. I think I was mostly intrigued by the genetic side of everything. I think towards the end of the second book and then the rest of the series’ plot onwise, the government messing with dna being a huge point was the most insane thing I have ever read as a child. I do hope you continue the series, I’d love to know your take on the rest of it because this book felt like a fake out to me, for the rest of the series hahaha. Could be nostalgia talking, though.

[@petrfedor1851]

I see someone who might enjoy All Tommorows then.

[@rchyl198sj]

I remember being sooo obsessed with this and then completely forgetting about it

[@marianamauricio]

"I feel very seen but at the same time I feel very attacked" lmao

[@rsync9490]

Beings of light? Sounds like the Tennysons from Ben 10 who are hybrids of some energy aliens.

[@mathiasmittge7587]

Time to start the XCOM project

[@mortimizer232]

But what if the quirked up alien would hypothetically be goated with the sauce?

[@marl3ymarl3y86]

Oh god will the UFO bust it down sexual style?

[@bigbadbox6023]

Gotta say, the video title got me intrigued.

[@prcervi]

this video has sprung into the front of my mind a YA novel i read back in middle school, something secret aliens hiding on earth and protagonist dude is one but doesn't know also that the alien form is some peachy fuzz colored things i remember it being not shit but at the time my standards weren't great

[@dismahkitteh3873]

do ya mean i am number four? like i remember the movie version being terrible

[@prcervi]

@@dismahkitteh3873 no it wasn't that one, protag was definitely unknowing of the fact he was an alien, was a high schooler and had a bit of a romance going with one girl only other major thing i recall is dude had to get twice(?) yearly injections to stay human looking and was basically bedridden for a few days because of it, and when he skipped an injection he turned into the alien form and was told he couldn't restart them and shift back

[@artenkey7645]

5:54 "I'm in this picture and I don't like it"

[@AshitakaSan20011985]

i fear you criticizing my future books. Your analysis is premiere and quite astute. I hope I become good enough a writer to get a good review from you.

[@funlover163]

If I become popular enough to recieve a review as moderately critical as this one, I will have made it

[@towards_the_flame]

the title of the video makes me want to read the book very very badly

[@safetyawareness5353]

12:08 Get it! Get it! GET IT! because he’s a LUX!

[@spaghetto9836]

Bro, I didn't know Obsidian was a _real_ book. I played it on one of those visual novel games on the app store (like Choices, Episodes, Chapters, y'know). One of the "books" there was called Obsidian, & as you kept talking the plot felt more and more familiar, until you got to Daman Black with deep green eyes, his sister Dee and the fact they're made of light- then I knew I played the same story. The game version was... enjoyable despite its flaws? I mean it's been years since I uninstalled the app. I remember it had the same tropes we're all tired of and the pacing was wonky, so my expectations were low. I was also so confused as to what Daman was. It wasn't clear if he was an angel, demon or vampire (I didn't finish the story btw), but I NEVER would've thought he was an alien 🤣. He was hotter in the game too, and somehow they made the "guy being rude" cliché work/be charming. Maybe it's just me remembering my teenage reaction to it, but I'm glad I got to know a bit more through your critique. I'd like if you told us what happens in the next books, but it's up to you 😊.

[@AndromedaD]

OOOOOOOHHHHH, I was thinking of "Oblivion", and was even more confused. "Twilight with aliens? Okay, I thought it was a demonic incursion, but I didn't get very far before going back to Skyrim."

[@gaiusfulmen]

Truly the best Twilight-Type novel in the universe.

[@dummyaccount.k]

my school friend was super into this and got me to start a book reveiw blog with her bacause thats whay caty does. i started watching you around that time because i wanted to be good at it and impress my friend (and the internet)

[@Red-USA]

Nice Sunny in Philadelphia reference!

[@norma8686]

Jennifer Armentrout is not a noob author, she has written quite a few series. The problem with her writing I find is, it starts very interesting and fun, then in the second book it hits a wall and then things pick up in the third book but things are slow. But usually her first book is always the best in the series, the other ones...

[@jamesfrederick.]

I miss Jesus Tullos

[@helloitsmealeks7958]

Not the Titel being the exact reason why I loved it at 15 😂 I was soooo obsessed with this omg.

[@2dimitropolis370]

I laughed the whole video. Thank you

[@neutralclownpose3928]

I thought for so long the name of thay one patron was "cat kitsune". Hearing the Kar made me sad

[@loadendiaper]

12 year old me was obsessed with the obsidian series. Please do a video and the from blood and ash series by the same author. You will be highly entertained.

[@lunamoona7149]

Screaming at the dayman reference lmao

[@milestrombley1466]

The Rosewell TV show is similar too.

[@marocat4749]

You are right :O , its probably the usual tropes and its better at making that reasonale and why they are so close and secretive and not untreasonable superpowered strong, and they are actual teenager, but it is oddly similar

[@marocat4749]

Yes including they are refugees and not , james should watch roswell.

[@Mecharnie_Dobbs]

Was there a human love-interest in Roswell? If there was, it's a weirdly unmemorable aspect of it. One of the main aliens had something going on with a different sort of alien though.

[@massaosaito4084]

Well, that rview got personal to you James XD Can imagine your reaction XD

[@larissarilling1928]

2:41 you should check out the german cover, it’s really pretty actually

[@NateReadsDiversely]

I have never clicked so fast

[@cjandrews6967]

Love your book reviews keep it up

[@CelticGuardian7]

Wait, a YA romance novel where the main couple DOESN'T proclaim their immediate love? Stop the presses!

[@ItsDragonsAllTheWayDown]

Do some more full-length narration of your favorites. You're my favorite person to listen to for obscene lengths of awful books.

[@sophiaaretuza]

God I remember those. Read some of them bc a friend liked the series but stopped around book four or something. I think I just wasn't interested in the plot or the characters enough to finish the series despite my friend wanting me to oops

[@larissarilling1928]

hell yes, finally someone has the courage to say it

[@fatchins9126]

Stellaris Xenocompatibility :flushed:

[@Nudibranch_]

👽

[@eliasbischoff176]

I agree

[@Lonewolf360gaming]

From the title I can assume shiny people, convoluted plot and horrible relationships

[@morethanjustasloth5528]

THEY GLOW IN THE DARK. YOU CAN SEE EM WHEN YOURE DRIVING.

[@joksizantos7520]

whats with the sonic characters on thumbnails

[@eliasbischoff176]

Knowing James, it probably takes a 50 page essay to explain some joke that is hidden very deep within the book somewhere and when you finally understand it, you are mad at him, but it's still funny as shit. (I meant the general "you" not you in particular)

[@mathuasher9184]

Good video. Still hoping to see him review anything by R.A Salvatore.

[@ieatbatteries7]

The classic camera set up works best for the detailed book reviews since they are longer and don't really need visuals to keep it interesting because most people are probably alt-tabing. Maybe use the green screen for videos about broader topics or shorter stuff.

[@Barakon]

So Obsidian is a weird gender swapped SU AU version of twilight? Lmao.

[@unslaadkrosis9435]

Is there a demon version too

[@remuslazar2033]

I am number 4 seemed like a Twilight for boys with aliens. I mean I only saw the movie

[@dabestestgoblin8495]

What happened to your magnificient hair

[@mitchellhouser1572]

We need this to get views! Comment posted!

[@kingofflamingos4344]

First

[@eliasbischoff176]

So it's a rocky horror picture show but straight and boring?

[@daniel0_o861]

👽