Becky's View: Apollyon by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Apollyon by Jennifer L. Armentrout
♦publisher: Spencer Hill Press
♦release date: April 4th, 2013
♦paperback, 360 pages
♦intended audience: Young adult
♦series: Covenant, book 4
  reviews of Half-Blood, Pure, & Deity
♦source: from publisher for honest review

Fate isn’t something to mess with… and now, neither is Alex.

Alex has always feared two things: losing herself in the Awakening and being placed on the Elixir. But love has always been stronger than Fate, and Aiden St. Delphi is willing to make war on the gods—and Alex herself—to bring her back.

The gods have killed thousands and could destroy entire cities in their quest to stop Seth from taking Alex’s power and becoming the all-powerful God Killer. But breaking Alex’s connection to Seth isn’t the only problem. There are a few pesky little loopholes in the whole “an Apollyon can’t be killed” theory, and the only person who might know how to stop the destruction has been dead for centuries.

Finding their way past the barriers that guard the Underworld, searching for one soul among countless millions, and then somehow returning will be hard enough. Alex might be able to keep Seth from becoming the God Killer… or she might become the God Killer herself.

Review:  The covenant series continues to wow readers with heart-stopping action, Olympian-size danger, and an intense love story.  While I continue to really enjoy this series, I have to admit that so far, Apollyon is my least favorite of the four.  Now bear with me, because I have my reasons for that, and from other reviews that I’ve read I am in the minority about the things that bothered me in this one.  So definitely don’t let what I’m about to say deter you from this awesome story. 

So let’s get it out of the way---the few things that I didn’t like:  (and I know I’m going to be in the minority on this one, especially you romance readers out there!) As much as I love Aidan (and I do) and I love Alex and Aiden together (because I’m definitely team Aidan), I thought there was too much making out. *ducks to avoid books flying at me* *peeks out* Is it safe? Ok. :)  Also, I thought hearing about the silvery shifts in Aidan’s eyes was a little repetitive.  I love the guy, I do---brave, loyal, romantic, honest, and serious kick-ass.  But really, he must betray some emotion in other ways than if his eyes are a steele gray or silvery pools.

Also, of all four books so far, this one felt the most like the “bridge” book, delivering us to the finale in book 5.  There were some great high-impact surprises this time around and a few really great plot spikes, but there was also a lot of training and waiting and  traveling and preparing for what is inevitably to come in the grand finale.

But all griping aside---I still really enjoyed this book.  Alex is just as kick-ass of a heroine as always.  I still love the way she has her whiney moments, but she totally owns up to them. Her sharp tongue is just as quick as ever.  We get a bit of a painful shock at the very beginning, seeing her so very opposite of the Alex we’ve come to know and love, but she overcomes it as she has so many other things before.  There are some great emotional moments having to do with both Alex and Aiden’s parents, and also with Alex’s  school “archenemy”, Lea---it’s great to see how their relationship kind of shifts and grows this time around, and makes one thing that happens hit all the more grimly.  And I love how things have developed between Alex and Marcus.

Once again, Armentrout’s writing and storytelling are really well done and she expertly knows how to draw us in to really caring about these characters, including  Seth (who we hardly get to see this time around, but enough to leave me conflicted about him and his evil ways!) and make the big moments pack a huge emotional punch.   

A great addition to this series, Apollyon is a superfast-paced, exciting read, despite the few little quirks I had with it.  Bring on book 5, Sentinal--- it should be one amazing grand finale!!

Find Jennifer L. Armentrout online: Website  •  Twitter  •  Facebook

Purchase Apollyon: Amazon  • BookDepository  •  Indiebound