Review: Apollyon

APOLLYON
Covenant #4
Jennifer Armentrout
Paranormal Young Adult
Spencer Hill Press
Available April 9th
Received from publisher for review

THE STORY (from Goodreads)
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.

MY THOUGHTS
After the heart-stopping cliffhanger of Deity, we enter into this fourth installment of the Covenant series with no shortage of trepidation, wondering when or if the Alex we’ve laughed with, hunted with, and lost with will return to us as we so desperately wish her to. Ms. Armentrout could have easily alienated readers with this book, dragging out the ramifications of the prior book with excruciating slowness until we were nothing but seething masses of frustration longing for the moment when Alex overcomes her altered state. Luckily for us however, she gives us just enough time with an Alex we don’t recognize to have us gripping the pages with white knuckles before the real world snaps back into focus and our dark journey with Alex begins once again.

For three books Alex has been a young women in possession of inordinate strength and courage, but accompanying those positive attributes has been a recklessness stemming from a youthful sense of invincibility, making her a balanced though, at times, frustrating young woman. She has steadily grown throughout the series–never one to shy away from admitting to and owning her mistakes–but in this newest installment her maturity reaches an entirely new level, and we can’t help but glory in the woman she is becoming. While the bravado and the snark are still present and accounted for (after all, she wouldn’t really be Alex without them), she’s much quicker to curb her infamous temper before it erupts and creates problems for her or others, and she truly thinks before leaping into action.

Her relationship with Aiden, previously a main source of tension in the books, plays the exact opposite role in Apollyon, instead becoming a source of comfort and much-needed light that wards of the ever-encroaching darkness. There is of course still a tidal wave of complicated emotions resulting from both of their actions when Alex was fully in Seth’s thrall, but despite their lingering hurt and guilt, they finally stand fully as a team, hiding from neither those around them nor from themselves. As much as we delight in their feelings for one another, their happiness only adds another layer to the sense of unease that’s been building from the first page, and we're left to wonder just how many physical and emotional blows it will take to dull their shine.

Though Alex has faced many a seemingly insurmountable obstacle in books prior, at no time has defeat seemed as much a possibility as it does in Apollyon, and we emerge from the final chapter physical exhausted from holding every muscle taut for the hours we’ve been reading. We’re spared a cliffhanger as dramatic as Deity’s, though Alex’s future is certainly not one to be described as bright in the final chapters, but just as we’re skating the razor’s edge and about ready to tip over into blackness, Ms. Arementrout comes through with a brush trailing a silver lining in its wake, casting just enough of a glow that we don’t feel the stifling presence of certain death so strongly.

Rating: 4/5

Author Interview: Jennifer Armentrout

I'm beyond thrilled today to welcome author Jennifer Armentrout back to the blog to answer some questions about the latest novel in her Covenant series, Deity. I'm a huge fan of these books, and also more than slightly in love with Aiden, so if you haven't had a chance to pick them up yet, I hope they make their way to the top of your list soon! For me this series just keeps getting better, and Deity had me riveted from action-packed beginning to action-packed end (read my review for both Pure and Deity HERE), so be prepared to set aside a solid block of reading time if and when you pick this one up.

Let’s say Alex, Aiden and Seth are accompanying you to a book signing for Deity. What introductory question might Alex ask each boy so the audience could get to know them better?
 
I’m not sure any question Alex would pick would serve any true purpose other than to amuse her. She would probably ask Seth why he thought he was so awesome and ask Aiden why is he so fascinated with James Bond.

If you had to pick a single scene from any of the books to write from Aiden’s point of view just to get in his head, which would you choose and why?

There’s a certain scene in Deity I’d love to do in his POV. Well, two scenes. One involves Linard and, well, there is another one. 

If you were at the Covenant and had to undergo all the training that Alex and company do to learn to fight and kill Daimons, in what area do you think you’d excel (hand to hand, particular weapon specialty, strategy etc.)?

I would love to say something with knives and daggers, because that sounds super cool, but I know I would suck at that. You should see me playing darts. RUN! I think I would be good at grappling.

Neither Seth nor Alex love the bond between them that allows them to occasionally pick up on the emotional state of the other, but what might each of them say is one positive thing about their connection?

They both would agree it lets each of the know when the other is in trouble—typically. Sometimes distance lessens the bond, but it helps them know if something is going down.

You can bring in one villain from another book for Alex and Aiden to test their mettle against. Who do you think they’d enjoy facing the most, and who would best give the two of them a run for their money?

I would bring in a truck load of demons from any book that had demons running amuck in them. I think both Alex and Aiden would need a lot to test their skills. Outside the demons, I think Alex would enjoy fighting dementors from Harry Potter (did I spell that right???) and Aiden would like to square off against a dragon. He’s got a thing for fire.

What’s your single favorite element of the world you created in the Covenant series?

The society. It’s something that a lot of readers dislike, but they’re supposed to dislike the society. I based it on ancient Greek civilization during the time they worshipped gods. It was a really stratified society that wasn’t fair. It creates the perfect backdrop for the story.

Deity concludes on a rather epic cliffhanger. What book has the most intense cliffhanger you’ve ever read and how long was the wait until the next installment?

Oh gosh, I’m trying to think here. I usually hate cliffhangers… when I’m not writing them. Ha! I can’t think of one, but it always feels like a thousand years before the next one comes out.

Thanks so much for taking the time to answer my questions Jennifer! More information on Jennifer and her books can be found here:

Website
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Buy Deity on Amazon

DEITY 

Alexandria isn't sure she's going to make it to her eighteenth birthday--to her Awakening. A long-forgotten, fanatical order is out to kill her, and if the Council ever discovers what she did in the Catskills, she's a goner... and so is Aiden.

If that's not freaky enough, whenever Alex and Seth spend time "training"--which really is just Seth's code word for some up-close and personal one-on-one time--she ends up with another mark of the Apollyon, which brings her one step closer to Awakening ahead of schedule. Awesome.

But as her birthday draws near, her entire world shatters with a startling revelation and she's caught between love and Fate. One will do anything to protect her. One has been lying to her since the beginning. Once the gods have revealed themselves, unleashing their wrath, lives will be irrevocably changed... and destroyed.

Those left standing will discover if love is truly greater than Fate...

New Half-Blood Trailer + Contest

Hey Everyone! Jennifer Armentrout has released the third and final trailer for her upcoming young adult release Half-Blood and it makes me want to read this book all over again. Half-Blood will be releasing on October 18th, and this is not one you want to miss, so be sure and mark your calendars!

In conjunction with the release of the latest trailer, Jennifer is holding a contest on her blog to win 2 signed ARCs of Half-Blood, so be sure and pop over to her blog HERE to enter!



HALF BLOOD (from Goodreads)

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.

Review: Half-Blood

HALF-BLOOD
(Covenant Novel #1)
Jennifer Armentrout
Paranormal Young Adult
281 pages
Spencer Hill Press
Available October 18th
Received from publisher for review

THE STORY
Alex has just seen her mother killed by daimons–pure-bloods (powerful descendants of demigods who can control the four elements) who have been seduced by the aether in the blood of their race and turned into murdering monsters–and now she's on the run from them all by herself. Luckily for her, pure-blood Aiden St. Delphi finds her in an abandoned warehouse, saves her from two daimons, and drags her back to the Covenant where she lived her whole life until her mother took her and ran away three years ago.

Given that she's a half-blood, Alex only has two choices for her future: become a Sentinel and fight daimons to protect the pures, or become a slave to those same people and work in their homes. Alex is certain of the choice she wants to make, however, her absence has put her behind her classmates and she must prove she's ready to rejoin them in the fall if she hopes to continue her training. Volunteering to help her get caught up, Aiden makes Alex's life both easier and infinitely harder.

Half-bloods and pure-bloods are absolutely forbidden from entering into relationships with each other, and Alex has been nursing a crush on Aiden since she was fourteen, making her training sessions a type of beautiful torture. Aiden doesn't treat her like most pures do halfs, showing her respect and kindness, but when the reason for Alex's mother's behavior those three years ago comes to light and new discoveries are made about the daimons, Alex realizes the rule keeping her from Aiden is the smallest of her problems.

MY THOUGHTS
Half-Blood picks us up and deftly tosses us straight into the middle of danger and death with our heroine, giving us little time to get our bearings before we're holding our breath and tensing and releasing our muscles as Alex fights for her life in the opening pages. The action-packed beginning guarantees our immediate involvement in Alex's story, and our connection to her only grows stronger as we begin to see the young woman behind the fighter as well as the mourning daughter behind the smart mouth and bravado. Ms. Armentrout does a positively brilliant job of revealing her world a piece at a time, ensuring we are never left wandering haplessly in the unknown but also making sure we are never so fully informed that we become complacent and lose the addicting tension created when our curiosity is continually piqued.

Alex is a girl whom it's easy to admire, surviving numerous tragedies and horrific encounters in the first few pages to show us just how strong she is physically and mentally, but she also allows us a peek behind that strength by giving us access to the emotions and vulnerabilities that take our bond to her from a pretty solid one to an unbreakable one. Though she often acts out and makes decisions that complicate the lives of those attempting to help her, she harbors no delusions about her recklessness, instead fully embracing it with the knowledge that any inaction on her part would cut just as deeply–if not deeper–than any wound inflicted in battle. She has a quick wit and sass in spades, and we can't help but appreciate that she's never hindered by blinders with regard to her behavior, and even though we know as well as she does that certain choices will lead her in a disastrous direction, we find ourselves urging her forward anyway, ready to stand beside her and face whatever comes our way.

Her relationship with Aiden is one of delightful apprehension, the forbidden nature of it making every look and every minuscule gesture more intense as we analyze their every interaction for a sign of mutual interest. The impossibility of their romance also allows the build up of their feelings to be beautifully but agonizingly slow, our entire bodies attuned to their every movement–wishing, hoping, and wondering how things will play out between the two of them. Though Seth is introduced to the mix a bit later in the book, in this first installment he is not a true threat to Alex's feelings for Aiden (though it certainly seems as though this will not always be the case), allowing the totality of our fixation to remain on Aiden alone to our utter delight. Seth is a young man we undoubtedly want to know more about, but for the moment we are content for him to not yet be the third point of a love triangle.

One small issue that keeps this story from being paranormal young adult perfection is a somewhat inescapable similarity to Richelle Mead's Vampire Academy with regard to a few core elements. There's the half-blood/pure-blood/daimon dynamic in Half-Blood which mimic's Vampire Academy's dhampir/moroi/strigoi relationship quite closely. Then both feature mouthy, headstrong heroines returning to school after an extended absence only to be forced into extra training sessions with an attractive but off-limits young man. Even with the readily apparent comparisons however, it becomes clear as we read further that we are dealing with two very different architects, writers who layer their brick and stone in unique patterns and create intricacies that result in vastly different finished pieces despite the nearly identical foundations.

Rating: 4.5/5