Apollyon

4.5/5 stars.

Okay. Wow. All of the previous love triangle complaints (along with others)? Totally gone. JLA knows what she's doing, and she shows us that in "Apollyon". While some of the Big Reveals I saw coming (or rather, they were kind of obvious when reflecting on the rest of the books so far), this book? Definitely a non-stop rollercoaster ride of a book. Especially in the feels department. My feels got their feels kicked in the feels multiple times throughout this book. If you've started your journey with "Half-Blood", you simply must continue it with the penultimate book in the series, "Apollyon".

I feel like Armentrout really upped her game in this one. Perhaps because there's so much at stake, or perhaps she's really finally show more hitting her stride within writing as a whole, or just in this series by itself. Either way, this is one hell of a book. While I admit I still haven't read "Elixir" (the bridging novella between books 3 and 4), I don't think it's a mandatory read for everyone reading this series. It might explain a few things that go on in this book a bit deeper, but otherwise, I felt fine navigating without it.

What really impressed me was the fact that there are quite a few "tough stuff" issues in this book that JLA drops in (whether she's actively conscious of it or not) couched in Alex's story. Addiction, survivor's guilt, PTSD - all of these issues are dealt with through everything that happens in this book. It's not even really noticiable until you get to the end of the book, and you realize what these characters have gone through, and are continuing to go through in order to heal and keep moving. Usually, I'm not really for having "tough stuff" issues mixed into my PNR books, but JLA makes it work. And I'm glad she included them, because it does kind of give the reader hope, and gives the message that yes, all of this will pass - though it may not be easy on the road to recovery. And that's exactly where we find Alex (Addiction/Survivor's Guilt/PTSD), Aiden (Survivor's Guilt/General Guilt), and Seth (Addiction) in this particular volume of this series.

To write this review spoiler-free is getting increasingly difficult, but I'll do my best. What I will say though about the Big Reveal on the Big Bad - look through the rest of the books/novellas so far, and then think on it. It gets obvious after that. I admit that JLA has woven a very fun puzzle into the "who's the real antagonist?" question of this series, and once we find out, it does kinda seem not much like a Big Reveal, but just an answer to a question that's been there all along that we had to fight for. And the emotional payoff for that? Totally worth working on that puzzle in the end of things. JLA knows how to build a story, a book, a world by now, and so with "Apollyon", I've handed over my trust just because of this very extensive puzzle that I didn't even realize was there until this book.

Aside from a few editing issues, the technical aspects of this book or more or less perfect (really, JLA gets better and better with each book in each technical area), so I'll be talking about other feels I had about this book instead. First: the action. It doesn't stop. The tension doesn't stop. The pacing is excellent - brisk, but not too brisk so that we can't linger where we need to linger, and the tension of a brewing war between Alex, Seth, the Half-Bloods, the Pure-Bloods, humanity, and the Gods is constantly there. The fight scenes were over the top awesome, as were the monsters when we return to the Underworld. There is a LOT of fighting in this book, and it was great to see Aiden and Alex being a team (in more ways than one, if you catch my drift) in those fights. Loved those parts of the book.

And while the love triangle finally gets solved, there's still friendship and a deep bond between Seth and Alex - so much so that she's willing to help him with his uh, Akasha addiction (for lack of a better term for it), and willing to help him get better. Since there's no real rehab for it, one must fight their way out of it. I thought this was a great metaphor for real addiction. There's also Alex's PTSD with dealing with both Seth taking her power and Aiden giving her the Elixir (plus everything else she's dealt with since the very first novella), but she deals with it well. She deals with it in a healthy way - by reflecting on it, going through it, and then channeling it into something more healthy - which in this case, is helping to fight alongside Aiden. And then there's Aiden's survivor's guilt which we really see (and it was nice to see him feeling so guilty and so terrible about things, it feels like we didn't get to see that as much in previous books) and wanting to make up for not only having to force the Elixir on Alex, but his own guilt with surviving previous attacks on the council and on Deity Island.

Basically, we get a really good, hard look into the hearts of these characters in a way that we haven't before - and I loved it.

The world continues to expand with new places, and expanding on old places (the Underworld) with new characters taking our heroes to places in order to fulfill their quest. The sensory language is extremely vivid and really leaps off the page in a way that it hasn't before. There's also the great pop culture references (mentioning "Supernatural" was a great touch) as was the tongue-in-cheek self-mention on JLA's other current ongoing series, "Lux" - though not by name.

Final verdict? This book is Armentrout's best yet, and definitely makes me want to hit the pre-order button for "Sentinel" (the last in the series). It's really THAT good. But don't take my word for it. "Apollyon" will be out from Spencer Hill Press in North America on April 9, 2013, so be sure to check it out then! Definitely one of the best of 2013 so far.

(posted to goodreads, shelfari, librarything, and birthofanewwitch.wordpress.com) show less

This review may contain spoilers, so fair warning, upon reading the review. Also my tags may have spoilers in them so be forewarned before checking out full review.

Book Evaluation:
Plot: 🎞️🎞️🎞️🎞️🎞️
World Building:🌎🌎🌎🌎🌎
Cover:📔📔📔📔📔
Hero: 🦸🏻🦸🏻🦸🏻🦸🏻🦸🏻
Heroine:🦸🏻‍♀️🦸🏻‍♀️🦸🏻‍♀️🦸🏻‍♀️🦸🏻‍♀️
Intimacy Level: 🔥🔥
Relationship Building: 💒💒💒💒💒
Heart & Feels:💞💞💞💞💞
Witty/Banter/Reaction of Laughter: 😂😂😂😂
Page Turner Level:📖📖📖📖📖
Narration:🎧🎧🎧🎧🎧
Ending:🧧🧧🧧🧧🧧
Overall View: ✨✨✨✨✨

First Impressions
Apollyon is the fourth show more installment in the "Covenant" series. And this is where we see some of the plot aspects of the story really come together. This book takes off right after the ending of "Elixir" where we have our heroine who is still lost to the bond that she has with Seth and this story is about breaking that bond, finding herself again, connecting with Adrian and fighting for her fate. Its a story of self discovery and fighting for what is right no matter the cost. I am convince that Armentrout can't write a bad book!!!! And this series has been so compelling and intriguing and I don't want to put it down. I am so curious to see how we get a HEA and what happens with Seth to bring about the "Titans" series.

First Line
My blood itched for a fight.

The Main Protagonists
The Hero: Aiden St. Delphi
The Heroine: Alexandria "Alex" Andros

Summary
Alex is lost to the bond and there are many things to her bond to Seth that don't make sense and as Aiden is working on breaking that bond and making Alex believe in herself and find her identity, Alex finds her true strength and abilities. Alex discovers the truth about the bond and her love for Aiden is what gives her the capacity to find her own will and strength against Seth. But there is much more to defeating him than she and Aiden realize and it will take a journey into the underworld to discover the truth of what is fated. But the god behind Seth is not whom any of them expected and could be their destruction...

What I Loved
I just loved this book so deeply. Literally I fell so hard for this one even with the first quarter of Alex behind so "I belong to Seth ....Seth is everything ....I worship Seth lol" It could be annoying at times to be honest but thankfully this portion of the story doesn't last too long there. What I truly loved was Aiden and his determination to see Alex through breaking the bond. I loved his faith in Alex and he never gives up hope that they will find a way through it. We see some horrible things occur for the covenant but we also see the goodness and heart of those that survive the war. The journey into the underworld was my favorite aspect. I loved Alex connecting with Caleb. He is one of my favorite side characters in the series, other than Apollo and Marcus. We see some truths behind revealed about who is behind Seth and yeah I was pretty shocked about it and that ending was very intense but not the cliffhanger that I was expecting it to be but still a cliffhanger but won't kill you as a reader either. Not like the ending of Deity killed me lol But I am not going to be able to resist reading the last book for long. That just shows how good I am loving this author.

What I Struggled With
I didn't really struggle with much in this one. Its probably the strongest installment of the series. The beginning quarter might be not readers favorite because its where Alex has this obsessiveness with Seth. Other than that it was true perfection.

Narration
I LOVE Justine Eyre narrating this book. I have really only known her to do historicals so to see her do PNR/Mythological fantasy romances is a pure delight! She really has added in such a compelling nature to the series that has me hooked in doing these books in audio.

Overall View
Apollyon is a addictive wild ride that takes you through some tough emotions, curl your toes chemistry and a fantastic journey into legends and myths and thrills.

Book Details (also in my shelves)
Sub Genre: Mythological Fantasy Romance, Young/New Adult
Character Types: Demi Gods, Alpha Male, Protector
Themes: Heart/Emotionally Touching, Danger/Suspense
Tropes: Epic Love Saga

Book Perspective
1st POV

Relationship Conflict vs Plot Conflict
Plot Conflict

If you like these authors, I recommend This Book
Elisabeth Naughton
Gena Showalter
Harper L Woods

Recommendation For Reading Order
Yes....You NEED to read this series in order.

Steam/Spice Explanations

Simmering cup of tea---soft warm touches and light intimacy

Narrators:
Justine Eyre show less

I have been a fan of the Covenant series since the first paragraph of book 1. Not one of the books has disappointed me and APOLLYON followed in all their footsteps.

APOLLYON starts a short time after DEITY'S cliffhanger ending. Alex is completely connected to Seth through their bond and has eyes and thoughts only for him and getting to him. It frankly is really hard to witness knowing the love she has for Aiden. Every time she said "my Alex" I threw up a little in my mouth. Thankfully some events happen that has her fighting her way out of her weirdness and back to her normal Aiden loving self. I enjoyed the scenery of the underworld that was explained. It was a neat experience to follow Aiden and Alex on their journey. Alex and Aiden show more are still in love and fabulous together. They have some great scenes together and continue to grow. The action is just as good as earlier books. There is a great amount of suspense and surprises to keep you on your toes.

The ending. wow. That is about all that I can say about that. I kinda suspected that the god that was casing all the trouble was part of the trouble but I didn't have a clue that he was actually the god. Did that make sense? I tried to explain it so that there were no spoilers but you will get it once you read the book lol. SENTINEL is going to kick butt. show less

I loved, loved, loved this book. All of the installments in the series have been awesome, but this has been my favorite, along with Half-Blood. I am a huge fan of Jennifer Armentrout's and I love all of her books. Alex, however, is my favorite female main character, not just from this series, but she is on the top of my list from all the books I've read. She is snarky, loyal, loves fiercely, is absolutely hilarious at times, can be a little arrogant, is sometimes cocky, and is a total badass. I just love her. As far as the male main characters/love interests go, in the beginning, I liked Aiden, I mean he is a total hottie and absolutely swoon-worthy but he didn't quite do it for me, not like Daemon from the Lux series anyway. What I did show more like, and have always liked, is the chemistry between Aiden and Alex, which has always been off the charts hot, and get ready girls, cause it gets even hotter in Apollyon. In Pure, I switched to team Seth. He's a bad boy, and I have a weakness for them. He also seemed like a pretty good guy in Pure. In Deity, I fell in love with Aiden. He absolutely won my heart and I will never leave nor forsake him again. I am team Aiden forever. Till death do us part and all that jazz. In Elixir, you get to see another side of Aiden and I loved getting inside his head.

In Apollyon, everything gets more intense and even hotter in every sense of the word. If you haven't read Elixir, I would definitely do that before starting Apollyon. There are kick-ass battles with people, mythical beasts, and gods. There are hot and steamy love scenes, some really scary moments, some really sad moments, and some absolutely hilarious ones. The secondary characters in this story are so much fun and are such an integral part of the story. Jennifer Armentrout has done an outstanding job in writing them and I have become so attached to some of them also, especially Deacon. It's hard to write too much about what goes on without spoiling the series for someone, but trust me when I say, this is one series that you won't want to miss. I was captivated from beginning to end, laughing, wanting to ninja kick something, fanning my face, and then wanting to cry. Jennifer Armentrout has outdone herself yet once again with Apollyon. It is an absolutely amazing book from a truly gifted and talented author who has quickly shown the literary community just what she is made of. In fact, I think that there may be a little Alex living inside of Jennifer Armentrout as well. I bet she's even got some badass ninja moves herself. Seriously, if you haven't checked out this series, make the time to do so. You won't be disappointed. show less

This book has more action, more romance between Aiden and Alex, well sort of, as we have an evil Alex that is out for Aiden, while Aiden wants her to connection to Seth severed. This part of the story gives you all the feels, the struggle each character confronts, how the suspense and mystery behind it all keep you reading. I think this part of the series is what gives Aiden the award to be one of my top favorite book boyfriends ever. It is just brilliant. Alex, I love strong characters, and having her go ballistic is so entertaining and hooked me up bad from start to finish, I can't wait to see what happens next.

From start to finish, Apollyon is jam-packed with action. Aiden & co. struggle to deal with Alex’s transformation and determine which god is behind creating the second Apollyon to throw the world into chaos.

We don’t really dive too much further into the mythology than we have already, but we do learn more about Solaris and the First and we get to meet a few new gods.

While the quest to discover the mystery god was filled with action and kept me on the edge of my seat, it was very predictable. The god was the most likely candidate from the start (in my mind, anyway), and the more hints that were dropped, the more obvious it became.

While there are far more important things than love going on in the Apollyon world, I am happy to say show more that romance does not take a back seat in the story. Armentrout still sprinkles a very healthy dose of sweet nothings and swoon-worthy scenes throughout the story.

Filled with action and romance, Apollyon is another captivating installment in the Half-Blood series. Armentrout has done it again, leaving readers on the edge of their seat begging for the next installment. From the fabulous cast of characters to the mythological mysteries, Apollyon is definitely a must read. show less

I recommend you read the novella Elixir before you read Apollyon. Some of things that are talked about in the opening pages happened in Elixir. I highly recommend it. It is told from Aiden's PoV.

This book starts out with Alex in a cage and connected to Seth. Which was disturbing how much Seth got into Alex's head. Seth reaches new levels of creepy,controlling,and delusional in this book. I can't believe he believes Lucy(Lucian I call him Lucy because he is such a wimp). I hate Lucy even more for playing Seth. Who wants to be loved and listened to. I loved what made Alex break the bond with Seth. Aiden and Alex's relationship is great and perfect as ever. Watching Aiden not give up on Alex and his doing anything to save her was show more beautiful. Why do the bad guys always underestimate the most powerful emotion on earth? I read that scene more then once. Here is how I see how each guy is with Alex. Aiden is protective and Seth is possessive. Aiden is still struggling over having put Alex on the Elixir. Their relationship just keeps maturing with every hurtle they face. Alex really grows up in this novel and she isn't as reckless and doesn't act first think later.

The plot of this book is as fast paced as the others. From small towns in the middle of no where to the Underworld. What Alex and Aiden have to do to get into the Underworld is soul shattering. I know I couldn't do it. It is such a powerful scene for both characters but especially Aiden. Apollo is now my favorite god. I loved his character when he was Leon but now I love him even more. When I found out in the last book that Leon was Apollo I almost fell off my chair and the words What Do You Mean He Is A God? could be heard 3 houses down. Deacon and Luke are so cute together. Happy to finally know what made Lea and Alex such enemies. You also get to meet another Greek goddess. Which was surprising and very funny. I want to know more about Solos and my respect and love for Marcus was at an all time high in this book. It will always surprise me how JLA gets so much story and emotion into so few pages. JLA knows how to write heart stopping action packed endings. The last 140 pages were epic and that ending there are no words. show less