REVIEW: Apollyon (Covenant #4) by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Title: Apollyon
Series: Covenant #4
Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout
Publisher: Spencer Hill Press
Published: April 4th 2013
Format: Paperback | Pages: 343
Genres: YA, Paranormal, Mythology, Urban Fantasy, Romance
Source: Amazon
★★★★★ (5/5) Stars!!!

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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.

Intense doesn't even begin to cover what I experienced with what I just read. Between Apollyon and Elixir, that I read just before it, I came out of them both just a little bit broken. I'm almost scared to pick up Sentinel now and finish this series off! Everything has been building and building and just when I think it couldn't get anymore crazy I turn the page and I'm proven wrong. It was next to impossible to put this book down. That last day I read it I realized at midnight that it was inevitable that, sleep be damned, I was going to finish this book. Which is how I ended up sniffling into a tissue at 5am. I have no regrets.

We were nine. But somehow―in a way I couldn't explain but knew to be truth―I knew we weren't going to return as nine.

The thing I always seem to forget before picking up an urban fantasy/paranormal type of book by JLA is the fact that, yes, she gives us these brilliant characters, brilliant to the point that even when we hate them we are still just as in awe of how complex they are as we are for the ones that we love. She gives them to us and yet she also takes them away. I think that's the other thing that has me absolutely freaked out to read the last book. Some truly amazing characters have already been lost and I have about 5 or 6 that are among those still standing, that if anything happens to them...I'm not sure my heart will be able to take it. I look at all the death and destruction that came with the ending of Lux and I realize how very real the possibility is that the characters I love so much will not all be standing at the end.

He tapped the internal light once and it flicked on, then he turned it off. Shiny things must be distracting for gods, too.

Once again the mythology aspect is just perfection. I love the personalities and quirks she's given these well known gods and goddesses that we've met up to now. Some of them are down right scary and intense. Others are funny and do these quirky things that had me laughing so damn hard, which isn't exactly a good thing when it's the middle of the night and you're trying to read quietly. I mean, they're all still your typical Greek gods. They're full of ego and pretty self centered and have tendencies to be very cold and detached. But each one has had a certain something extra either fitting for who they are or just random attributes that pulls you in and makes you want more. They've been a lot of fun and entertainment.

We're in this together, Alex, to the end.

I started this series very firmly in the Team Seth camp. I didn't think it would be possible for me to be swayed from that stance. Aiden snuck up on me in Deity, though, and I've been enamored of him ever since and with each page I turn he works his way deeper and deeper into my heart. It's his passion and patience. The fact that when he believes in someone or something his absolute faith and optimism is incredible. He does not give up. He's fierce and he will fight for what or who he believes in through some of the worst and extremely intense situations. Reading Elixir really put me in awe of him. If I don't stop now I could quite easily sit here and sing his praises for hours. He's definitely made it to the top of the book boyfriends list.

Part of me died right then, maybe not a physical death, but on some mental, some emotional level I was good as dead. When all of this was over, I wouldn't be the same.

Oh. My. Gods. Alex has turned me upside down and inside out. This book was so hard to read through a lot of it because of her and the things that she goes through. She has always been so tough and confident, almost a bit too confident at times. I feel like she doesn't quite get that girl back since the events of the previous book. She's very broken and carrying around a lot of guilt over so many things. She really hurts my heart in this one. Occasionally you still see tiny sparks of that ass kicking, tough as nails girl that she starts out as but there's a lot of darkness in there too. I just want to hug her really tight and then smack her upside the head and tell her to shake it off! Honestly though, I think that seeing this side of her has just made her more real and more likable.

When the boys nodded my eyes rolled. "Seriously? Are Sam and Dean going to be there?"

I can't believe I'm already about to start the end of this series. I'm not even there yet but I miss it already. The vivid world building, the entire cast of deep and complex characters, the rollercoaster of emotions and all of the awesome references, most especially for Supernatural. Everything that you've come to love and expect from a JLA series is in here. Contemporary, aliens, gargoyles, gods... what can't this woman write? This book was yet another perfect example of why she is one of my all time favorite authors.