by Jennifer L. Armentrout
Series: Covenant #3
Release Date: November 6, 2012
by Spencer Hill Press
Goodreads / Pre-Order
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...
*A copy was provided by Spencer Hill Press for review purposes*
Note: There are a few spoilers in this review, but they will be marked off with brackets [ ] to signify them starting and ending. I would suggest you don’t read those parts unless you've read this book, or you just don’t care about spoilers.
Even though there were some similarities to Vampire Academy in the first to books of this series, as it progresses it starts to draw away from the VA story line and follow its own.
One thing that Armentrout has been very consistent in with this series is she always gets right into the action. This whole series is pretty much non-stop action, and I love that. I like being entertained. The writing was really good, as usual, and there were a ton of funny parts that I laughed at. However, there were a few problems, and they all had to do with the story line:
[[Problem #1: In Pure Alex goes to the Covenant headquarters and sees a servant there who isn’t doped out with the elixir like the rest. Armentrout mentioned the servant several times. And then, in this book, it turns out that he is Alex’s father. Now, the second Armentrout introduced him, I knew he would be Alex’s father. It might just be that I’m exceptionally smart, or it could be that it was kind of obvious. However, I didn't see the next big shocker that was a result of him being Alex’s father, so props to Armentrout for that.]
[Problem #2: In this book, Alex and her guardians were talking about the gods and why the Apollyons were created. It’s a really imaginative idea by Armentrout, but her reasoning behind it isn’t rock solid. Apparently, the gods didn't want an uprising, so they called all their kids (the pures) and those who didn’t come were killed. But, they completely forgot about the halfs (the product of pures and mortals). So they created the Apollyons to keep the halfs in check. What I don’t understand is why, when the gods figured out they had forgotten the halfs, they didn't just kill them then. It was a huge plot hole, and Armentrout failed to correct it.]
Because of those two plot holes, I didn’t like this book as much as the others, but it was still pretty good by its own rights. The story line was really good, the staging was really good, and the ending was really good. I loved that Armentrout did explain some things at the end that didn’t make sense in the beginning. Also, she ended the book with the biggest freaking cliffhanger in the history of all cliffhangers. I felt like screaming!
I said in my review of Pure that I was totally Team Seth. Well, sorry Seth, Aiden is my man! And whoo-weeee, is Aiden ever smokin’. He is so sexy and kick-ass and cute and nice and gosh…I can’t even find the words to describe him I love him so much. Go Aiden!!
Yeah, I’ve completely fallen of the Seth bandwagon. Any ground he gained in Pure he totally lost in this book. I know despise him with every fiber of my being. He’s mean, abusive, a jerk, and a manipulator, and I hope Alex kicks his butt for me.
Alex is pretty much the only one I didn’t do a complete 180 on. She’s still kick-butt, big-mouthed, and funny.
This book had a ton of things going for it, with action and romance (*fans self*) and AIDEN (*fans self and then faints*) but because of two HUGE plot holes, I unfortunately have to lower my rating. But Armentrout better get the fourth book out asap or I swear I will die from the suspense. DO YOU REALLY WANT THAT ON YOUR CONSCIENCE, ARMENTROUT!?!?
Even though there were some similarities to Vampire Academy in the first to books of this series, as it progresses it starts to draw away from the VA story line and follow its own.
One thing that Armentrout has been very consistent in with this series is she always gets right into the action. This whole series is pretty much non-stop action, and I love that. I like being entertained. The writing was really good, as usual, and there were a ton of funny parts that I laughed at. However, there were a few problems, and they all had to do with the story line:
[[Problem #1: In Pure Alex goes to the Covenant headquarters and sees a servant there who isn’t doped out with the elixir like the rest. Armentrout mentioned the servant several times. And then, in this book, it turns out that he is Alex’s father. Now, the second Armentrout introduced him, I knew he would be Alex’s father. It might just be that I’m exceptionally smart, or it could be that it was kind of obvious. However, I didn't see the next big shocker that was a result of him being Alex’s father, so props to Armentrout for that.]
[Problem #2: In this book, Alex and her guardians were talking about the gods and why the Apollyons were created. It’s a really imaginative idea by Armentrout, but her reasoning behind it isn’t rock solid. Apparently, the gods didn't want an uprising, so they called all their kids (the pures) and those who didn’t come were killed. But, they completely forgot about the halfs (the product of pures and mortals). So they created the Apollyons to keep the halfs in check. What I don’t understand is why, when the gods figured out they had forgotten the halfs, they didn't just kill them then. It was a huge plot hole, and Armentrout failed to correct it.]
Because of those two plot holes, I didn’t like this book as much as the others, but it was still pretty good by its own rights. The story line was really good, the staging was really good, and the ending was really good. I loved that Armentrout did explain some things at the end that didn’t make sense in the beginning. Also, she ended the book with the biggest freaking cliffhanger in the history of all cliffhangers. I felt like screaming!
I said in my review of Pure that I was totally Team Seth. Well, sorry Seth, Aiden is my man! And whoo-weeee, is Aiden ever smokin’. He is so sexy and kick-ass and cute and nice and gosh…I can’t even find the words to describe him I love him so much. Go Aiden!!
Yeah, I’ve completely fallen of the Seth bandwagon. Any ground he gained in Pure he totally lost in this book. I know despise him with every fiber of my being. He’s mean, abusive, a jerk, and a manipulator, and I hope Alex kicks his butt for me.
Alex is pretty much the only one I didn’t do a complete 180 on. She’s still kick-butt, big-mouthed, and funny.
This book had a ton of things going for it, with action and romance (*fans self*) and AIDEN (*fans self and then faints*) but because of two HUGE plot holes, I unfortunately have to lower my rating. But Armentrout better get the fourth book out asap or I swear I will die from the suspense. DO YOU REALLY WANT THAT ON YOUR CONSCIENCE, ARMENTROUT!?!?
3.5 pink flowers
Wow...I can only wonder what Seth did that makes you think he now deserves a butt-kicking. Guess I'll have to read and find out!
ReplyDeleteI have not started this series but really enjoyed your review. Love that you changed your loyalty from Seth to Aiden. And I love VA so will definitely have to check these books out.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for linking your review up on Hot Off the Presses!
I need to read Deity since I’ve read the other ones in the series, and I do want to know what Seth did. Great review! :)
ReplyDelete