Apollyon by Jennifer L Armentrout

Apollyon by Jennifer L Armentrout

Goodreads Blurb

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.

Uummmm... I'm not even sure what to say here.  

I was so excited for this book.  This is definitely one of my favorite series by Armentrout.  One of my favorite series ever.  But for some reason this book just fell flat for me.

The covenant series is a story about the Olympian Gods.  They have mixed their blood with humans and created new races called Pures and Half-bloods.  The aether that flows through the gods still exists in diluted forms in the Pures and Half-Bloods.

In previous books, we meet Alex Andros, who has spent her life training to be a Guardian.  As a Half-Blood it is her duty to either protect or serve the Pures.  Instead, Alex went and fell in love with a Pure, Aiden St. Delphi. 

Earlier we met Seth, the Apollyon, who was created to provide a sort of check and balance system for the gods.  Seth is somehow being controlled by Lucian, Alex's not-so-nice step-father.  It is also discovered that there is a god helping Seth and Lucian and their insane plans to start a war against the Council and the gods.  

In each generation, only one Apollyon is allowed to existence.  Since the existence of two Apollyons creates possibility of a transfer of power that would provide a way for The First Apollyon to become The God Killer, the gods do all they can to prevent or destroy a second Apollyon.

Alex discovers that she is the second Apollyon and when she "awakens" on her eighteenth birthday, she connects to Seth in a way that eliminates all that she is, including her love for Aiden.  Aiden hides Ales away so that neither Seth nor the gods can find her.

Some spoilers below...

In Apollyon, Book 4, we see Alex and Aiden battle to reach to true Alex beneath the bond to Seth.  It is Alex alone who is able to sever the connection to Seth and then renews her relationship with Aiden.  (Thank the gods)  We get some beautiful and loving moments with Aiden and Alex and they are so completely worth the build-up of the previous four books.  

Aiden and Alex begin searching for a way to stop Seth and Lucian.  Alex is convinced that there is still hope for Seth and that there is a way to save him.  A trip to the underworld reveals a way to save Seth that may destroy all that Aiden and Alex have been building.

A large battle outside The University, more loss, and an epic ass-whooping from the god behind it all leaves Alex in the fight of her life.

And... that's where the book ends.  We don't know what happened to Aiden or any of the others who traveled to The University with Alex.  Things are left very much up in the air.  The result of this ending is that yes, I will definitely be reading Book 5, but I'm gonna have a pissy attitude about it until it comes out.  In my opinion I think there could have been a better place to end the book that would have allowed for some closure.

Probably 3.5 stars