Apollyon
Actual rating: 2.5 out of 5 starsApollyon is the fourth book in The Covenant Series and as some of you might know, I like to take my time with series, so while I started reading the first book three years ago, I'm only reading book number 4 now. In most cases, this works out fine for me. If I'm willing to continue with the series, it means I'm invested enough in it that the time in between books doesn't really factor into my enjoyment. With this series however, I think it would have been in my best interest to read them all back to back. My reading tastes have evolved quite a bit since then and a lot of stuff that I used to enjoy - or at least tolerate - tends to get on my nerves now. So as much as I'm invested in seeing this series through at this point, I have some issues now that weren't there before...
So. Apollyon tells of the continuing adventures of Alex as she trains up to fight daimons, or gods, or the other Apollyon...ok basically everyone. Alex is training to fight them all! After the events of the previous books, Alex is now a fully awakened Apollyon herself, which isn't without it's complications. First, she was basically Seth 2.0, which was entertaining and new to say the least. Finally, she fought that off and became more or less herself again, with the exception of her eyes, which match Seth's still. Alex has been through a lot and she's matured quite a bit, but she's still as feisty and impulsive as ever. I liked how she was back to training again now, despite being out of school and how her new powers came into play. She's basically an elemental now and we all know how much I love those. And when you pair elemental magic with mythology and gods? Well you certainly have my attention!
As usual, this installment is romance-heavy. I wouldn't say it's the main focus, but it's right up there with Alex's faith and the faith of the world. The romance used to be my favorite thing about the series. Sure, there was a love-triangle for a bit there, but to me, it was always obvious who Alex would end up with. This time around, as much as the romance was satisfying and pretty much triangle-less, I grew tired of hearing about how perfect Aiden is. We get it, he's ridiculously handsome, he could have been chiseled out of marble, he's reminiscent of Greek gods. *eye roll* I think the worst bit was that his eyes changed color every other sentence. Aiden's eyes were liquid silver. Aiden's eyes went gunmetal grey. His eyes went from silver to steel in an instant. *groan* Normal people with normal eyes can be just as appealing as this stuff! I can't be the only one who thinks so?! Also, I've heard of people whose eyes change color, but do they REALLY change colors every two seconds? I don't think so.
I don't know if it was the constant eye-changes or that I just outgrew this series but I struggled to get through Apollyon, and it's not because it's a big book. I put it on pause for weeks. Weeks! I was curious about the outcome, and I knew I'd get back to it, I just couldn't seem to focus. There were a few other issues as well, firstly, I guessed the identity of the ''mystery God'' right from the word go, so the big reveal at the end was anticlimactic. And second, Miss JLA actually wrote in text-speak. TMI? More like WTF?! Despite it all, with one book left in the series, I know I'll finish the thing. I will say that the novella that comes before this Elixir (Covenant #3.5) is pretty much a must, otherwise you'd miss an important chunk of information and plot about Alex, her transformation, Aiden, and well, the elixir itself. The novella was fun because it's written from Aiden's POV, and despite his annoying habit to change his eyes every other scene, he's still pretty dreamy.
This review was previously featured on my blog:
