Book Review: Apollyon

Apollyon by Jennifer L. Armentrout
April 9, 2013
Spencer Hill Press
360 pages
Source: ARC


Goodreads Summary:

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.

 

My Review:

First, I want to say if you haven't read Elixir, the novella between Deity and Apollyon, then I definitely recommend it. I loved getting Aiden's perspective, and it is a great set up for entering into Apollyon. You can find the free download for Elixir here at Spencer Hill Press.

I definitely enjoyed reading Apollyon, but it was slower going for me, and took me longer than usual to finish the book. There wasn’t as much of the action that I’ve come to expect in this series. I frequently felt like this book was a filler book between epic showdowns. But I will say I did like exploring the reasons behind the attacks in previous books, Lucian/Seth’s motives, what Alex needs to do to save everyone, etc. But it was just a bit slow for me. Scenes that I expected to be action-packed were too easily resolved. The beginning and end were great, the middle was okay. Actually, the end was great. I really needed that action to make up for the earlier lag.

There also wasn’t enough interaction with Seth. I may not be a crazy-Team-Seth-fan-girl, but I still love the interactions I've come to depend on between Alex and Seth. Seth adds a certain quality to scenes and dialogue that I missed, although if I never hear "My Seth" again it will be too soon. But I look forward to more of Seth's craziness in Sentinel.

I did like the continuing growth of Aiden & Alex’s relationship. They’ve matured in their love and have crossed into couple-hood well, testing the bounds of their honesty toward one another, and how much risk they are willing to take for their relationship. The intensity of Aiden’s love is palpable. I love their unconditional love for one another. And, yeah, Aiden is still Mr. Swoon-Worthy Awesomeness.

I also loved how Alex was able to explore her other relationships, whether it was by just talking with Laadan, Marcus, Lea, or Caleb, or more intensive scenes. It was refreshing to see her start to grow as a person and take on more maturity, but still be herself. While I enjoyed her erratic side in the previous books, it was also nice to see her attempt to understand herself better and control herself more.

The ending to me was good. It left it a little cliffy but I felt it was a good place where I could set it aside and be okay until Sentinel comes out and not feel like I have to pull out my hair. But with the bit of lull in this book, I’m expecting some major epic battles or something in the last book. I'm talking blood, sweat, tears, death (yeah, I said it), blunt force trauma, natural disaster, plague (hmm, maybe not plagues), and, well, you get the picture. Sentinel really needs to be a can’t-go-to-sleep-must-finish-it-the-day-I-get-it-page-turner.

4 STARS

 

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