Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout (Page 12 of 13)

BOOK REVIEW – Elixir (Covenant #3.5) by Jennifer L. Armentrout

BOOK REVIEW – Elixir (Covenant #3.5) by Jennifer L. ArmentroutElixir (Covenant #3.5)
Purchase on: AmazoniBooks
Add to: Goodreads

Synopsis:

Now includes bonus novella ELIXIR

History is on repeat, and things didn't go so well the last time.

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 Covenant novella from Aiden’s POV?? Yes, please! While Deity ended with (shocker) a brutal cliffhanger, Jennifer decided to take pity on our poor souls and write a novella that kinda eased that ache until Apollyon comes out next week. This story showed how deeply Aiden loves Alex and how he would go to the ends of the earth to save her. He goes as far to say he’d die for her, and that in itself is an admirable trait.

Throughout the story he literally does anything he can to do what Alex would want in this situation, and it’s as beautiful as it is heartbreaking. He ultimately has to make an unsavory decision, but what’s for the best. At the end we are left with one very clear point: He will fight to the death for her and will take out anyone, even a God, to keep Alex alive.

I loved Elixir, and I would suggest it to anyone who has read this series. I hate reading novellas, but I loved this story and it left me feeling a little more hopeful towards Alex’s tremulous situation. Now I can breathe a little easier and hope for the best for Aiden and Alex in the next two books to come 🙂

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

BOOK REVIEW – Apollyon (Covenant #4) by Jennifer L. ArmentroutApollyon (Covenant #4)
by Jennifer L. Armentrout
Purchase on: AmazoniBooks
Add to: Goodreads

Synopsis:

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.

Well. Thank Gods I checked Goodreads Saturday, or I would have missed Jen’s Apollyon early release announcement. What a shame that would have been, for I finished this amazing novel in less than 24 hours. I don’t know how much gushing is truly appropriate without becoming obsessive, so I will make it simple: Jen has done it again. She kidnapped my mind and kept me prisoner for a chunk of the weekend, making it impossible for me to think of doing anything else.

We begin where we left off at the end of Deity and Elixir. If you haven’t read Elixir, I truly feel you are missing out on some super sweet moments, and there are a few references you won’t get in Apollyon unless you read the novella.

Anyway, we start with Alex in a cage, fighting to be free so she can connect with “her Seth”. Don’t get me started on just how wrong typing that was. She struggles to both break free from those holding her and also from Seth’s voice in her head, trying to find her location.

And then we have Aiden-the sweetest, most loyal guy ever. He hasn’t given up on Alex even when everyone else has. He even goes as far as to piss off the Gods to protect her-he literally punched a God in the face in Elixir…so adorable….or at least I think so. I don’t even know what to say to do him justice. He is willing to risk it all: his life, his brother, and everyone and everything inbetween. He loves her more than his own life, and I can’t help but to fall a little more in love with him with each new installment.

Packed with suspense and peril, my eyes were glued to the pages within this novel. I love suspense in romances, I feel like it’s the perfect touch to an already perfect story in most cases. My only problem with Apollyon? I didn’t think the cliffhanger was that bad. I always complain or comment on these horrible cliffhangers, and here I am begging for a whopper that would scar me until the final installment comes out in December. I found something out about myself after I realized that I wanted more shock factor for an ending-I am apparently a masochist-at least in these action/romance novels by Jen I have grown to love. I don’t know what that says about me…

So now we wait. What will come of Alex and Aiden? Will there be an epic battle for Earth? What will come of Seth? These are all plot lines I cannot wait to find out about or finalize, and until then, I will eagerly await the release of Origin in August, Sentinel in December, and Frigid in July-all by Jen, all in the forefront of my mind for surely the whole summer. I can only hope I stay sane until at least one of these novels is released. Sigh. The wait begins.

Purchase on Amazon or iBooks

BOOK REVIEW – Obsession by Jennifer L. Armentrout

BOOK REVIEW – Obsession by Jennifer L. ArmentroutObsession (Lux #4.5)
by Jennifer L. Armentrout
Purchase on: AmazoniBooks
Add to: Goodreads

The grass is always greener on the other side, right? Well, not that it was any better than the Luxen side, but I still thoroughly enjoyed Jen’s newest addition to the Luxen world of West Virginia. As I have stated multiple times, I am an avid fan of Jen’s writing, and at the moment I am up shit creek without a paddle, because all her series are stuck on cliffhangers until the next installments come out….kill me now.

So we enter Obsession with the notion that we are going to see the bad boy side of things, and while it definitely delivered, we also saw a side to Hunter that was sweet and vulnerable. I never once compared Hunter to the Arum we all know from the Lux series. He was a completely different person *ahem* alien than what we know the Arum to be. I didn’t know whether I could adjust to the other side of the spectrum, because, let’s face it, while the Luxen bash the Arum, the Arum bash the Luxen. I did ultimately have a hard time with this, because it has been instilled in us to hate the shadow guys, but I did my best to be impartial in these areas where people were pointing fingers, otherwise the story would be hard to enjoy.

And yes…oh yes…we got to see our favorite “good” badboy Luxen. It was minuscule, so tiny, but it was enough to make me grin like the Chesire cat in Alice in Wonderland. Jen weaved the stories together so that this book was after Opal, so you can only imagine who our friendly Luxen boy was visiting and who it was about. My heart constricted all over again..just saying…but I will refrain from spoiling…I am strong.

Hunter and Serena had an adorable relationship and it was utterly compelling. I couldn’t put the book down and devoured each and every page. It was a dark, erotic read that I had never seen from Jen before, and I have to say I liked it. Who ever knows if an author so widely known for her YA novels could excel at a steamy read, but how I ever wondered is beyond me..even her YA novels are steamy and exciting. So this leaves me at my final point. Jen is an awesome writer, and none of her books could be labeled badly. I can’t wait until her next masterpiece comes out in July, and until then, this little tidbit better sate me.

****
People who have not read the Lux series are probably horribly confused by this review, but I figure if you haven’t read the Lux series, why would you be looking at this one anyway? Where’s the fun if you don’t already know what’s going on a little? 🙂

Reading Order & Links:
Amazon (click on covers), iBooks (click on titles) & Book Depository (click on book #)
shadows a lux novel jennifer l. armentrout
Shadows #0.5
Reviews:

Jen
obsidian a lux novel jennifer l. armentrout
Obsidian #1
Reviews:

Jen
Chelsea
onyx the lux series jennifer l. armentrout
Onyx #2
Reviews:

Jen
Chelsea
opal a lux novel jennifer l. armentrout
Opal
#3

Reviews:
Jen
Chelsea
lux origin jennifer l. armentrout
Origin #4
Reviews:

Jen
Chelsea
obsession lux jennifer l armentrout
Obsession (Companion novel) #4.5
Reviews:
Jen
Chelsea
lux opposition jennifer l armentrout
Opposition #5
Reviews:

Jen
Chelsea
oblivion lux jennifer l armentrout
Oblivion #Companion Novel
OBSIDIAN, ONYX & OPAL
Told by Daemon Black
Reviews:
Jen

BOOK REVIEW – Sentinel (Covenant #5) by Jennifer L. Armentrout

BOOK REVIEW – Sentinel (Covenant #5) by Jennifer L. ArmentroutSentinel (Covenant #5)
by Jennifer L. Armentrout
Purchase on: AmazoniBooks
Add to: Goodreads

Synopsis:

It's a beautiful day for a war.

As the mortal world slowly slips into chaos of the godly kind, Alexandria Andros must overcome a stunning defeat that has left her shaken and in doubt of their ability to end this war once and for all.

And with all the obstacles between Alex and her happily-ever-after with the swoonworthy Aiden St. Delphi, they must now trust a deadly foe as they travel deep into the Underworld to release one of the most dangerous gods of all time.

In the stunning, action-packed climax to the bestselling Covenant Series, Alex must face a terrible choice: the destruction of everything and everyone she holds dear... or the end of herself.

5++++++++++ stars

My heart skipped a whole beat, and then sped up in recognition. Ah, I knew that voice. My heart and my soul knew that voice.

There was a time not all that long ago when I was grappling around trying to find something awesome to read…and I was out of inspiration. I had previously read the Lux series by this very author and had fallen in love, so I thought I’d take a chance and jump-jump into a story I had no clue what the blurb was talking about and give Armentrout another opportunity to amaze me-and amaze me she did.

In the darkness, Aiden placed his hand over where mine rested on my stomach, and it stayed that way through the night.

Nine months later and here we are at the end of the Covenant series, and I’m both happy and sad to say goodbye to Aiden, Alex, and Seth-three people who have invaded my heart and haven’t let me go since I picked up the first book.

I never would have thought that her Lux series could be surpassed, and I’m not saying it has been, but it’s damn close. A world corrupted by laws that put pure-bloods on a pedestal and halfs in servitude for the smallest mistakes, we are swept into this crazy place where a young girl will strive to rise above these outdated laws and restrictions to fight for the love of her life. Isn’t forbidden love always the best?

As a pure-blood, he was untouchable to me even though I was the Apollyon, and even now he risked everything to be with me. He was my strength when I needed him to be, my friend when I needed someone to talk me down, my equal in a world where by law I would always be less than him, and honest to gods, he was the love of my life.

We have Alex, the half-blood who fell for a pure-blood and knew it could never happen. A girl who was so strong willed she:
-Made it on her own with no protection from the covenant
-After falling dangerously behind with her training and studies, she came back and rose above the odds-earning a spot at the covenant again.
-And ultimately, she became the second Apollyon; an anomaly that almost never happens. But how can there be two….?

I could read everything in his eyes. There was so much pain in them that it broke my heart, but I didn’t understand why.
Aiden had to have been such a goody two-shoes in school-the kind of kid who’d raised his hand with the answer to every question. Dork. I loved him.

And then there is Aiden, the pure who fell hard for the half, the pure who offered to train her when no one else would, who pined for that forbidden romance in secret, but wouldn’t be so selfish as to put Alex’s life in danger-because that’s what it is: a matter of life and death. Pushing her away when she needed him most, they both suffer from unnecessary heartbreak that pulls you even deeper into this amazing series and makes you beg for more. He would lay down his life to save her, risk it all with a secret compulsion, battle alongside her only to make sure she lives to see another day-even though he is the one who is really in danger of dying.

”I was selfish in wanting you, knowing what it could mean for you. I was selfish the first time I kissed you, touched you.” The shiver his words brought forth didn’t go unnoticed by him. A dimple appeared. “I was selfish the night I came to your bed when you were at my parents’ house, and I’ve been selfish every day since then. The only time I hadn’t been selfish was when I pushed you away, and that’s the day I regret most.”

Annnddd Seth, the pesky first Apollyon who waltzed into Alex’s life unannounced and charmed his way into her everyday routine. More than once I found myself wishing he would just disappear into oblivion and never come back. He was always a distraction for Alex, someone to challenge her feelings for Aiden, and I never really liked that-but it securely added another intricate layer to these stories that was so desperately needed. Looking back I realize just how much more fun his presence made everything, and I love that he was a part of the journey to where they all are now.

Car keys dangling from his fingertips, Seth passed by us. “If you two can stop making doe-eyes at each other for a few minutes, we’re all ready to go.”
Aiden straightened, his gaze narrowing on Seth’s back. “Jealous is an ugly thing.”
“So is blind ignorance,” Seth shot back, rounding the front of the Hummer.

A story of power, self-sacrifice, love, loyalty, and strength of will, I couldn’t have loved this final installment more if I tried. Redemption of certain characters and the desperate nature of each person’s willingness to save one another resulted in an even deeper love for this story that was completely unexpected and caused my heart to expand to epic proportions. A race to the finish where no one is safe, even the Apollyons, we watch the story unfold as each character seals their fate, for both good and bad. Sentinel took my breath away more than once with it’s expressive storytelling and ability to make me feel, making for an emotional finish, where nothing can ever be the same, and no one is guaranteed to survive.

It was a beautiful day for war.

There is really no way to express how much I loved this series in one review, because we saw each character grow, mature, and become what they were always destined to be. I laughed, I cried, I bawled, and I frantically wished for the best in the worst of scenarios. I was both surprised and overjoyed with the finale of the Covenant series, and I could even read it again right now. It was just that good. Forever engrained into my soul, I will never forget the joy I felt when I read each installment. For those who haven’t read the series, you are truly missing out on characters that will captivate and compel you, influence you, make you fall in love with them and consume you, and I am so glad I took a chance to find out why each and every one of them is so special-I will always love this series with all my heart and can’t wait to see what Jennifer comes out with next, because I’ll be the first in line, no matter what the blurb entails.

And he would wait forever for me, just as I would wait forever and a day for him.

BOOK REVIEW – White Hot Kiss (The Dark Elements #1) by Jennifer L. Armentrout

BOOK REVIEW – White Hot Kiss (The Dark Elements #1) by Jennifer L. ArmentroutWhite Hot Kiss (The Dark Elements #1)
by Jennifer L. Armentrout
Purchase on: AmazoniBooks
Add to: Goodreads

“People with the purest souls are capable of the greatest evils. No one is perfect, no matter what they are or what side they fight for.”

I’d only be lying to myself if I said I didn’t fall head over heels for yet another Armentrout novel. I don’t know what it is about this woman that makes all her YA series/novels 5 star reads for me, but almost everytime I start a new series by her, it immediately goes onto the favorites and elusive unforgettable male leads shelves.

“You’re running away.” The upper level demon sighed. “Even after I asked you not to, and I think I was really nice about it.” He glanced at the Seeker, frowning. “Wasn’t I nice?”

Set in a totally different world than I am used to, gargoyles are the paranormal feature that Armentrout chose to write about this time. I don’t know. I guess I have been discovering new things lately that have been reaching the ‘shock and awe’ factor with me despite my tendency to hold judgement over certain genres. I mean, some things, to me, are just too much. Some worlds take it too far and too out of the realm for me, and I just figured this would be one of them. I’m not going to lie-I didn’t think there was any possible way I could like this book. There. I SAID it. Gargoyles? How can a gargoyle be hot? How can she twist this so that I’m not picturing a character out of The Hunchback of Notre Dame the whole time? Well, unsurprisingly she has surprised me again. I don’t even know why I second guess her works. I don’t think there is one book I’ve rated less than four by her….and to think I almost skipped this one.

Trusting him would be like smacking the Wardens in the face. Demons lied. Even I lied. Well, my lying really didn’t have much to do with being a demon, but still.

What I love about Armentrout is her ability to make every series or story with a cast of completely likeable characters and a totally fun plot. Sure, some of the same thoughts may come across or similar areas may show up when you get to a certain point….but you just don’t notice. She makes the story so deliciously addictive that even when you have seven of her books on your mind, you can decipher the difference between every single story. You don’t simply mix up the Covenant or the Lux series, you just know because you have fallen completely in love with the worlds she has built and rooted in your mind. Simply put? There are similarities but not once is there a lack of individuality for each world or character she creates.

“I think you like me,” Roth said suddenly.
I stopped pacing and my heart did a funny little jump. “What? No.”
He tilted his head to the side, his lips spreading into a teasing grin. “The way you lie to yourself is sort of cute.”
“I’m not lying.”
“Hmm…” He sat up, eyes glimmering with mirth. “You wanted me to kiss you earlier.”
Heat flooded my cheeks. “No. I did not.”
“You’re right. You wanted me to do much, much more.”

Zayne was boy one in Layla’s effed up little love triangle. She has grown up with him and has been in love with him for quite some time. He has always been her closest friend, the one she shares all her secrets with-but he seems to only think of her as a sisterly type-or maybe that’s just what she sees. He was the good guy-the one with the soul. The one she could never kiss (see below) and will forever long to be with. But what happens when Layla stops confiding in him and starts to become more independent and less like the puppy dog that follows him around…will he start to notice her then? Or had he always noticed her but couldn’t act on it?

The really, really bad and the really, really good were the most appealing, which made Eva very interesting to me, but eating the soul belonging to the most popular girl in school would be way uncool.

Layla was a fun character to follow. She is half warden and half demon, not altogether pure but was brought up in a house of wardens. Since she can never fully be a true warden, she tags the demons during the day so the wardens can hunt and destroy them at night. This is her effort to contribute to the greater good, but what if the greater good isn’t really what’s right? What if everything she has been told is fabricated by lies….and that there are some good demons in the world? Oh yeah, aaanndddd she can’t kiss anyone with a soul. Talk about a buzz kill.

But that was the catch. Sometimes the demonic blood won out. I knew it was wrong. Totally understood that, but it meant nothing in the end.

Enter Roth. Roth is a demon-plain and simple. Layla meets him one night when she is lured into a trap and he comes to her rescue. Right off the bat he has the sexy snarkiness that we have all grown to love and I knew he’d be a strong contender for my eerrrrr, Layla’s heart. I can’t even begin to express how much I fell for Roth. He was sweet, loyal, protective, and, frankly, not the good guy-not the clear cut good guy anyway….but I guess you’ll have to read to see how you feel about him. 😉

“It’s okay,” he whispered against the corner of my lip. “This is about you. Yeah, this is totally about you.” He sounded surprised by his own words, and when he spoke again, his voice was hoarse as he pressed his forehead against mine. “You undo me. You have no idea how you undo me.”

I loved this book. I really and truly did-the only thing I don’t like, and listen closely because this is my ONLY complaint as far as Armentrout YA novels go, you won’t hear anything negative from me again, is the repeat phrases I’ve seen in her other books. I do wish she had some new phrases or a less formulatic curse system. That’s all. Nothing big enough to make this anything less than a favorite, but it’s enough that I DO notice and wish there was some different material. Other than that? I adored this book and all the smexiness inbetween every single page.

Walking over to where I’d left my bag, I dug out my phone. At some point, Roth had gotten hold of my cell and replaced Zayne’s name with Stony and listed his own number under Sexy Beast. What a tool.
I grinned.

A fun and exciting ride with rarely a dull moment, I had so much fun reading every aspect of WHK. I even loved the characters at school-again, not a dull moment. A quirky cast with a lot of drama and humor, there was no lack of plot points or characters to focus on. And though I went back and forth throughout the entirety of the story, I finally chose a team. So important, right?? I love Zayne tons, and I adore Roth, but I’m proud to pledge my loyalty to Team Roth-the sexy demon with a heart of gold. Oh yeah, and I can’t forget Bambi, his lovable demon snake companion!!!! So I guess I’m on two teams. 😉

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