Review: Deity - Jennifer L. Armentrout

Title: Deity (Covenant #3)

Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout

Release Date: November 6th 2012

Genre: Young Adult, Paranormal/Fantasy

Publisher: Spencer Hill Press

Pages: 360

Source: ARC (provided by the publisher - thank you!!!)

~ No (big) spoilers for Half-Blood, Pure and Deity ~

"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...

You know, I've been staring at my computer screen for over an hour right now. Just staring. Typing something and then deleting. Why? Because this is honestly the hardest review I've ever written. I've got SO much I want to say, but I just don't know how to. I know I wouldn't be able to do this book justice, so I just want to say to YOU that please BUY IT. READ IT. If you haven't started the Covenant series yet, OMG what are you doing here? Get up and go to your local bookstore and buy it NOW. Anyway, this is a pretty long review so bare with me. 

Before reading Deity, I was sure nothing can top Pure. Pure was possibly the best sequel I've ever read. Unlike other novels that suffer the second book curse, Pure was even better and more electrifying than Half-Blood. But I'm glad to say that Deity kicked both of their asses. It's even better.

Deity picks up after where Pure left off. And reading this just reminded me that the Covenant series is by far my favourite series of all time, and also my favourite series about Greek mythology. I LOVE Greek mythology and their gods and goddesses! Isn't it obvious? I mean, I am called The Book Goddess, and right after I read Deity I wanted my blog design to have an actually goddess and a greek influence. So in a way, I dedicated my blog design to this book. :) 

The world-building of this series is just so mesmerizing and fantastic! The plot is really coming together now and it's so complex yet it works. I applaud Jennifer. You know, even with all the harsh society and all that, I wouldn't mind living in this world. Jennifer has created such a livid and creative world that you just get sucked in it.  

The romance. Guys, the romance. I've lost count to how much I swooned during this book. I may or may not have also drooled. And who might this guy be? It's Seth. Nah, just kidding. It's Aiden. The one with storm cloud eyes and dark wavy hair. *Swoon*. Ahem. Anyway, you guys know how much I love romance in my books and Deity certainly delivered! Alex and Aiden together is one of my favourite couples. They just work because they're polar opposites - he's so controlled, she's so reckless, he's quiet, she can't keep her mouth shut, he's a pure, she's a half and so on. But they're also more alike than anyone would think. They're both selfless, brave, smart and can kick some daimon butt! And umm there's some passionate and sweet sexy scenes in this book. Jen, thank you SO much for Chapter 22. I think you know which scene I'm referring to :P. 

Moving on to Seth. Whereas Half-Blood was Aiden's book, Pure was Seth's, in Deity both guys took center stage, with different reasons. I admit, there was a time in Pure where I was Team Seth (I know! Don't kill me!) but after reading Deity? I have no idea why I ever liked him. He's just so manipulative, crazy and no matter how hot or gorgeous he is, I don't like him. He can have Boobs for all I care. And thank God Alex doesn't care either. 

Jen's writing is just flawless. And every bit as beautiful and addictive. You just can't help but turn the pages, even when you say to yourself 'just one more chapter', you ended up devouring the whole book in a day. She just amazes me every single time with her writing. There's really nothing I could say that anybody hasn't said before. 

Holy crap! This book was also full of surprises and twists and turns! I never would have guessed who Leon really was! I thought he was the bad guy - I was so suspicious of him in Pure. And umm Deacon's love interest? Whoa. Never in a million years would I have guessed that right. My mouth was literally hanging open lol. And all the other characters was equally amazing in their own right, and all of them all had distinctive personality traits. I loved the whole dynamic at the end, before the whole shit went down. Uh oh. I've got so many favourite parts in Deity but the most memorable for me was when Alex went to the Underworld. I was crying (happy tears!) in that scene and if you've read Deity you'll know why. Also, the gods. And the goddesses. Eeep! We finally get to see and meet some of the gods! My favourite goddess is Artemis, so I was like YAY *happy dancing*!! And just so you know, I might name my future pets Death and Despair ;P. That scene cracked me up. 

So now we're onto the negative. I would have hugged and kissed and hugged this book if it wasn't for this one girl. Alex. I'm sure most of you know I wasn't Alex's biggest fan in Half-Blood, but in Pure she proved me wrong. And I began to really like her as the narrator and as our main protagonist. She's just so confident, and kick-ass and snarky that you couldn't help loving her. BUT. After Deity, unfortunately we're back to square one. It seems like she's not really learning from her mistakes. She promises that she won't ever do the same mistake again and yet she still does. It really irritated me how naive and blind she was to Seth. I get that she's got this connection with him, but hell. He's already done many bad things (I'm trying to be vague here to not give away too much spoilers) and she still won't do what everyone wants her to do. For everyone's safety, and then she's trying to be this martyr and sacrificing herself but JUST FREAKING STOP. Like someone said in the book, no one wins if you kill yourself. Just stop and think for a minute, girl. Anyway, don't get me wrong. She's funny, has a good heart and she's trying to do what she thinks is right (though it hardly ever is) but she just annoyed me so much with her decisions. Every death that has happened has something to do with her stupidity. Or naivety or her recklessness. I'm so tired of it. And she keeps apologizing instead- I'm sorry but that won't bring back the dead. By the end of the book I kinda wanted to slap her. If she actually listened to people to who actually cares about her, most of that stuff wouldn't have happened. Grrr. But then again, who would like a perfect character, right? That would be so boring. Ugh, I'm so undecisive. :P

OH NO CLIFFHANGER!! Oh Jen why must you torture as this way!?!? First you make us believe that everything will be alright and happy at last, but then YOU DO THAT. OMG. This cliffhanger. And we have to wait until April next year for the next book, Apollyon. I would be SO pissed if the world ended and I haven't even got to read it. 

So the bottomline is:

- I love Aiden.

- I hate Seth.

- I love Marcus. I find him so funny. 

- I hate Lucian.

- I may or may not like Alex. 

- I now want Spider-man for my birthday cake.

- It sucks to be an Apollyon.

- I want Jen to write about Solaris and the First. And about Alex's mum and dad. That would be cool!

- This is the best Covenant book so far.

Jennifer L. Armentrout is my favourite author EVER and I can't wait to read the next Covenant novel, Apollyon! If a book ever deserves a five stars, it's this one.

My second top book of 2012 - just behind Onyx. :P

(Thank you SO much to SPENCER HILL PRESS for the ARCs of Deity and Cursed.  :D ) 

PEOPLE WHO HAVE READ DEITY ALREADY: Read below to see spoilers and theories for the next book, Apollyon! 

- Is it just me who noticed Deacon's strange attitude to Apollo? I have a bad feeling about this in the next book. Could Deacon be like betraying them or something? Is that why he keeps trying to stay away from him? I don't think it's because Deacon's having a gay relationship with a half. It's more than that.

- I really think Lea's up to something. I really don't think it was Olivia she was talking to on the phone. Liar liar pants on fire.

- What do you think will happen to Alex now? And Aiden? And Seth?

- Why did Laadan waited until Alex got home to tell her her father's alive? I mean surely she must have known he was there. She was friends with her mum and dad, and she would have seen him around. Hmm. And she does like Alex's dad so maybe in the end Laadan would be Alex's stepmum. That would be nice :) 

- What do you think Apollo's hiding? When Alex was saying if there was another way to stop this. Instead of killing Seth. Hire me, Alex! I have no problem killing his sorry ass!

- Oh, why do you think Caleb didn't want Alex to see her mum?