Covenant Series by Jennifer L Armentrout Review + GIVEAWAY

Hello readers and a very happy June to you all! Can you believe that 2014 is nearly half way over? I sure can’t! It’s been an awesome year so far and I am so excited to see what the second half holds for all of us! On this awesome Sunday, I have for you guys a real special treat. A review so awesome that “awesome” just doesn’t cut it. Excited? Well, you should be, because today I am bringing you guys one a OneGuysGuideToGoodReads specialty: a series review! “A series review?” You may ask, and I would respond “why yes, a series review my good chap”. Anyways, here’s how this works. Ethan here LOVES to read. He also loves to read series, HOWEVER, I have a hard time starting a series that I know isn’t completely out yet, because I oftentimes forget what happens by the time the next book in the series comes out and I usually do not have time for rereads or when I DO make time for a re read, the series ending is so horrible that I wish I hadn’t reread the books (*cough cough* Veronica Roth, I’m looking at you…). Anyway… As stated today I am brining you guys another series review. If you guys have been following me, you would have seen a couple of months ago where I did a series review of Chelsea Fines The Archers of Avalon series and had a whole lot of fun with it. Today I bring you guys a book series so epic, so amazing, so… “godly” that there aren’t enough positive words to describe it. A series that I am sure many of you are familiar with due to its HUGE popularity by one of the most amazing authors I have had the great privilege to read. Of course, I am talking about none other than the action packed Covenant Series by Jennifer L. Armentrout.

First off, before we begin. Let’s learn a little bit about our amazing author, Jennifer L. Armentrout (or some of you may know her as JLA or JLynn). Last month, as many of you saw, I had the opportunity to meet Jennifer at The Authors Visiting in Des Moines event I attended and she was pretty much the most amazing person I had ever met. She was friendly and hilarious! And she is good friends with my other favorite person/author/friend, the amazing Cora Carmack. At the time of meeting JLA, I had only read the first book of her Lux series (Obsidian, be on the lookout for a Lux series review after I finish it) and had never even heard of the Covenant series. After mentioning that I was enjoying Lux to a few of my fellow bloggers and Cora, I was BOMBARDED with “OMG read Covenant”. So, read Covenant is what I did. I promptly put Lux on hold and began an amazing journey with JLA. This book series comes HIGHLY recommended and is just one of many, many testaments I have found to the amazing uniqueness of Jennifer L. Armentrout. Okay, I ranted. Here’s JLA’s bio and a picture of her and I (with my best friend Megan) from AViD.

Jennifer L. Armentrout

# 1 New York Times and International Bestselling author Jennifer lives in Martinsburg, West Virginia. All the rumors you’ve heard about her state aren’t true. When she’s not hard at work writing. she spends her time reading, working out, watching really bad zombie movies, pretending to write, and hanging out with her husband and her Jack Russell Loki.

Her dreams of becoming an author started in algebra class, where she spent most of her time writing short stories….which explains her dismal grades in math. Jennifer writes young adult paranormal, science fiction, fantasy, and contemporary romance. She is published with Spencer Hill Press, Entangled Teen and Brazen, Disney/Hyperion and Harlequin Teen. Her book Obsidian has been optioned for a major motion picture and her Covenant Series has been optioned for TV.

She also writes adult and New Adult romance under the name J. Lynn. She is published by Entangled Brazen and HarperCollins.

Visit Jennifer's Website Here 

As previously stated this is a series review where I will review the series as a whole. While this can be a whole lot of fun for me, it can get a little confusing. The only downside to doing this is that I do not remember what happened in each book since they all eventually tie into one long story. And yes, I mean one long story. Just the way I like it. This isn’t your average trilogy or saga, this is one series that is well worth the time you will spend putting into it. I love a long series, but sometimes there are just too many books. It gets boring, it gets old, the characters become stiff. JLA was not only able to prevent these from happening, she was STILL able to give us seven individual stories and still prevent these from happening. That there is talent folks. The Covenant series features five full length novels and two novellas that help to bridge the gap between stories (one acts as a prequel as well). Here is the reading order for each Covenant novels as well as the synopsis for each. Click each cover to be taken to the official Goodreads page for each book. Scroll past all the covers to get to the fun part!

Love in my world usually ended up with someone hearing 'I smite thee!' as she was cursed to be some lame flower for the rest of her life."For three years, Alexandria has lived among mortals--pretending to be like them and trying to forget the duty she'd been trained to fulfill as a child of a mortal and a demigod. At seventeen, she's pretty much accepted that she's a freak by mortal standards... and that she'll never be prepared for that duty.According to her mother, that's a good thing.But as every descendant of the gods knows, Fate has a way of rearing her ugly head. A horrifying attack forces Alex to flee Miami and try to find her way back to the very place her mother had warned her she should never return-the Covenant. Every step that brings her closer to safety is one more step toward death... because she's being hunted by the very creatures she'd once trained to kill.The daimons have found her.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10860399-daimon
 

The Hematoi descend from the unions of gods and mortals, and the children of two Hematoi pure bloods have godlike powers. Children of Hematoi and mortals--well, not so much. Half-bloods only have two options: become trained Sentinels who hunt and kill daimons or become servants in the homes of the pures. Seventeen-year-old Alexandria would rather risk her life fighting than waste it scrubbing toilets, but she may end up slumming it anyway. There are several rules that students at the Covenant must follow. Alex has problems with them all, but especially rule #1:Relationships between pures and halfs are forbidden. Unfortunately, she's crushing hard on the totally hot pure-blood Aiden. But falling for Aiden isn't her biggest problem--staying alive long enough to graduate the Covenant and become a Sentinel is. If she fails in her duty, she faces a future worse than death or slavery: being turned into a daimon, and being hunted by Aiden. And that would kind of suck.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9680718-half-blood 

There is need. And then there is Fate. Being destined to become some kind of supernatural electrical outlet isn't exactly awesome--especially when Alexandria's other half is everywhere she goes. Seth's in her training room, outside her classes, and keeps showing up in her bedroom--so not cool. Their connection does have some benefits, like staving off her nightmares of the tragic showdown with her mother, but it has no effect on what Alex feels for the forbidden, pure-blooded Aiden. Or what he will do--and sacrifice--for her. When daimons infiltrate the Covenants and attack students, the gods send furies--lesser gods determined to eradicate any threat to the Covenants and to the gods, and that includes the Apollyon--and Alex. And if that and hordes of aether-sucking monsters didn't blow bad enough, a mysterious threat seems willing to do anything to neutralize Seth, even if that means forcing Alex into servitude--or killing her. When the gods are involved, some decisions can never, ever be undone.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9761771-pure

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...
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9761778-deity

Aiden St. Delphi will do anything to save Alex.
Even if it means doing the one thing he will never forgive himself for.
Even if it means making war against the gods.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13605727-elixir






 

 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.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9897164-apollyon

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.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13605723-sentinel

Character Analysis

As you can assume, a large series like Covenant has a HUGE cast of characters, here's my take on the main three characters of our series and a little about the cast as a whole!

Alexandria (Alex) Andros- The female protagonist of our story as told from her POV. Alex begins the series as a 16 year old former student of the Covenant who is now living in the mortal world with her mother Rachelle. Alex is the half-blood daughter of Rachelle (a pure blood) and a mortal father. Extremely motivated and ready to face anything in her path, Alex was well on her way to becoming a Sentinel before she fled the Covenant. Throughout the story Alex is brought back to the Covenant and her training resumes, but Alex has changed and her training is never going to prepare her for what she faces. Alex is at the center of an amusing love triangle between pure-blood Aiden (a forbidden romance due to the Breed Order preventing Pures and Halfs from being together… but why?) and the half-blood Apollyon, Seth.

Aiden St. Delphi- The pure blood Covenant graduate who is not only a sentinel, but also becomes personal trainer to Alex after her reacceptance to the Covenant. The dynamic of their relationship is complicated from the start, but it definitely keeps the story interesting. Aiden is a great “guy next door” type who raises his younger brother, Deacon, after the death of their parents at the hands of Daimons (Demons). Aiden’s character is one that greatly changes over the course of the series. He goes from awesome, to annoying, to overbearing, and then back to awesome more than once! The second novella Elixir is told from Aidens POV and in my opinion is one of the best written parts of the entire series. You can tell that JLA liked writing for Aiden because of the work you see put into his character development, it really is cool. Aiden has some really cool adventures with Alex, and kicks some ass along the way thanks to his training and his control over the fire element. (Oh yeah, there are elements involved, this series is amazing).

Seth- The half-blood Apollyon. The “God Killer”. Seth is the Apollyon, a half blood born every generation with the hidden power of control over the fifth element “Akasha” that, when wielded, is the only way to truly kill an immortal Olympian God. As the series explains, the Gods created the Apollyon many centuries ago to keep the balance in place between the power of the Gods and the inhabitants of Earth in order to ensure the Gods did not wield complete domination. Seth is something of a celebrity amongst the Earth-bound and clearly takes it to his head. Seth is a lady killer, highly trained in combat, and knows his importance to society (and often uses it to his advantage). We meet Seth after he is placed under assignment to protect Lucian (council member and step-father to Alex). Things quickly change in our story after Alex and Seth meet and their relationship and the story that evolves from it is the entire purpose of the novel. Seth ended up being one of my favorite characters. You never know whether he is an antagonist or a protagonist, he really is hard to read, which makes him so fun. To everyone who has finished the series, I am anxious to hear how you feel about Seth.

Also, to make matters more interesting, JLA has announced that she is working on an entirely new NA series devoted specifically to continuing Seth story. The Titan series will begin in February 2015 with its’ first release The Return. Click here for information about the Titan Series

The Cast- As you can imagine, in a series this large there is a huge cast of characters that are all very important to the story line. While I won’t go into specifics, here’s a list of characters you should pay special attention to while reading the Covenant series. 

Rachelle

Caleb

Marcus

Lucian

Leon

Deacon and Luke

Leah

Olivia

Ladaan

Solos

The Olympians

Perses

As far as the reviewing of the entire series goes, I can't go too far in depth without giving away spoilers, but allow me to say this. I have been reading for years. I have read so many paranormal series that it is hard for them to stand out to me. Harry Potter, Sookie Stackhouse, etc, I've read them all, and this series is right up there with them in my opinion. Very seldom do I read a book series and say it changed me, but this one has, I loved each and every second of this series. As a history major, I am fascinated with mythology and history, this series ties them all in together PERFECTLY. Another amazing thing about this series that is so unlike other series out there is that the series gets progressively better with each passing novel. That NEVER happens. And while you may thing seven books sounds like a whole lot of reading, it flies by. And while I say it flies by, I can also say that it ends at just the right time. Sometimes it seems authors are pressured by fans and publishers to continue their series long after they should have stopped, but that is definitely not the case with this series. It ends at just the right time, before it becomes too much and the reader gets bored. 

I often remember books based on what is going on in my life at the time of me reading them and I will forever remember this series, because I was reading it the entire time I was on my cruise to Mexico last week as my "senior trip" for graduating college! It was such a great experience to be sailing on the ocean reading such an amazing series (excepts for thoughts of an angry Poseidon). The characters were amazing, the story was perfect, the history was spot on, and the story flowed SO well. If I gave grades to books and series, this book series would seriously get top scores. A perfect 10/10, 5 stars, "2 thumbs WAY WAY up" (10 points if you get the reference!

Also, to any of you who are as in love with JLA as I am, there is an entire amazing blog out there dedicated to JLA! Check out The Deity Island Jennifer L. Armentrout Fansite here http://deityisland.blogspot.com/ They always have the coolest stuff on their site! Including links on how you can become a member of the "Half-Blood Legion"!

Alright everyone, since I’ve told you guys how awesome the Covenant series is, I am sure you are chomping at the bit to read it for yourself. With that, I have some exciting news for you. The two novellas in the series (Daimon and Elixir) are available as free downloads from the publisher, the links can be found on the Goodreads pages above by clicking on those titles. The exciting news, however is that I am going to be giving away a 3 copies of Half-Blood, the first book in the series to three of my amazing readers. All you have to do is fill out the Rafflecopter below and share it with you friends. I’m going to give you guys 12 days to share, tweet, and pimp this giveaway so everyone can have a shot at winning! You guys know the drill, fill it out below! Extra entries available for commenting below/tweeting about the giveaway/ and becoming a fan of JLA on FB and Twitter! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Since I can't give you guys all free copies, please head over to the links below to purchase your own copies of this amazing series.

View's Jennifer L. Armentrout's AMAZON page by clicking here!

View's Jennifer L. Armentrout's Barnes & Noble page by clicking here! 

Alright readers, I thank you for stopping by and checking out my take on the Covenant series by the absolutely amazing Jennifer L. Armentrout. Please check out this series, you most definitely will not regret it! Fill out the rafflecopter above, comment below, and tell your friends! Come on back after you've read it and let me know what you thought about the series. Also, check back on this post in a few days as I intend on adding to it! I have lots of thoughts swirling around that I would like to put on here, but my brain is fried at the moment and I wanted to make sure you guys had ample time to enter the giveaway! Lastly, I should have warned you guys prior to now, but if you read this series, you will forever use "Gods" as an expletive. It's so funny how books change your vernacular like that! Thanks for stopping by readers and until next time, "Godspeed"!

-Ethan