Deity by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Publisher’s summary: 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...

My take: I’m completely blown away by how amazing and exciting this book is, and I feel like there is so much to blabber about! The thing I got most excited about in Deity was that we actually get to see the gods in this book! It was phenomenal! And boy does the shiz hit the fan! Another thing that I just loved about Deity was that, just like in the previous books and right smack in the middle of this book, it’s like BAM!... something crazy happens, and it feels like it came out of nowhere! And then I’m left thinking, “What the heck is going to happen now? Isn’t this craziness supposed to happen at the end? Can the end even compete with this?” And the answer to my questions each time is, “OH YEAH, it gets 100 times better than this!”

Aside from the craziness, there are scenes that would leave me with tears streaming down my face, but then the very next scenes would have me literally laughing out loud. Can it get better than that? And last, but not least, there are the intensely hot scenes and the outright heart melting scenes…all that gooey romance stuff that we love so much. Well, at least that I love so much!

One thing I will have to say is that I wish I had read this book earlier on, probably the moment I received it in the mail because some people revealed a pretty big spoiler for me. I don’t think I could have escaped the spoiler even though I’m pretty good at avoiding them, but it still sucks! I don’t even think these people realize they are revealing a spoiler by talking about “it” or by putting “it” in their reviews. And, if I didn’t know about it, I think this particular thing would have had me suspicious, in denial or (best of all) it would have caught me totally by surprise…especially, because I already knew about a specific character that I shouldn’t trust. And I honestly think I would have flipped my freakin’ lid and I would not have been able to function! Too bad I already knew about “it” because I think I over-analyzed the situation…and I would have preferred the full-on, freak-out mode!

OH! I can’t forget to talk about the characters! There’s a new character who’s introduced that I’m really excited to learn more about. His name is Solos and I feel like I didn’t get enough of him yet. We do get a good mix of both Aidan and Seth, so I’m super happy with that. And I think there is more of a black and white feeling now about who can and can’t be trusted. But ’m sure we’ll still have some crazy betrayals in future books; I mean…COME ON…it’s a Jennifer L. Armentrout book we’re talking about here! But there are a lot of things brought out in the open in Deity and I’m very happy about that.

Aside from the major disappointment with that spoiler, this book was still an amazing read. And, once again, I’m left with having to wait for the next book in this series. OH! And before I forget, the ending of this book has a killer and totally amazing cliffhanger. I’m excited but at the same time completely terrified by how this series will continue.

Embers & Echoes by Karsten Knight

Publisher’s summary: Ashline Wilde may have needed school to learn that she is actually a reincarnated goddess, but she’s ready to move beyond books. She leaves her California boarding school behind and makes for Miami, where she meets a new group of deities and desperately seeks her sister Rose, the goddess of war. But she’s also looking for love—because even though her romance with Cole had to be snuffed, Ash is a volcano goddess—and she doesn’t get burned.

This sequel to the edgy and action-packed Wildefire continues a fiery drama on an immortal scale.

My take: This book was crazy awesome! And the crazy awesomeness continues all throughout the entire book, which has me in absolute amazement!

If you read Wildefire, then you know that it ended in a way that literally blindsides you! It comes out of nowhere and has you literally falling out of your seat, and has you thinking, “What the heck just happened there? Seriously????” And then the book just abruptly ends that way. Well, luckily, Embers & Echoes picks up from that very exact moment! The whole scene that develops in the very beginning of Embers & Echoes is so freakin' sick!!! It reminded me of why I liked Ash so much because she is one hardcore chick!

One of the many things that make this book so crazy awesome is how many crazy, psychotic evil villains there are! All of the gods in this series are totally crazy, but even in all that crazy you will find that there is a lot more crazy evil than there is crazy good.

It’s not just the beginning of the book that has some amazing, dope scenes. Just like the summary says, Embers & Echoes is action-packed! There’s so much that happens in this book that I couldn’t even begin to tell you how many times I was on the edge of my seat, or how many times I was in utter fascination over what was transpiring on the pages of Embers & Echoes! But the one thing that trumps all the other feelings I had throughout this book, was how many times I was outright pissed off at Karsten Knight. This is one of those books where you feel like the author will not allow you to be happy for any character. Yeah, there are still some happy scenes and a lot of funny moments, but right when you are feeling pretty content with the situation or you are feeling pretty happy with the way the story is headed, Karsten abruptly smashes that happiness into oblivion! I can actually give you the page numbers where Karsten pissed me off and, trust me, I was on twitter right after reading those pages, giving him a piece of my mind!

I can honestly say that my only problem with the book was that several times I had a hard time creating a mental picture of what I was reading. But that one problem was so unbelievably minor, that all the extreme positives almost have me forgetting about that one issue.

There’s a pretty crazy twist near the ending of the book, but it was the actual ending that was purely cruel! But the ending would have been even MORE cruel if Karsten had ended it 5 pages earlier...the place where he was originally going to end the book. THAT would have been insane and he would have had some crazy stalker fans beating down his door to get him to finish those last 5 pages! (Those last pages are the first pages of the next book!) And even though I did get to read those last 5 pages, I will be more than impatiently waiting for the final book, Afterglow, in 2013, and I can hardly wait to see how the story will end!

Goddess Interrupted by Aimee Carter

Publisher’s Summary: Kate Winters has won immortality. But if she wants a life with Henry in the Underworld, she'll have to fight for it.

Becoming immortal wasn't supposed to be the easy part. Though Kate is about to be crowned Queen of the Underworld, she's as isolated as ever. And despite her growing love for Henry, ruler of the Underworld, he's becoming ever more distant and secretive. Then, in the midst of Kate's coronation, Henry is abducted by the only being powerful enough to kill him: the King of the Titans.

As the other gods prepare for a war that could end them all, it is up to Kate to save Henry from the depths of Tartarus. But in order to navigate the endless caverns of the Underworld, Kate must enlist the help of the one person who is the greatest threat to her future.

Henry's first wife, Persephone.

My take: Now that I can better appreciate the characters in this series, I enjoyed reading this one! I was super excited to pick up Goddess Interrupted once I finished The Goddess Test and I’m not disappointed at all!

After Kate spent 6 months away from the new world that she is a part of now, she is super excited to return. I found that to be odd; Kate growing so attached to the new world even though she was away for such a long period of time with utterly no contact. But anyways, she returns to pure craziness and Henry is now acting odd toward her.

Pretty much right from the start, I was left wondering if something horrible was going to happen to one or more of the characters. At first I wasn’t overly concerned with why Henry was acting so unusual toward Kate, but I then began questioning, along with Kate, whether or not he truly cares for her. Kate pissed me off a lot in this book. I felt like she was way too emotional, and she let being pushed around get the best of her. Instead of learning from her mistakes in the first book, she seems a little too naïve…instead of acting on her feelings and insecurities, she just dismisses them. She’s one of those girls I think would find a DB guy to beat her, cheat on her, and talk crap about her right to her face…and then, even if she were to threaten to leave, she’d end up making excuses for his behavior! OK...so I went a little extreme with that one. It's not that bad, but bad enough to get on my nerves. LOL Well, she does actually grow a backbone slowly-but-surely throughout the book. Thank goodness! Anyways, enough with my ranting about Kate.

Overall, this story was really good. And, at the end of Goddess Interrupted there is a crazy twist and a horrible betrayal, and now I’m dying for the next book in this series!!!

The Goddess Test by Aimee Carter

Publisher’s Summary: It's always been just Kate and her mom—and her mother is dying. Her last wish? To move back to her childhood home. So Kate's going to start at a new school with no friends, no other family and the fear her mother won't live past the fall.

Then she meets Henry. Dark. Tortured. And mesmerizing. He claims to be Hades, god of the Underworld—and if she accepts his bargain, he'll keep her mother alive while Kate tries to pass seven tests.

Kate is sure he's crazy—until she sees him bring a girl back from the dead. Now saving her mother seems crazily possible. If she succeeds, she'll become Henry's future bride, and a goddess.

My Take: Holy crap! The ending to The Goddess Test totally rocked! That was a super sweet twist!

While reading The Goddess Test, I can honestly say that I only just “liked” the story, but it was the way that the story ended that made reading the whole book totally worth it! Now don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t as if I didn’t like the story because I did! While reading, the story kept me intrigued enough to keep moving forward, but it wasn’t a major thrill. But since there was that awesome ending, I’m now sitting here reminiscing, thinking about everything that happened throughout the whole book. And the part that I just brushed off as simple story-telling is now more important to me! It makes me want to go back and re-read it, because I think I would like it better the second time!

Pretty much all of the characters in The Goddess Test are likable. I kind of predicted who the villain was pretty early on (I won’t say, I don’t want to spoil it for you), but it didn’t at all ruin the story for me. Kate was too caring to the point where she would easily get pushed around and get taken advantage of; I wouldn’t be surprised if she doesn’t have severe trust issues after this book. Ava is the chick that you love to hate, but then she could also possibly be one of my favorite characters. Then there’s Henry. I’m totally Team Henry! How can you not fall for the Hades? LOL. Oh, wait! That wasn’t a spoiler, was it? But I’m pretty sure you find that one out in the very beginning.

There’s really not much more I can say for you because it’s best to go in completely blind when reading this one. And if you’ve already started but never finished, don’t give up on The Goddess Test because the end ROCKS!

Pure by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Publisher’s Summary: 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.

My Take: Jennifer L. Armentrout proved once again why I’m an obsessive fan of The Covenant Novels, and I can hardly wait to read Diety! And to think that I have to wait until November to read it is driving me absolutely insane!

I already loved both Daimon and Half-Blood, but I loved Pure so much more! There’s so much that happens in Pure that I’m left wondering how the heck Jennifer pulled it off. In the beginning, I thought a lot of the book would surround the love triangle, but almost immediately we’re introduced to some craziness going on all around the pures and halfs at the Covenant. And then…BAM!!! Something more than crazy and tragic happens and it happens not even halfway through the book. I was sitting there thinking, “Why did this happen so early on?” I thought that something that crazy would happen closer to the end. But, no, Jennifer gives us this craziness in what feels like the immediate first part of the book.

OK, of course I have to talk about the awesome love triangle because that is what it is…AWESOME. Of course both Aiden and Seth are hot, but I have to say that I was already Team Seth in Half-Blood. Sure, Aiden is more boyfriend material and he’s super-hot, but Seth in my mind is the definition of hot. In Pure, Jennifer only reinforces why I am utterly attracted to Seth! He takes my breath away when I think about him.

The end to Pure is so freakin’ awesome! There’s a lot of crazy action and awesome chaos! And we get to see how truly kick-butt Alex can, and I’m sure, will be. OhMyGosh…I can’t wait for the next book! I hope November doesn’t take long to get here!

Pure is released today so make sure you get your copy!!!

OH! And make sure you check out the awesome Q&A with hotties Aiden and Seth!

Half-Blood by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Publisher's Summary: 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:
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.


My Take: After reading Daimon, I just knew that Half-Blood was going to be amazing, and I was MORE than satisfied! It was Fab-Tab-U-Lous! Reading the highly intense, action-packed Daimon left me wanting to know all about this world Jennifer L. Armentrout has created, and Jennifer did not disappoint in Half-Blood which picked right up where Daimon left off. Good thing too because after reading Daimon, I had tons of questions like: “What are these evil creatures that are after Alex and that killed her mother?” ”What are Pure Bloods?” ”Why did Alex’s mom run away from the Covenant?” ”Why are the Daimon’s saying, “What are you?”” “Who is this boy that Alex has always had a crush on?” And one of the things that I loved most about Half-Blood is that ALL of my questions were answered. Yes…of course, even more doors are opened with this book (hello it’s a series!), but it’s an amazing standalone book on its own.

One thing I decided for sure is that I cannot stand the Covenant’s rules/laws; they truly drove me NUTTY! I won’t go into the details of why they drove me nutty because that is left for you (the reader) to figure out! I wanted to scream in the book, “What the heck is wrong with you people?” But I will give this hint; the rules don’t benefit the Half-bloods, and what I hated most is that even though Half-bloods are treated so horribly, they just go along with it and simply accept that this is how it is! It’s obvious that Alex only knows better because she has lived outside the Covenant in human society and knows that life can be lived differently. The Gods have turned their backs on the Pures, and I am almost wondering if it is because of the way the Pures are living their lives. My thoughts are that the Gods don’t agree with the way the Pures are living and the way they treat their offspring.

When it comes to the romance in Half-Blood, anything that had to do with Aiden was totally HOT! But he’s forbidden. Grrrr!!! Hmm…but does Alex really listen to the (or any) rules? Only, of course, Aiden HAS to be a saint. Now even though I loved reading about the Aiden and Alex romance and wanted so badly for them to be together, I am starting to wonder if I like Seth more! I think I might be Team Seth! (Yummy) Weird, huh? Maybe it’s because I just want Seth for myself! Should I tell Alex that she can have Aiden and I can have Seth? Why the heck do I get all goo-goo-gah-gah over guys that only exist in books?! Maybe I should require that my husband start reading my books so he can get some tips? Nevermind, it just wouldn’t be the same because I love the fantasy!

There is a horrible but fabulous ending to this book, and I am left wondering, “How the heck is Jennifer going to be able to compete with this book in future books?” Well I am more than excited to see where this series leads, and I am more than a little excited to read more about Seth! Woot! Woot!

Half-Blood Trailer


Half-Blood Trailer #2

Provided to me to review by:

Spencer Hill Press

Daimon by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Spencer Hill Press Summary:  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.



My Take: Woo! Hoo! I found a new fave and I only read the Prequel! OMG…this book had my blood pumping, I think I should have my blood pressure checked! And then bam, you leave me at that? AND now I have to sit here and wait to see if I can get an ARC to fulfill my fix! To make it even worse, if I don’t get an ARC, I have to wait until September for the release date?

This series is going to seriously ROCK! Alexandra (also goes by Alex and Lexie…I love that BTW), is the type of heroine I absolutely love in a series. She isn’t afraid to run but if she is caught up in a split second moment, the fighter in her comes out.

I’m going to call her Lexie because I like that name. Anyways, Lexie is a Half-Blood (Demi-God). Half-Bloods are trained at a young age to protect Pure-Bloods from daimons, the freaky, scary lookin’ creatures!

Lexie and her mother have been on the run for the last 3 years, taking her away from the only life she has ever known to live in the real world.

My prediction is that Lexie isn’t just a Half-Blood, there is something special about her and that is why her mom has had her in hiding for so long. I guess we will have to see! PLEASE DON’T MAKE ME WAIT!!!

Here is a quote that I love:

“When I didn’t answer, he shook me, and that was it. My bitch switch was flipped and, well, my sense of self-preservation went right out the window.”

Buy on Amazon:
Daimon: A Prequel to Half-Blood (Covenant) Kindle Edition
Daimon: The Prequel to Half-Blood (Paperback Edition)

The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan

Summary: Percy Jackson is about to be kicked out of boarding school...again. And that's the least of his troubles. Lately, mythological monsters and the gods of Mount Olympus seem to be walking straight out of the pages of Percy's Greek mythology textbook and into his life. And worse, he's angered a few of them. Zeus's master lightning bolt has been stolen, and Percy is the prime suspect.

Now Percy and his friends have just ten days to find and return Zeus's stolen property and bring peace to a warring Mount Olympus. But to succeed on his quest, Percy will have to do more than catch the true thief: he must come to terms with the father who abandoned him; solve the riddle of the Oracle, which warns him of betrayal by a friend; and unravel a treachery more powerful than the gods themselves.

This book was a lot of fun to read.

Rick Riordan starts out the book with Percy Jackson a troubled boy with ADHD and dyslexia. It turns out that he is the son of a greek god of olympus (half blood) and even though ADHD and dyslexia is a challenge in human society he needs it to help him the "mythical" world.

Percy has been accused of stealing Zeus's Lightning Bolt and it may cause World War III. It is Percy's mission to find the Lightning Bolt and return it to Zeus to prevent a war between the three most powerful gods and brothers Zeus, Poseiden and Hades.

I am going to challenge my little (6th grade) nephew to read it. I told him that if he reads it before the movie comes out in Jan '10, I will take him to the movie.