Title:  Sentinel
Author: Jennifer L Armentrout
Publisher/Year:  Spencer Hill Press 11/2/13
Length:  360 pages
Series: Covenant #5

Overview

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.

My Thoughts

We’ve been following these characters on this journey for so long that I wasn’t sure what was going to happen exactly.  I mean, were we looking at a happy ending, and for whom? was it going to blow up in their faces and who was going to die since we all know that many folks do each installment.

So this fifth and final installment picks up right after Alex has had the crap beaten out of her by Ares, and literally is trying to heal her body after Apollo has given her the nectar of the gods in order to survive.  She’s mending, and Aiden of course is there with her every moment because of their strong bond.

Throughout this story, we see a different and ever changing side to Seth, since we don’t know what his motives are any more and even if he’s to be believed.  We know that he was with Lucien and Ares, and he was their pawn, but all of a sudden he seems to have had a change of heart and is siding with Alex/Aiden and the good guys.  No one knows if this is a good thing or not.

We see strategies play out on how they need to take Ares down and what that’s going to mean.  We see the on going debate about the transfer of power between Seth and Alex even know they’ve ‘agreed’ on what the best thing is on who will become the ‘God Killer’. Apollo continues to play a very strong role and we see a bit more of Hades and Artemis in this installment.  I really love Apollo – he’s such a great guy -likeable and you just want to believe that he’s going to be able to do what’s best for everyone.  Mind you i think that one of my favorite scenes is when we learn that he and Deacon have had a bit of something something together.  that was priceless.

The final third of the story was really where the anxiety kicks it up a notch.  The good guys are on the move, they have a plan and a secret weapon in their pocket on how they are going to take down Ares.  Alex continues to worry that Seth’s being dishonest, and i kept wondering that he was out for himself.  I think that’s one of the greatest things about this story – that you can’t trust him – he never does what he implies that he will and that’s keeping us on the edge of our seat.

I have to admit, i wasn’t expecting the end of the story to be what it was at all.  it really took a turn that was unexpected and that was great.  Another person that we cared about and really grew to be invested in was killed, the underworld plays a LARGE role, and we saw a lot more mythical folks than ever before.

If nothing else, this series went out with a bang, and i’m really glad that i’ve now spent the last year + with these characters since it was a great take of modern realism and fantasy mixed together.  With a bit of YA appropriate romance/passion….and maybe a baby?

Enjoy!