{Special Feature} Kelly and Kristin Discuss Deity by Jennifer L Armentrout

Title: Deity

Series: Covenant Series #3

Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout

Blurb:

"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...

Kelly and Kristin Discuss Deity

 WARNING – SPOILERS ARE INEVITABLE! DO NOT ATTEMPT TO READ THIS IF YOU HAVE NOT READ DEITY YET, THE SPOILERS WILL BURN INTO YOUR BRAIN AND IF YOU DO NOT PREFER THAT STAY AWAY BUT IF YOU LOVE SPOILERS THEN BY ALL MEANS. 

So Kelly, I read this book the other day – Deity by Jennifer L. Armentrout? It’s part of the Covenant Series. You heard of it?

Kelly: Dude seriously, of course I’ve read it. Angela at ReadingAngel basically shoved it down all of us Starbooks girls’ throats hehe ;)

Kristin: Right…but that is why we call her the “book pimp.” Imagine how many awesome books we would’ve missed out on if not for Angela and her awesomeness.

Kelly: I know!!!!! Angela is made of awesome

Well, of course you’ve read it. We wouldn’t be doing this discussion if you hadn’t. So, in general, what did you think? We’ll get to the specifics in a moment.

Kelly: I really did love it, like all of Jen’s books, BUT I think I’m the only one who doesn’t view it as my favorite of the series.

Kristin: Well, personally…it’s my favorite of the series thus far, but I’m a sucker for anything that makes me go “Wait! What? WTF just happened?” and Deity did that more than any of the other books so far. A clever one, Ms. Armentrout!

Kelly: Yeah I get it but I missed Seth so much

If you could sum up the book in one or two words, what would they be?

Kelly: Satanic freakout

Kristin: And she’s not lying…she freaked the heck out. Major. For me, though, I think GAME-CHANGER is perfect.

Kelly: Yeah that is also perfect because so much is gonna happen in Apollyon O_O

We finally met a couple of gods, what was your first reaction to meeting Apollo? I mean, I completely know because you screamed in ALL CAPS on Facebook, but why don’t you tell our readers.

Kelly: Ok I reacted something like this: LEON IS APOLLO??????? WHAT???? THAT IS SO COOL!!!!!!!!!! I LOVE HIM NOW I GET IT!!!!!!!!!!! *jumps up and down*

Kristin: Haha…thank goodness she tamed her language because that is NOT what she said, but close enough. I happened to hear one of Jennifer’s live chats that she does every so often and she mentioned that the gods were always around, or something similar. My mind instantly went to Leon for so many reasons: unwavering bad timing, Alex always dissed on Apollo when she happened to be with Leon, and again…his precise timing in everything Alex/Aiden related.

Kelly: Haha, well yeah I had to tame it a bit! And I know that was so hilarious for me!!

Alex seems to have matured a little in this book, realizing that she may not like the rules, but to keep her friends and family safe, she has to at least try. What did you think of the way she handled things?

Kelly: In a way she kind of annoyed me. She is going to be the Apollyon, there is nothing she can do about it so please stop whining and accept it and focus on things that are more important. Other than that I thought she was quite awesome

Kristin: Okay, now here’s where everything gets interesting and you’ll see why in just a moment. While I don’t completely disagree with Kelly, I have to put in my two cents for Alex.  I find it easier to list the reasons I believe Alex has every reason to complain every now and then.

·         As a young child, her mom took her from the Covenant and hid her from everything she’d ever known because she was in danger.

·         Alex’s mom was attacked by Daimons and killed, leaving Alex to fend for herself.

·         She’s forced to run for her life, only to be saved and returned to the Covenant where her uncle and stepfather live. Both of whom she believed despised her.

·         She’s constantly threatened to be enslaved because she acts out.

·         She’s been lied to by everyone and has no idea who she can and cannot trust.

·         All her life’s decisions are taken away from her, not only because she’s a half-blood, but because she is destined to be the second Apollyon – which happens to be a complete freak of nature.

·         As the second Apollyon, she’ll be a source of power for Seth, the First, and his second-half, like it or not.

·         Also, the prophecies predict Seth will be a God Killer and he’ll drain her power to create chaos and evil…so there are plenty of people who want her and Seth destroyed.

·         BUT…because Alex hasn’t turned 18 and Awakened yet, she’s the one everyone is aiming for. Take her out, lessen Seth’s powers. The. End.

Now, all I’m saying is…if you handed all this to me at the age of 17, I wouldn’t hold up nearly as well as Alex has. I’d literally be a whining, balling, crying mess of a child, throwing constant temper-tantrums and retaliating in every way possible. No one wants their free will taken away, and in Alex’s eyes, hers is gone.  Now, throughout the book I saw Alex realize that things were far more dire than she believed and making appropriate, adult actions. She CHOOSES to go into hiding to keep horrible things from happening.

            Kelly: ok ok! I get your point! You totally make sense, Alex is now less annoying for me! yay J

Okay, now we’re to the sensitive issue. Team Aiden or Team Seth?

Kelly: TEAM SETH!!!!!!!!!!!! Like duh! Although I finally like Aiden, Seth will always be my baby.

Kristin: Until Deity, I was completely undecided. I loved both Seth and Aiden equally. Honest. But now, I have to say TEAM AIDEN!!!!!!!!!! Though Seth will always have a soft spot in my heart.

We see some major changes in all of the characters, and I think it’s safe to agree that Seth changes the most. Do you believe it is his destiny to become the God Killer or do you think someone is manipulating him?

Kelly: I do not believe in that. He is being manipulated. I know some people go around saying he is a big boy and needs to make his own decisions and shouldn’t be influenced by someone else. Ok really? If no one wanted you when you were a child, your mother hated you because you were a half blood and then suddenly this very influential man starts paying attention to you, gives you praise, treats you as an equal, gives you ‘love’, something that you have never experienced before in your life, are you telling me you won’t go out of your way to please that man? People are too quick to judge, they need to read between the lines. I don’t think Seth is evil or bad or whatever just seriously misguided and lost.

Kristin: OMG! I love you, Kelly. The funny thing about this answer is that she can completely reason Seth’s position but can’t reason Alex’s whininess and I can reason Alex’s issues but I cannot reason Seth’s side.

Yes, Seth is absolutely being manipulated, I will not deny that. The facts are in the books. Everyone should be able to see them, starting in Half-Blood, but Seth is no longer a child and he knows right from wrong. You can’t tell me he doesn’t. Sure he wants to please Lucien. Okay, I get that. And, if he were still a child, I might even forgive him for his neediness, but Seth is a freakin’ Apollyon for gods’ sakes. He has all the power and respect he needs to keep his gargantuan ego intact in his title alone. He needs to grow a pair and tell Lucien to kiss his @$$! He says he cares about Alex, and I believe him, or I believe he wants to. Now show me. Get over your daddy issues and, to steal a quote from Kelly, “focus on things that are more important.”

Hehe…I’m laughing so hard right now, because basically, Kelly and I are just alike in our beliefs, we just each use them to justify different things. Isn’t that how life always is!

Kelly: haha this is so funny! We are the EXACT opposite but the same! I love it!

Remember: Celebrate your differences!!! You’re probably more alike than you think.        

This statement made by Kristin above is so true, It’s fun to have differences and there is no need to get angry or fight each other because of it. Love all around people

There are so many prophecies included in all of the Covenant books, but one always stands out to me…

“Sometimes you will mistake need for love. Be careful. The road with need is never a fair one,never a good one. Much like the road you must walk down. Beware of the one who needs.”

To me, this prophecy applies to so many areas of the story? What do you think about this prophecy? Are there others that stick out in your head as eerie or especially important to the story?

Kelly: To me this applies to Alex and both Seth and Aiden. To me Seth needs Alex, but it’s deeper than just to overthrow the council, I think he needs her to save him and that is why he is so attached to her. He used her but he didn’t like it. Alex on the other hand needs Aiden because she is afraid of what she feels for Seth, so she needs him and his love to over shadow her feelings for Seth.  The other one that stuck out to me was about how Caleb was going to die. I think it is very important to the story because he made a reappearance in Deity. I don’t think that was the last of Caleb.

Kristin: Oh, I hope you are right about Caleb. I love him so much!

I agree that this prophecy applies to Alex, Seth, and Aiden, and I completely see Kelly’s point. She made it so beautifully, too. However, I see this in Alex’s relationship with Lucien and Marcus also, maybe even Seth’s relationship with Lucien. Lucien NEEDS both Alex and Seth. He always has, and somewhere that we haven’t seen yet, there’s a god who needs Lucien.  Lucien has tried to play at making Alex think he ‘wants’ her, but she’s smart enough to see through him. Marcus has always been all business-like and caring, yet firm with Alex. In Deity, we see him show how he wants her to be safe and to succeed.

Kelly: Oh wow! You are so right!!!!!

This was my favorite book of the series so far, but I know it’s not yours. If you had to pick your favorite book so far, what would it be?

Kelly: Favourite book was Pure because we got to see who the real Seth is. I’ve read Pure like 5 times whereas Half-Blood and Apollyon only once.

Kristin: What? You’ve read Apollyon and not shared. I’m thinking you mean Deity.Haha. Anyway…I love this one. I’ll probably eat my words, but I’ll go on record as saying Deity is my favorite of the entire series, even though Apollyon isn’t even released yet. All the pieces are in play now…let them fall where they will.

Kelly: Oh oops, yeah I meant Deity, Mah baaaaad!

Favorite scene in Deity?Favorite scene in series so far? (You’ll be surprised…I think ours might be the same here…LOL)

Kelly: Where I found out Leon is Apollo, I kind of lost my shit.Haha.Favourite scene so far, it’s a tie between the pool scene and where Seth wanted to kill that Master for hitting Alex and how only she could calm him down. I LOVED that scene

Kristin: My favorite from Deity is Alex finding out who Leon/Apollo really is and remembering her discussion with Leon about Apollo and his sexual proclivities. I laughed so hard I cried. And my favorite scene from the series so far…is the pool scene from Pure. Although, I did love the scene Kelly mentioned with the Master.

Three words to describe these characters:

                                  Kelly:                                                                                    Kristin:

Alex:                       Bad Ass Chicka                                                                  Girl on a Mission (‘a’ doesn’t count)

Aiden:                   Serious, Boring(sometimes), Intense                      Caring, Protective, Passionate

Seth:                       Vulnerable, Misunderstood, HOTTTTTT               Passionate, Sexy, Misunderstood

Deacon:                Awesome, Funny, Loveable                                       Awesome lil bro

Luke:                     Dependable, sweet and loyal                                      Deacon’s worse half (LMAO)

Leah:                     Entertaining, sad, Fierce                                              Trying to like (but failing)

Marcus:               Cutest uncle ever                                                             WTH? Cutest Uncle Ever?

Lucien:                NEEDS TO DIE                                                                   Kelly said it

Leon:                     Apollo fan boy ;)                                                              Are you serious? (Not you, Kelly)

Apollo:                 AMAZINGLY HOT GOD                                                 Oh My Gods!!!

Artemis:             Arrow wielding warrior                                                 Should be her

Hades:                  Dark, British, interesting                                               Intriguing and Still Deciding

Caleb:                   I MISS HIM                                                                          ME TOO!

Olivia:                  Was a bitch                                                                          Was not ;-)

Minister Telly: KARMA BITCH! HA!                                                     I’ll show you Akasha (Oops!)

Haha yes cutest uncle ever! He was just so awkward like

Regardless of which boy you choose, you have to admit that Seth messed up quite a bit in Deity. Which of his actions ripped your heart out of your chest and made you want to curl up in a ball and cry?

Kelly: To be honest the only thing that bugged me was that he pulled Akasha through Alex without her permission and that he made the marks appear faster.  I was just like, Seth….what are you doing? Please stop hurting Alex!

Kristin: Honestly, his taking her Akasha against her will is what killed it for Seth in my eyes, but I also could not believe he kidnapped Alex either.

Now, let’s flip that coin…you have to admit, beyond a doubt, that Jennifer has written the storyline so that Seth is redeemable. What one thing stands out, in Deity, that makes you believe he can be saved?

Kelly: Because of what Caleb said that Alex mustn’t believe what everybody tells her because things with Seth aren’t as they appear.

Kristin: I also believe Caleb had a point behind his words about Seth “not knowing,” but I think, for me,  it’s that Alex actually seemed to get through to the real Seth a couple of times. We see he’s in there somewhere; we just want him to come out and play nice now.

How do you feel about Alex and Aiden? Are you happy with the way Jennifer has made their relationship fall into place?

Kelly: Nope I do not like this at all. I’m glad because she had Aiden through this difficult time with Seth but other than that they are not meant to be in my eyes. I want lil Seth babies!!!! I think Aiden should get someone else, but I know that’s not going to happen. That’s why I’m so glad that I started to like Aiden.

Kristin: Yes!!! I’m a sucker for the underdog. Okay, I know, someone is going to say “Aiden has never been the underdog,” but, in my eyes he is. He’s the Pure who’s not allowed to be with a Half because the powers-that-be say so, he loves Alex because of who she is and not what she can do for him, and he isn’t her fated “other half.” (I love a character who beats out Fate and Destiny.) Seth has sex appeal, his bad-boy edge, and he’s the freakin’ Apollyon. Come on!

Kelly: Underdog my ASS

What made you love Seth or Aiden that made you decide to become Team whoever?

Kelly: Well for me Seth just had that something extra and I just knew that there was more to him than meets the eye. What made me Team Seth indefinitely was how he treated Alex in Pure. He was so sweet and awesome and you could see he really cares about her deeply.

Kristin: I’m not going to completely disagree with Kelly, but Seth does admit in Deity that he had multiple intentions behind gaining her trust in Pure. But, ultimately, I’m Team Aiden, and it’s because of everything I mentioned about being an underdog!

How would you feel if Jennifer took Seth to the place where he has to die to redeem himself?

Kelly: I would die, literally. I would cry for days and burn the books.

Kristin: Kelly McGeer!!! I cannot believe you went there! I know this is not one of my questions! I refuse to think of such a thing because I’ve boycotted one author’s books for this tactic. Okay…maybe not forever, but it’s been a while and I’m not over it…so, let’s hope this does not happen.

Kelly: Yeah I went there!! Cause I’m so scared it’s gonna happen!

These are the opinions of Kelly and Kristin and we’re okay if you disagree, heck, we disagree; we just ask that you keep your comments friendly and don’t be haters. In fact, any comment containing the word hate will be deleted. At Better Read Than Dead we celebrate different opinions and think the world would be just plain boring without them, but we prefer to promote what we love, not degrade what we dislike.