Review: Pure by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Title: Pure (Covenant, #2)
Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout
Pages: 330
Publisher: Spencer Hill Press
Release Date: April 3, 2012

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 Thoughts: In Pure, stricter rules are implemented on all half-bloods, and Alex comes to realize just how much her actions can lead to very serious consequences. All of this results in Alex having even less freedom than other halfs (most higher-up Pures treated her unfairly though!), forcing her to either focus completely on training or stay confined in her bedroom. Although I felt that caused there to be a lot of similar scenes for a majority of the book, it did lead to some interesting and important character and relationship developments. It also made Alex aware of the fact that she is being targeted and that she needs to figure out who to trust. Honestly, I'm suspicious of almost every single character. I'm hoping Alex figures it out because I want her to finally be able to catch a break! I just don't know how soon that will be.

Compared to Half-Blood the mystery was much more amplified in Pure. I think I was excepting answers to at least some of the questions I had from the previous book. However, in reality, there was little to no answers. What's interesting, though, is that I didn't even notice, until I got to the very end and realized I was left with more questions than what I had before I started the book. There was definitely hints and small revelations throughout, like when the Oracle appeared again (seriously, WHO is the HE she was talking about?!), but there wasn't enough to actually draw concrete conclusions. I would say that Pure was a build-up to the major revelations that are sure to come in the final books of the series. Although I'm nervous, I cannot wait to know everything!

As for the romance, it was pretty obvious that there would be more love-triangle in Pure. And that the focus would shift...elsewhere. I knew this, and even though I'm not a huge fan of love-triangles, I was still dying to read this book! So, what did I think of this love-triangle? While I can't say the love-triangle in this series is groundbreaking, it's not so bad. I do like all the characters involved. However, no matter how likable and nice a character is or how steamy and hot things get, I am not easily swayed. That's just that way it is for me. If you're okay with love-triangles, then you're probably going to like what happens with it in Pure. Even I can admit there's some good development.

Overall, I found Pure to be completely addicting and hard to put down! Like with the other novels that I've read so far by Jennifer L. Armentrout, Pure was filled with awesome characters, kick-butt action, great humor, and some pretty hot romance. The 'Covenant' series is definitely a series I'm very excited to continue reading, and I'm really looking forward to the next book Deity!

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Thanks to Spencer Hill Press for the ARC!