My Thoughts On: The Mephisto Covenant by Trinity Faegen

Posted September 21, 2011 by Asheley in Uncategorized / 2 Comments

The Mephisto Covenant by Trinity Faegen
Published by EgmontUSA
Publish Date:  September 27, 2011

439 Pages
My Source:  Borrowed/NetGalley
The Mephisto Covenant by Trinity Faegen

Sasha is desperate to find out who murdered her father. When getting the answer means pledging her soul to Eryx, she unlocks a secret that puts her in grave danger—Sasha is Anabo, a daughter of Eve, and Eryx’s biggest threat. 

A son of Hell, immortal, and bound to Earth forever, Jax looks for redemption in the Mephisto Covenant—God’s promise he will find peace in the love of an Anabo. After a thousand years, he’s finally found the girl he’s been searching for: Sasha. 

With the threat of Eryx looming, Jax has to keep Sasha safe and win her over. But can he? Will Sasha love him and give up her mortal life?  -(summary from Goodreads.com)

My Thoughts:  I started reading this book cautiously, unsure what to expect. All I really knew is that it had a beautiful cover and I had read a little buzz here and there about a mythological undertone to the story, so I hoped for the best. I guess you could say I was pleasantly surprised because I practically ate this book! 


In a nutshell, Jax and his brothers are the sons of Mephistopheles. They are on a mission to stop their brother Eryx from taking over Hell. Jax and his brothers are dangerously beautiful, lethal, and dark. Because of their association, they are without hope of Heaven and God does not hear nor help them. Their only hope for redemption is through an Anabo.

Sasha is Anabo–one of the descendants of Eve. Sasha’s spirit is all light, without darkness. She is never tempted, does not hate, and never feels rage or jealousy. She is basically the opposite of Jax. Jax and Sasha cross paths, they fall in love, and the resulting story is wonderful.


The Mephisto Covenant is basically the story of Sasha coming to terms with her existence as an Anabo, Jax’s existence as Mephisto, and deciding if she can live with that in order to be with him forever. There are also some action scenes with the bad guys and some big-time family issues. All of the plot lines are wound together well and there is great resolution in the end, but while everything was unfolding I was turning the pages faster and faster to see what would happen next.

Here are some of my thoughts about this book (which I loved!):

  1. Good vs. Evil. Anytime you have agents of God and agents of the Devil, there will be battles of good vs. evil. This book was full of it, and I love that. But to take it a step further, there was a big bunch of talk about free will, which is something I really, really love. Free will pretty much means that everyone chooses for themselves–basically we get to choose whether we are good or whether we are bad, for example. Jax and his brothers were trying to protect this concept. If Eryx took over Hell, he planned to do away with free will. To me, it made for a very interesting plot line of the story, but this is because I find the concept of free will so awesome to begin with. 
  2. Good Guys/Bad Guys. I love the good guys winning, especially when the good guys are technically bad boys. (I’m looking at you, Jax.) I mean, they work for Mephistopheles, who has ties to the Devil. So technically they should be on the bad guy team, right?  But when I read this book, I got very emotionally attached to the brothers. They were supposed to be bad guys, but they were GOOD. They desperately wanted to be redeemed in God’s eyes so they would be real good guys. Sasha struggled with this, too. She desperately loved Jax, but she didn’t want to be tied down to a life with a guy that had no chance of Heaven. The way the author blended the Mephisto/Anabo as they fell in love and their relationship changed was really cool and made for really great reading
  3. Bible stuff. The author took Eve (from the Book of Genesis) named one of her daughters, and made the descendants of these women Anabo. The concept of the Anabo is a pretty huge thing in this book, but the religion/Heaven/Hell-thing is not pushed on anyone and it is not a religious book. I never felt like this was a story that was trying to rewrite the Bible or trying to prove a big religious point. To me it is just story in which some Biblical themes were used as part of the plot. (Similar to the way it is done in the His Dark Materials books, although I am not comparing this book to those.) 
  4. Romance. Okay, you know what? The romance between Jax and Sasha is a little bit cliche and a little bit predictable at certain parts of the book. But I DON’T CARE. It worked for this book and it worked for me. It was written well, you guys. I am certainly a fan of Jax and his brothers. And that’s about all I have to say about that.  

This book was a bit unexpected for me. I mean, I was expecting to like it, for sure, but I did not expect to devour it and be SO SAD that it will take so long for the next book to come out. I have read some mixed reviews out there, and honestly I just don’t understand it. To each his own. I am definitely a fan of this author and this series, and I will wait with anticipation until the next book comes out…

I recommend The Mephisto Covenant for everyone. I would say that this book is intended for the older YA and adult YA-loving audiences, however. There are a few scenes that I would consider a little too graphic for the younger YA readers. The pacing is fantastic, the story is engaging, and the mythology is fascinating. It is just an all-around great book.

*I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest thoughts and opinions. I received no compensation for my review. Thank you Egmont! 

Asheley

About Asheley

Asheley is a Southern girl. She loves Carolina blue skies, Ben & Jerry's ice cream, and NC craft beer. She loves all things history but prefers books over everything.

You can find her somewhere in North Carolina, daydreaming about the ocean.

Find Asheley on Litsy @intothehallofbooks!

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2 responses to “My Thoughts On: The Mephisto Covenant by Trinity Faegen

  1. Sounds like an interesting read – and you're right, it is a gorgeous cover!

    "I guess you could say I was pleasantly surprised because I practically ate this book!" – LOL! If that isn't enough to recommend a book what is? 🙂

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