"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:Relationships between
pures and halfs are forbidden. 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.
And that would kind of suck" (blurb via goodreads)Jennifer L. Armentrout has become one of my favorite authors of all time. I fell in love with the Lux series and decided I wanted to give the covenant series a try. I'm very glad that I did, because Half Blood exceeded my expectations. I have to admit, it wasn't one of my favorite books; it was a bit predictable and the plot never really gripped my attention the way I wanted it to. However, it's definitely worth reading. I loved the fact that it was based upon descendants of Greek gods and Armentrout mentions aspects of the mythology throughout the book. I would have preferred that maybe there was more of the actual myths intertwined into the story, but maybe that's just my mythology obsession talking. I wouldn't say that the blurb really gives Alex credit in the sense that Aiden really wasn't that big of a problem. Their relationship wasn't overly sappy and it didn't overrun the story the way the summary implies. The romantic development between Alex and Aiden was both subtle and heart wrenching. They're both intelligent enough to know their limits, being together would mean risking both of their futures, and that only made it all the more frustrating to watch them fall head over heals for each other. As the book progressed, I fell in love with the characters. Alex is strong, stubborn, independent, and over all a great heroine. While Aiden is a warrior in every sense. Half Blood is written in a very light and casual tone that gives us a chance to get to know Alex's personality. it also offers some insight on her thoughts, which can either make you laugh, cry, or scream.
Honestly, I have a feeling I may have enjoyed this book more if I hadn't spent the entire time comparing it to other books. It is basically a rewrite of the entire Vampire Academy Series condensed into one book with the moroi, damphire, and strigoi(Vampires) replaced my pures, halfs, and daimons(descendents of Greek Gods). It prevented me from really getting connected with the plot when i pretty much knew what was going to happen. I wish I had found Half Blood when I was still in my Vampire Academy book hangover. It would have been perfect.
Review: 4 stars
Recommendations: if you liked this book you will absolutely fall in love with Vampire Academy Series by Richelle Mead. If you're interested in modernized greek mythology read Percy Jackson and the Olympians by Rick Riordan, The Medusa Girls series by Tera Lynn, or the Soul Screamers series by Rachel Vincent. If you like the idea of mystical creatures going to school together try the Hex Hall Trilogy by Rachel Hawkins, the House of Night series by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast, and The Shadow Falls Series by C.C. Hunter
