Book Review - Half-Blood

Half-Blood (Covenant #1)

By Jennifer L. Armentrout

Paperback, 281 pages

Published October 18th 2011 by Spencer Hill Press

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. (Goodreads summary)

I had heard this book was similar to The Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead. And well, yeah, they are practically twins. It is like taking The Vampire Academy and instead of using the word vampire replacing it with gods. 

That being said -- if something isn't broken, don't fix it! 

I absolutely adore The Vampire Academy, which led to me absolutely adoring Half-Blood. It is quick paced, entertaining, and exciting. The characters are fun and likable. Alex is spunky, sassy and endearing. Aiden is adorably swoon-worthy. The strong, silent type that I am totally in love with these days. Seth is absolutely god-like. And there are a few twists. Somewhat predictable, but not every book needs to be a labyrinth of hidden secrets. But Arementrout managed to get my blood pumping and my heart racing. 

Overall, though this book is like my favorite vampire series or rather since it is, I loved it. I throughly enjoyed every minute I spent reading it instead of being productive. For fans of Rose and Dimitry's story in The Vampire Academy, this is the book for you. Don't be deterred by the similarities; they are there, but they are worth loving again. And in the end, Half-blood is its own story. A story worth the incredibly addicting adventure. 

(Rating: 3.8/5)