Half-Blood (Covenant, #1)

by Jennifer L. Armentrout

HALF-BLOOD is the unputdownable first book in the acclaimed Covenant series from #1 New York Times bestselling Jennifer L. Armentrout.

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.

• ISBN10: 0983157219
• ISBN13: 9780983157212
• Publish Date: 1 January 2011
• Publish Status: Active
• Imprint: Spencer Hill Press
• Format: eBook
• Pages: 281
• Language: English

Reviews

[alindstadtcorbeax]

Star Rating: —> 4.5 Stars

I f*cking love JLA. She is one of the only authors where no matter WHAT, I know I can count on her for a series/ book that I, without even one single doubt, will be absolutely obsessed with.

JLA KNOCKS IT OUT OF THE PARK WITH HALF-BLOOD ! What a great start to the Covenant series!!! I am SO EXCITED to continue reading!

(Psh—like I had any doubts to begin with, lol)

Onto #2— Pure!

[Laurie]

3.5 stars

[lauriesbookshelf]

3.5 stars

[Vicki]

3.5 stars

[Cocktails and Books]

4.5 Stars

I'm torn between Seth and Aiden.

[Nicole Lynn]

This review previously appeared on my blog, PopCrunchBoom Books


My Revew:


Half-Blood by Jennifer Armentrout is the first book in the Covenant series. The series follow Alexandria, or Alex for short. She is a half-blood: part mortal, part Hematoi. What is a Hematoi? A Hematoi (pronounced HEM-a-toy [thanks Armentrout!]) is a half-god–the result of when a god and mortal have kids. What makes the Hematoi high up on the chain of command in the human world is their godlike powers that came from mommy or daddy. Unfortunately none of this power is transferred on to a Half-blood. I mean Half-bloods are a step up from mortals, but no real special power exists in them. Plus, they’ve pulled the short string in this world and can only exist in two roles–as a sentinel or as a slave, I mean servant. Sentinels are warriors that hunt daimons (pronounced DEE-muns). These pesky things are the bad guys. They like to “eat” people, but especially Hematoi. I mean the half-bloods taste better then the mortals, but the Hematoi taste really good. SO Sentinals like to kick their butts so that they don’t hurt anyone.


Alex is training to be one of these badass “soldiers” when her mom decides to take her away from the Covenant. Half-blood begins three years later when Alex returns to the Covenant after being found “rescued” by the hot pure-blood Hematoi Aiden. She has just lost her mom to the daimons and took down two others in her attempt to survive. But she’s far behind in her training and her pureblood stepfather wants her to stay at his house instead of going back to training. Luckily super hot Adien comes to Alex’s rescue and decides to help her catch up in her training. Along with trying to catch up with the rest of her class so that she can become a sentinel, Alex has to deal with the death of her mother, learns about a connection she shares with a guy named Seth, and struggles to fight her feelings for Adien. Can she prevail in it all?

Alex was a great character. I’m all for strong female leads that can kick some butt. I mean she definitely lost her edge during her absence, but she was strong all the same. I liked the way she was a fighter and “one of the guys.” She had a great tomboy feel that could also be feminine. I connected with Alex during her emotional points in the novel and in the way that she took on responsibility. She hid her emotions from almost everyone and that triggered a connection in me since I tend to do the same. She was reckless and sometimes I wanted to yell at her to not be so stupid, but then It’s like yelling at the wall since I’d probably end up making the same decisions she did. Overall, I enjoyed watching her character grow throughout the novel and the change you saw in her by the end. Her strength definitely grew–both physically and emotionally. I think this really helped portray a strong female main character that is sometimes lacking in novels and movies (although we have Katniss now).

I enjoyed Alex’s friendship with Caleb. It’s nice to see a platonic friendship between a guy and a girl. I really loved the love interest in Adien. Forbidden love is an old technique (cue Romeo & Juliet), but definitely still a favorite of many. The YA romance lover in me just loved this. It pulled me in right away and I desperately wanted to know if they’d end up together; how their relationship would develop; would there be competition? Cue in Seth who seems like he might be a second person of interest in the love department for Alex–although it might only be me who can see this possibility. There could always just be misleading foreshadowing happening. But who doesn’t love a love-triangle these days?

Additionally I enjoy Armentrout’s writing style. I fell in love with her Lux series and wasn’t surprised to find myself really liking this series as well. I do have to admit I’m more pro-Luxen then pro-Half-bloods, but I still really enjoyed this novel. Armentrout has a way of drawing you into her characters and the story surrounding them.

What I would have liked to have seen more of in this story was power-distinction like the original gods tend to have. I feel like these distinctions would somehow be passed down to the Hematoi. If not, then more of an explanation on the whole “descendant of a god” thing. I also would have liked to have seen a different type of bad guy. The daimons, although sinister, didn’t seem to fully fit the world. They seemed to vampire-like. Although this does give a unique spin on how vampire came into existence if you look at it that way. Immortal beings surviving by draining humans with immortals’ blood within them. Anyway I understand why they were the bad guys within the story because they whole “transformation into evil creature” was necessary to this world. I just wished it was somehow more relateable to the gods storyline.

Overall, I would recommend picking up this book for a read. It’s a great paranormal romance and anyone who likes The Vampire Academy, Twilight, The Mortal Instruments, and even Romeo & Juliet would enjoy this series/novel.

[Hixxup]

Holy effing WOWSERS! I knew the Jennifer L. Armentrout had blown me away before with her Lux series, but wow she has done it again with this series as well. This woman knows how to create a world, with fantastic characters, and amazing plot line, and hope beyond hope of things as well. However parts of it seemed almost to some point that I was reading Vampire Academy again, with the Trainer falling for the trainee and vice versa, the whole trainer goes out to seek the trainee, and an unbreakble bond formed right at the beginning. But you know what!? I don't care because I loved it in those books, and I'm loving it again in this one. Jennifer L. Armentrout has officially been made one of my most favorite authors.

[nitzan_schwarz]

2013 cleaning my shelves challenge

3.5 stars

[Angie]

Yes, Half-Blood is essentially Vampire Academy with gods instead of vampires, but I loved VA, so I ended up enjoying Half-Blood, too! Parallels can be drawn between most of the world building elements and each of the characters, but they’re not exact copies. Alex is not Rose and Aiden is not Dmitri, but they are obviously similar. I enjoyed each book on their own, but I do love reading about different supernaturals so that’s one aspect where Half-Blood wins out. The plot is also extremely similar in some places, such as Alex being away from the school and having to catch up, being tutored by the young, hot, serious instructor, and having a loved one turned evil, but in general it’s totally different. And it’s a lot of fun!

The children of gods may need to go on my list of supernaturals to read more about. I absolutely love the mythology used in Half-Blood. The pures are pure blooded children of the gods, and are the elite of this society. Half-bloods, are exactly that, half pure and half human. Much like the original gods, the pures are quite promiscuous and often have many affairs with humans. The resulting offspring serve two purposes: slaves or soldiers. Of course, Alex is training to be a Sentinel, a much preferable future to becoming a mindless servant. She was faced with that possibility though, and I was curious about the half-bloods who become slaves. There’s also some interesting politics at play, such as the Breed Order which bans relationships between pures and halfs. Why? I’m not sure, but I have a theory. There’s a lot of little details scattered throughout, which I won’t go into, but the world-building is fabulous and I felt like I knew everything that I needed to know and wasn’t confused.

I really liked Alex. She’s fierce, determined, sarcastic, and doesn’t like anyone walk all over her. All without being a bitch–except to Lea, but she’s one too– which is great! I genuinely wanted to see her succeed in her training and in her mission to avenge her mother. She’s not 100% tough girl all the time though. She does show some vulnerability. Her friend Caleb is also a sweetie and a great friend, so I’m certainly looking forward to more of him. I’m not sure about the rest of the characters yet, but I’m definitely continuing the series, so I’ll hopefully get to know them all better soon.

Romance! Of course, I have to talk about the romance! I loved it! I’m a huge fan of forbidden romances, so I’m totally rooting for Alex and Aiden. Alliterations are always fun, too! There’s clearly the whole issue of him being pure and her being half-blood, but there’s also a moral problem of him being her instructor. Sure, he’s not technically a teacher, but there’s still a level of authority that he’s suppose to have over her. I totally believe in their romance, even if it did develop a little early. It’s not insta-love though, but they are totally lusting after one another! There are some genuine feelings there too, and I’m excited to see where it goes. Especially with the complication of Seth, since I suspect a love triangle is in the works.

In the end, I really enjoyed Half-Blood. It may be nearly identical to Vampire Academy, but perhaps that added to my enjoyment, since the world and characters already felt familiar. My one complaint is that there was some heavy foreshadowing in the beginning. It was a bit too much and I figure out the twists pretty early on. Other than that, Half-Blood is a fun book and I’m eager to continue the series!

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.

[littleread1]

I may have read this book in under 12 hours ... and also may have already ordered the 2nd book. I think I have a problem. Damn you Armentrout! *shakes fist*