EARLY REVIEW: Half Blood (Covenant,#1) by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Half Blood by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Publication Date: October 18th 2011

Publisher: Spencer Hill Press

Paperback, 281 pages

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.

Half-Blood by Jennifer L. Armentrout comes to fill the void I felt inside since Vampire Academy series ended...Yes,yes,that's how much I loved it!I didn't just love it exactly,I'm ecstatic about it and all I can think now that I finished it is how long will I have to wait for the sequel to get published (and it's rather long still,that's my problem!).

Jennifer Armentrout delivers a wonderful new YA series that noone should miss reading.The world she created is complicated and unique.Among all those books that have recently flooded the YA genre about or based on Greek mythology,Half-Blood manages to stand out with its intricate world building and with the fact that takes Greek mythology one step further.I loved everything about this world but most of all the Apollyon twist.I've never came across anything like that concept and I was plainly fascinated by it.

The characters are wonderfully developed and with a voice of their own.Alex is witty, strong, independent, stubborn and brave but she's also a caring and sweet character and one can't help but love her.I could totally relate to her,feel her dilemmas and understand the motives that drove her actions.

Aiden,her love interest,is... well,totally swoon worthy to put it mildly!I loved the way their romance developed,it was just the way I like it in the books I read.Not too fast,nor too slow,just the right pace to keep the reader interested and not feel that they declare their love to one another in the blink of an eye.The reader is able to feel their growing feelings and attraction for each other.

And on the other hand,one must also consider Seth,who from all the indications will be the third in the love triangle of the story.And believe me,he's really worth it.I may not loved him nearly as much as I loved Aiden but he has all the potential to become an equally loved character.I'm guessing we'll see more of him in the sequel,and that's another reason I can't wait to read it!

Apart from the main heroes,Jennifer Armentrout managed to create a whole cast of interesting characters,from Lucian, Alex's stepfather with the shady motives, to Caleb, Alex's best friend, each character in this book has a voice of their own and don't just stand in the middle of the story ready to serve whatever the plot needs.

The plot on the other hand is full of twists and action, making it impossible for the reader to put the book down.The action scenes are well written and keep you on the edge of your seat the whole time and the writing style is plainly brilliant!

If one would ask me to choose my favorite scene in this book,that,hands down,would be Aiden calling Alex "agapi mou"!The whole scene was sweet on itself but being Greek and reading a greek word of affection being used so naturally in a book just astonished me!

All in all,Half-Blood is an exciting first book in a series that promises to get even better (if that is possible!) and it has all the potential to become the next favorite series for many readers.I know for sure that it became mine!

*Thanks to the author and Spencer Hill Press for providing me with a copy.