Half-Blood (Covenant #1) by Jennifer A. Armentrout

Half-Blood (Covenant #1)
by Jennifer A. Armentrout
Pages: 281
Source: Bought/Amazon
Format: ebook

Rating: I liked it

Goodreads Synopsis: 

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.

My Review:

  So I finally gave into the peer pressure that is Half-Blood. And I enjoyed it. But, don't shoot me, I'm just not getting the whole "SQUEEEEEEEE OMGOMGOMGOMG THIS BOOK IS THE MOST FANTABULOUS THING IN THE WORLD!!!!! *cue happy dance* ". I mean I liked it and it was really entertaining and all, but it also had it's fair share of problems.

Normally I'm not one to compare books, but I feel like this is the best way to review it.

Let me say this first: If you loved Vampire Academy, then you'll love this.
See? Now you can just skip the rest of the review! 
But for those of us out there who had a few issues with VA, then this review is for you.


1. If you didn't like the sex, alcohol and language of VA, then you won't like this. 

Pretty straightforward I'd say. I personally have a love/hate relationship with this part. It's definitely risque and its under the assumption that it's all teenagers do (TTS), but if it doesn't bother you then enjoy!!

2. If you didn't like Rose, Alex isn't much better. 

My main problem with Rose was that she crossed the line into B-ville wayyyy to much. She also just couldn't understand why people called her a whore even though she acted like one. Alex is similar, but actually a little better in my book. There is the fine line between snarky and mean and whereas Rose crossed it often, Alex doesn't. Well, not as much at least. I liked her rough and tough attitude, but at the same time she was a bit too rough around the edges for me. Oh, not to mention she makes an incredibly stupid decision. At least she admits it was stupid though. I guess I can give her points for that. 

3. If you didn't like Dimitri, don't worry. You've now got Aiden to swoon over!

Aiden is sexy instructor done right. When I read VA, I just didn't get all the SQEEing over Dimitri. He wasn't really fleshed out and just wasn't anything special in my book. But Aiden? Oh, goodness! Swoon alert! He's a great mix of masculinity and sensitivity. He's your average stoic instructor, but he's so much more than that! He's wise and really cares about Alex and people in general. He's such a sweetheart (with a tough side) and I love that he treats Alex fairly. And he doesn't put up with her crap. That right there made me swoon. He put Alex in her place when she needed it, but never condescended her. He made my heart a-flutter. 

4. If you like the plot of VA, then you'll probably like the plot of Half-Blood. 

It's got some of the same basic concepts, but the plots themselves are different. I think that if you are okay with 1-3, then you should give it a try. I personally liked the unique take on mythology and thoroughly enjoyed the action-packed awesomeness. The plot definitely kept me coming back for more (even though I wanted to smack Alex for that decision!).


Overall:

I enjoyed it. I really did. I liked it so much better than VA, so I believe others will too. That's not to say there aren't similarities. I just think this is VA done right. I definitely say give it a shot if you've been interested in it for a while. It's a bit rough, but no doubt entertaining!