Series: Covenant #1
Publisher: Spencer Hill Press
First published: September 19th, 2011
Source: Bought
Format: eBook (Kindle)
Pages: 281
Goodreads Summary:
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 Rating: 5.0 / 5
First thoughts:
Once I truly started this novel, I got angry at myself for waiting so long to finally read it. Its writing, plot and characters are addicting and I can't wait to get my hands on a copy of the sequel. While at times a little bit predictable, it was a very enjoyable read and I had to add it to my favorite books immediately. If you haven't read it yet, please don't wait any longer and start it!
More detailed:
The Convenant series has been very hyped ever since the first book and its prequel had been released. Even before that it had been on many to-read lists - on mine as well. In retrospect, I cannot think of one good reason why I've waited so long to finally read Half-Blood. Maybe I was scared that it might not live up to my expectations, but it definitely didn't disappoint at all.
I already realized while reading the prequel novella Daimon that there are quite a few similarities between this world and the world of the Vampire Academy series and I know that I'm definitely not the only one who feels this way. Besides the fact that Vampire Academy is one of my favorite series, I think Half-Blood has enough own elements to stay interesting and to be a special novel nonetheless.
I'm a huge fan of mythology and I think that Jennifer L. Armentrout has created a very intriguing and exciting world of the descendants of ancient Greek gods. When reading Half-Blood you get to know enough information to understand everything going on, but there are still so many things I'd love to find out - which is why waiting for the sequel is pure torture.
Stories of forbidden love are one of my greatest weaknesses and of course that's one of the reasons, too, why I enjoyed this so much. Aiden is a very swoon-worthy YA love interest and I think he and Alex are perfect for each other. But I also have to admit that I have developed a little weakness for Seth and it might be difficult for me to choose a "Team" in the future.
As I've mentioned above, at certain points some things were a little bit predictable, but only to an extent that made me happy about having guessed correctly. All in all, Half-Blood is a wonderful start for something that I'm sure will be an amazing series. It's told by a kick-ass female main character who is very easy to identify with, has very hot male main characters and always kept my attention. This is a must-read!
Challenge(s):
YA Mythology Challenge 2012
TBR Pile Reading Challenge 2012
