Half-Blood

I'm not in the mood to read about someone with Alex's personality. I don't care about what's happening in the story. It feels so 2000s teen melodrama, it's just not for me.

Here's the thing: I was told that Jennifer L. Armentrout's Covenant series was “Vampire Academy with Greek mythology” or “Vampire Academy meets Percy Jackson,” which interested me enough to make this the next series of Armentrout's that I read. I was not expecting how similar this was to Vampire Academy though, all the way down to its premise and plot.

Let's compare, shall we?

• We have our pure-bloods/Moroi, half-bloods/Dhampir, and daimons/Strigoi.
• Daimons/Strigoi are made by biting and consuming the blood of pure-bloods/Moroi.
• The half-bloods/Dhampir are looked down upon by the pure-bloods/Moroi, and are made to spend their lives serving and protecting them.
• Our story opens up with the female main character having run away from her school with another female character.
• Said female main character is saved by her love interest and brought back to the school.
• Female main character is accepted back at the school if she behaves, because female main character is a known rebel/party girl.
• Female main character's (who is an underage teenager) love interest is her adult mentor.
• Female main character is super special because she's an Apollyon/Shadowkissed.

...shall I go on?

Even with all of the similarities, I was hoping that maybe the mythological aspect might save it, but nope. The topic of the gods/Hematoi and their mythology are barely approached in this book, at least not enough to influence the overall plot. One of the characters even says that the pure-bloods can't get in contact with the Gods anymore.

Am I still going to continue with this series? Probably. Partially because I want to see if the next books copy the rest of the Vampire Academy series, and partially because this was entertaining just enough— but I don't mind calling out Jennifer L. Armentrout on this copycat book.

And my enemies-to-lovers dark romantasy loving heart really, really wants Alex and Seth to end up together but I think we all know she's gonna end up with Aiden bye.

Super immature main character who thinks she can do whatever she wants without consequence, and thinks that everyone is out to get her. It wants to be sexy and fun but definitely a lower YA book thats trying to market itself up to upper YA.

i love this series so much

I do not want to get into who copied who with this book, but I was completely unable to fully enjoy this book because it was basically Vampire Academy. There are way too many similarities that make it impossible for me to separate them. I really enjoyed VA and this made it impossible to not compare when reading this. For me, the only true differences based on this first installment are the words used to describe things and the fact that it is mythology rather than vampires.

I will continue with the next book to see if the similarities continue but I'm very hesitant to say I enjoyed this book. It was a quick read and I did like the relationship between Aiden and Alex.

3,5 en realidad.

Half-Blood by Jennifer L. Armentrout has been sitting in my Kindle library since 2012 and I just got around to reading it! I picked up an actual copy and that is what made me read this book. Jennifer L. Armentrout is one of my favorite authors so I don't know why it took me this long to read this series. I would suggest picking it up.

Half-Blood is such an addictive book. I was sucking in almost immediately and kept reading until I was interrupted.. then read some more. I have always enjoyed her writing and also her love interests. The connections with all of her characters just makes me all gooey inside. I really enjoyed her main character, Alex, she was strong and went through so much during this book. I was worried times about her but she seemed to snap out of her problems pretty quickly.

[ WARNING MAY HAVE SPOILERS ]

After her mother has died, Alex is sent back to the Covenant. This is where half and pure-bloods train to become Guards or Sentinels. The dean is Alex's uncle though who is not very fond of her. He wanted her to work for the pure bloods instead of training to be a Sentinel. Alex is very against this and finally Marcus cracks and introduces her to her new trainer, Aiden.

Now it wouldn't be an Armentrout book without some type of romance. Our lovely contester is Aiden. He is a pure-blood that is a Sentinel that is hired to train Alex after she has gone through an unfortunate event. They spend a lot of time together while training and the readers start to understand him more. He seemed like some boring and stiff person on the outside but was warm on the inside. I never got that feeling though since the moment he was introduced into the book. I saw how he cared for her when he first found her outside being attacked by a Diamon.

Another person we are introduced to is Seth. He is a Apollyon which means that he controls a lot of the elements or senses in his being. He is a cocky and somewhat rude person. Alex does not really like him and tries to ignore him. Until they have realized they have a fate together. Alex will become an Apollyon also and is actually his second half! What?! Love triangle maybe? Near the end of the book you get a feel of that type of love that may bloom in the upcoming books. I cannot wait personally. I love both of Aiden and Seth.. I wonder what happens.

Overall, I loved this book. It made me smile, laugh, and get serious. I loved Alex and everything she stood for. How she is able to take care of herself and others at a small consent. She does have a lot to learn and needs to get over her stubbornness and ask for help once in a while but that is why there is a thing called character growth! I know Jennifer will do her justice and I am about to jump into Pure!

This review was originally published on my blog at http://knowitnotsomuch.blogspot.com

Sooooooo.....I got to page 18 and almost put it down for good. I found myself constantly rechecking the front cover. Was I reading a Vampire Academy book without knowing it? It was really hard to stomach the blatant rip off this book was. I thought I couldn't possibly be the only one who thought that the similarities between Armentrout's fictional world and Richelle Mead's were one too many. On Goodreads the reviews were about the same. Some even claiming this couldn't be legal, but there were a couple that claimed while the book bore stunning similarities at some point Armentrout branches off into her own world and it was actually really good.

There were very few good reviews for the book from people I suspect read the Vampire Academy series, but the few there encouraged me to read on so I did.

If I had never read the Vampire Academy series I probably would have loved this book, but the fact remains that I did and so I struggled with Half-Blood. Alex is Rose. Plain and simple. You could insert each into the other's book and there would be no difference. Both half-bloods ran away from their respective academies (where they were training to become some sort of assassin) and lived in the mortal world until the guardians catch up to them and bring them back to the school. There they are judged to be hopeless, too far behind in their training so they will be sent off until one guardian volunteers to train them personally on their own time. That guardian is also the person that Alex/Rose is in lust for and completely forbidden. Aidan is Dimitri. Plain and simple. Even the Daimons/Strigoi are strangely alike. They were always solitary hunters until recently they began hunting in groups!

And at some point she does begin to branch off into her own story. Alex is special, unlike the other half-bloods (although, Rose too was special being shadow-kissed and unnaturally bonded to Lissa - which now that I think about it is VERY much the same as Seth & Alex) and she has a great purpose. But before all this really needs to be dealt with she must do something she never thought she would have to do.

Armentrout can write a good book, but a book that is so steeply based in someone else's world it's hard to judge. Half-bloods, pures, Daimons, Strigoi, mastering the elements, Aidan, Dimitri, Alex, Rose, Caleb, Mason.....there were just too many. I probably won't read the rest of the series, though I won't say I definitely won't, but reading the synopsis for the next book in the series I still find it too much like the plot from another Vampire Academy book and that's just disappointing.

This was SO GOOD! I really am digging this new world Jennifer L. Armentrout has created!

Back of the book reads as follows:

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.

I have to say I finsihed the book in one day and can't wait for the next book... yeah I liked it that much!
The book picks up where the prequel Daimon left off. The first chapter is basically the last of the prequel. Alex is brought back to the Covenant and she is allowed to train and get caught up so that she can become a Sentinel(a soldier). The book focuses on her training, on the loss of her mother which occured in Daimon, and her blossiming crush on Aiden her trainer, among other things. Although the book focuses a lot on the training it doesn't seem to slow down the pace of the book as many things are constantly being revealed throughout. Half-blood is a fresh take on the Greek gods, their offspring and their involvement with the mortal world with a very modern feel to it!

I finished Half-Blood about fifteen minutes ago and my heart is still beating like mad. This book, wow this book, is a roller coaster ride in it's own right. Twists, turns, smoldering attraction, it's all there in vivid black and white! When the very beginning of a story automatically takes my breath away, I know I'm in for a treat. Expect rambling beyond this sentence.

First off let me profess my love for Alex, the main character. She is strong, she is fiery, she knows what she wants and she'll be damned if she's going to let you keep her from getting it. Not afraid to break the rules, Alex is a rebel and driven by her need for revenge. Despite everything else in her life, including what she could become, she keeps fighting forward towards her ultimate goal. However she's not all big and bad. There are parts of her that come through that are sensitive and struggling. It is this very real personality that brought her to life and made me one hundred percent behind her the entire time.

Then there's Aiden. I'll admit that he stole my heart. This boy is stubborn and strong, but also sensitive in the best way possible. Of course, it doesn't hurt that he's easy on the eyes as well. There are moments between Aiden and Alex that just ooze tension, and then others that are so sweet that they will melt your heart. Add in an expressly forbidden romance, and you have a recipe for a fantastic story. What I really really enjoyed about Half-Blood though is that the romance doesn't steal the story line. It's there, it's charged, and there is even another smoldering hot boy who comes into the picture. Still, not once does a heart-wrenching love triangle fully develop. At least not yet. Perhaps it will come in the next installment, but for now I'm very happy with the fact that Alex gets to be her butt-kicking self, without falling into the love triangle trap.

As I mentioned above, the plot itself drives forward like a performance car! (Terrible similie I know.) I'm completely serious though. Interspersed between calm, loving, moments of reflection and growth are intense fight scenes and twists that will make your head spin. There was more than one time while reading that I literally yelled out “What are you DOING?” to the dismay of my napping boyfriend. Half-Blood is a book that drew me so far in, made me feel so much for the characters, that I felt I would be doing them a disservice if I didn't read ravenously to the end.

I'll stop rambling now. This book is fantastic. If you are in the market for a story with a butt-kicking heroine and a strong (gorgeous) male character, this is for you. Half-Blood took my breath away. I wait eagerly for more of Alex's story!