REVIEW: HALF-BLOOD BY JENNIFER ARMENTROUT.

Title: Half-Blood (Covenant #1)
Author: Jennifer Armentrout
Edition: Paperback
Published: October 18, 2012
Publisher: Spencer Hill Press
Pages: 281
Source: Bought from Fullybooked
Category: Romance, Paranormal
Trailer: Not applicable.

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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.

Left intrigued by the prequel novella Daimon, I took my time and savor every page of Half Blood right after. And you know what, it gave me mixed emotions which at one point I wanted to throw my book outside the window in frustration then at times, I just stared at it and wanted to hug it. It was a very pleasant experience reading Half Blood and sure enough, I will read Pure soon.

After Aiden found her, Alex is brought back to the Covenant. Her uncle is now the Dean and her step father is now a Minister. So much chances for her to train since she isn't too fond of the two and vice versa. With Aiden's help, she starts to train and make her catch up with the things she missed. She tries hard to improve for her Uncle to accept her back to the Covenant and be a Sentinel. She knows she would do everything not to be a slave at her step father's house. But what she never thought of arises: her mother isn't truly dead, she has bigger responsibility than being just a Half Blood and she's starting to fall for a Pure which if caught, she will end up being under servitude anyway or worse, executed.

The Greek Mythology touch Armentrout exposed in the story isn't heavy which I liked. That said, I believed the plot did provide the necessary information about the gods, their powers and how they no longer communicate with humans. My questions were basically answered. How are the Pures turned into an Aether-sucking Daimon and why, what is Aether and why the Half Bloods are less privileged than Pures. I liked how the rules were ridiculous but sensible altogether. As I've mentioned on my Daimon review, the prose Armentrout used is so easy to go through. The feeling of reading a book like how you converse is overwhelmingly fun. I also felt like this series is a fan-fiction of something I read in the past (though am not a hundred percent sure) which again I enjoyed. The familiarity of it brings a lot of good memories and the uniqueness of the story pushes me to read more.

I noticed the age of the characters. Alex is 17 and Aiden is 20 something. This, infact, made me ecstatic. I want and long for mature characters in YA. Ironic as it may sound, this age bracket is what I prefer. The responsibility of the characters and how they may end up saving the world wouldn't be questionable. Unlike with 14-16 year olds who do extraordinary things an experienced adult couldn't which is terribly tiring. However, what I couldn't wrap my mind into is how immature Alex is. She is just as stubborn as hell. She doesn't listen, she's irresponsible, careless, sarcastic and she does whatever she wants. In short, she's simply a disrespectful bitch. Though those traits are what made her standout, I just couldn't like it. These ugly attitudes I would have never foreseen from Daimon. I never once felt happy about her decisions nor her dry humor because she's just way annoying. Only one thing I approved of all the things she did, her version of funeral. She may have been a character that fights back (which is a trait I adore) when someone's but lying her, but it just wouldn't compensate to how rude and disrespectful she is. I don't even understand how Aiden, Caleb nor Seth can tolerate her. Speaking of which, I enjoyed reading the romance develop. I guess, anyone in a normal state of mind would fall hard with Aiden. He's swoony alright. He might be uptight but it matches up with his Sentinel aura. Strong, brave, rational and gorgeous. I liked how he imposes sense of responsibility and his protectiveness brings out so much drool from my mouth. But who is dreamier anyway? Aiden or Seth? Seth is gorgeous as well but he came too intimidating to me. He's too buff and powerful that sometimes I think he could kill Alex by merely looking at her. He's a little scary for my taste. But Aiden is definitely sexier.

Half Blood is like bacon versus salad. You know what is right for you but the addiction you have for bacon is just off too strong. It is delicious, savory and oh so good for the taste buds. Half Blood is thrilling, comforting and addicting! I want more bacon, Armentrout! Toasty, crunchy and yummy bacon!

"You need to know about love. The things people will do for love. All truths come down to love, do they not? One way or another, they do. See, there is a difference between love and need. Sometimes, what you feel is immediate and without rhyme or reason.” She sat up a little straighter. “Two people see each across a room or their skin brushes. Their souls recognize the person as their own. It doesn’t need time to figure it. The soul always knows.. whether it’s right or wrong."