Half-Blood

Title: Half-blood

Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout

Publisher: Spencer Hill Press

Publish Date: 18 October 2011

Pages: 281

ISBN: 978-0-983-15720-5

Source: bought

Genre: Young Adult, romance, mythology

Series: Covenant

Other books in series: Daimon, Pure, Deity (November 2012)

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.

What happens to Alex after living in the human world with her mother for three years? Will she be allowed to return to the Covenant? The story starts out where Daimon left off. That is in Atlanta, Georgia in a warehouse where Alex was running from Florida, where her mother was killed in a Daimon attack. Alex is fighting for her life against the Daimons and is tagged when suddenly Sentinals appear to help her in the fight. After the threat of Daimons are gone, Alex's fight or flight relfexes kick in and she makes a run for it. Aiden St. Delphi, one of the Sentinals and a pure Hematoi, catches her and uses compulsion to get her to calm down. What happens is that she is escorted back to the Covenant where her uncle Marcus is the dean - Dean Andros and her step-father, Lucian, is the Minister of Council.

　

She makes a deal with Dean Andros that she will be caught up enough by the end of the summer to train with her classmates. Aiden is the one who volunteered to train her. There are strict rules that she has to abide by or it will make Aiden look bad. He takes these to heart. The training begins and Alex remembers all that she has forgotten during her time away from the Covenant. While she is at the Covenant, she not only rediscovers old friends, but old enemies as well.

　

Alex doesn't know the reason that her mother took her from the safety of the Covenant and lived in the human world up until her death. Everyone asks her that. Some people on the island speculate and say that Grandma Piperi, the oracle, told her mom something and that made her want to leave. This is bothering her and she wants to find out the reason. She is busy training and getting into mischief when Seth, the Apollyon, enters the picture. Immediately, she is attracted to and repulsed by him. There is this attraction there that she doesn't understand and does not happen with anyone else at the Covenant. She can feel his presence before she can see him. She is repulsed because of how everyone else treats him like he is a God. Will Alex find out why her mom left the Covenant? What will happen between her and Aiden? Why is she attracted to Seth?

I was first hooked in this series when I read the prequel Daimon.  I loved the differences between Seth and Aiden in this book.  Aiden has been the Pure that Alex has had a crush on forever and is her trainer, while Seth is the person that annoys her, but she has an attraction to that she doesn’t understand.  After reading Half-Blood, I was anxious to read Pure to find out what happens with this trio.

The cover has a flower in it which looks like flames. While the cover is pretty, I'm not sure what it has to do with the story. I like the colors on the cover.

•Alexandria Andros. She is a fighter. Always working hard for what she gets. If there are questions, she wants the answers.

　

•Aiden St. Delphi. He is a pure. Pures and Half-bloods don't mix. It is against the law. Why is he so attractive to Alex then?

　

•Caleb Nicolo. He is Alex's best friend. He stands up for her.

 

•Lea Samos. She is Alex's enemy. They have been fighting each other since they were seven.

　

•Dean Andros, Lucian. They know more than they are letting on and are not very supportive of Alex. When she firsts returns to the Covenant, they suggest her becoming a slave in her step-father's house.

•Seth. He is the Apollyon, but he has an ego the size of Texas. While reading the book, I have to agree with Alex's reaction to him. Everyone treats him like he is a god because of who he is. Everyone except Alex.  At times, I think he acts like a spoiled brat because he is the Apollyon.

There are three book trailers, so I thought that I would put all of them in here.