Half-Blood by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Reviewed by Gina

Date Published: 18th October, 2011 (US)

Date Read: 19th October, 2011

Blurb: 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.

Review: When I finished this book the first thing I thought was....April, 2012!!?? I can not wait that long for Pure, the second instalment, to come out! I need that book right now but I know that it isn’t possible.

Wow. Freakin’ wow. I didn’t know how to start this review off but I think that is a pretty good beginning. I honestly don’t have any words to describe this book. It took my breath away and had me hooked from the first page.

When I first saw the cover I thought, well that looks pretty, I’ll check out the synopsis. And once I’d read that I knew that I’d have to have it. Thank god for The Book Depository because without it I wouldn’t have this book. This book is definitely one of my favourite reads this year and right now, April seems really far away but at least it’s near my birthday!! :D

Half-Blood tells the story of Alex, a seventeen year old Half-Blood who has just returned to the covenant after her mother was murdered by a daimon. She has missed nearly three years of training as her mother took her away, but Alex is thrown into the deep end and begins training with Pure blood Aiden, a very gorgeous Pure blood indeed. And Alex is instantly attracted to him. But relationships between halfs and pures are forbidden. Alex knows that but she doesn’t care. Not even about the consequences which are extreme and can ruin her. But when someone she thought was dead comes back to has to face the realization that it’s either kill or be killed. And the heartache begins...

I would just like to say thank you to Jennifer L. Armentrout for creating this beautiful start to a series and for making me fall in love with her book!! I has everything I love in a book. Danger, action, suspense, thrills and forbidden romance. What kept me turning the pages were the cliff-hangers and the twists and turns that graced the pages.

I love Greek Mythology so much and this was a great take on it. Not once was I confused or lost with all the information and I could imagine that it was real. It felt real. Especially the characters.
Alex was amazing to read about. She made me laugh quite a few times and she is smart, cocky, and brave but she also has a heart and loves to do things her own way. Even if they’re not the right way. I wished I could live as her just for one day to see what it would be like and to be with Aiden....my Mr. Perfect! I fell in love with him instantly and is one of my favourite YA guys!! He’s very stubborn when it comes to Alex and her safety but he is also sweet, kind and loving. I could write so many good things about him and it wouldn’t be enough. I really want them to be together and I hate the stupid rule for getting in the way. Some of the scenes between them actually took my breath away and I loved every second of it.

More characters that I love include Caleb, Alex’s best friend who would do anything for her (a plus) and the mysterious Appolyon, Seth. The twist that Jennifer has put in including Alex and Seth shocked me. I kind of saw it coming but it was still a shock. A good and interesting shock. I cannot wait to see how it develops and changes.

If Pure is anything as good as Half-Blood then I am going to be blown away all over again :D Jennifer’s style of writing captivated me and always kept me wondering. I am so looking forward to finding out how Alex, Aiden and Seth’s stories will shift and change throughout this wonderfully crafted series :) 5 stars!!