Tra due mondi

Covenant #1

by Jennifer L. Armentrout, Alice Casarini (translator)

Gli Hematoi discendono dall'unione di dei e mortali, e i figli di due Hematoi di sangue puro hanno poteri di origine divina. I nati dall'unione tra i figli degli Hematoi e i mortali, invece... be', non proprio. I Mezzosangue hanno solo due possibilità: venire addestrati per diventare Sentinelle con il compito di combattere e uccidere i daimon o diventare servitori nelle dimore dei Puri. La diciassettenne Alexandria preferirebbe rischiare la vita lottando che sprecarla pulendo i pavimenti, ma non è detto che ci riesca. La sua condotta, infatti, è tutt'altro che irreprensibile. Ci sono diverse regole che gli studenti del Covenant, come lei, devono seguire e Alex ha dei problemi con tutte, ma soprattutto con la numero 1: le relazioni tra i Puri e i Mezzosangue sono proibite. Sfortunatamente, lei è attratta da Aiden, bellissimo e... Puro. Comunque innamorarsi di Aiden non è il suo più grande problema, rimanere in vita abbastanza a lungo e diventare una Sentinella invece sì. Se fallirà nel suo compito, dovrà fronteggiare un futuro più terribile della morte o della schiavitù: diventerà un daimon, e Aiden le darà la caccia. E quella sarebbe una vera disgrazia.

Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, Paranormal, Romance, Mythology, Paranormal Romance, Urban Fantasy

336 pages, Paperback

First published October 18, 2011

About the author

Hey Guys! Please note: I don't send out ARCs for review. If you're interested in reviewing a book of mine before release date, please contact the appropriate publisher. I also do NOT check my Goodreads email.

To email me, please use the below addy.
jenniferlarmentrout@live.com

# 1 New York Times and # 1 International Bestselling author Jennifer lives in Charles Town, West Virginia. All the rumors you’ve heard about her state aren’t true. When she’s not hard at work writing. she spends her time reading, watching really bad zombie movies, pretending to write, hanging out with her husband and her Jack Russell Loki. In early 2015, Jennifer was diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa, a group of rare genetic disorders that involve a breakdown and death of cells in the retina, eventually resulting in loss of vision, among other complications. Due to this diagnosis, educating people on the varying degrees of blindness has become of passion of hers, right alongside writing, which she plans to do as long as she can.

Her dreams of becoming an author started in algebra class, where she spent most of her time writing short stories….which explains her dismal grades in math. Jennifer writes young adult paranormal, science fiction, fantasy, and contemporary romance. She is published with Tor, HarperCollins Avon and William Morrow, Entangled Teen and Brazen, Disney/Hyperion and Harlequin Teen. Her Wicked Series has been optioned by PassionFlix. Jennifer has won numerous awards, including the 2013 Reviewers Choice Award for Wait for You, the 2015 Editor’s Pick for Fall With Me, and the 2014/2015 Moerser-Jugendbuch- Jury award for Obsidian. Her young adult romantic suspense novel DON’T LOOK BACK was a 2014 nominated Best in Young Adult Fiction by YALSA. Her adult romantic suspense novel TILL DEATH was a Amazon Editor’s Pick and iBook Book of the Month. Her young adult contemporary THE PROBLEM WITH FOREVER is a 2017 RITA Award Winner in Young Adult Fiction. She also writes Adult and New Adult contemporary and paranormal romance under the name J. Lynn. She is published by Entangled Brazen and HarperCollins.

She is the owner of ApollyCon and The Origin Event, the successful annual events that features over hundred bestselling authors in Young Adult, New Adult, and Adult Fiction, panels, parties, and more.

Reviews

[Ezmirelda · Rating 3 out of 5]

SPOILER ALERT **THERE ARE SPOILERS FOR BOTH VAMPIRE ACADEMY (the whole series) AND HALF BLOOD BELOW***

Similarities Between Half-Blood and Vampire Academy

EVERY. SINGLE. THING.

*CAUTION* if you're looking for originality this is not the book for you.

It's like the author just took Vampire Academy and changed all the names. The only character missing from this story is Lissa. Read below for details

*EDIT* Apparently Lissa is in this book as well. You know the connection that Rose and Lisa have that allows them to experience each other's feelings and hear thoughts? It's the same as the connection between Alex and Seth in Half-Blood. So Seth is actually playing the part of Lissa. :/

Here's our "cast":

Alex AKA Rose Hathaway

Aidan AKA Dimitri

Deacon/Seth AKA Adrian
* Deacon (HB) and Adrian (VA) both have drinking problems*

Caleb AKA Mason

Lea AKA Mia ....gosh their names even rhyme -__-
In the Vampire Academy Mia's mother dies due to Strigoi attacks, in Half Blood Lea's parent dies due to Daimon attacks. They are also both the mean-girl antagonist of the story who turn out not to hate each other towards the end. Seriously? Could this be even more obvious that this is a rip-off without stealing such a minuscule detail from the story?


Terms:

HALF-BLOOD - Basically the same thing as DHAMPIRS

PURE-BLOOD - Basically the same thing as MOROI (notice that they both "coincidently" have the same ability to control the elements and not the Half-bloods/dhampirs)

DAIMONS - Basically the SAME thing as STRIGOI


Other similarities:

In Vampire Academy Rose escapes from the Academy/ school for vampires with Lisa
In Half-Blood Alex escapes the academy with her mother

In Vampire Academy Rose goes to visit Dimitri at his house and they almost go all the way (In that scene Dimitri talks in Russian)
In Half-Blood Alex goes to Aidan's cabin and they almost go all the way (In that scene Aiden talks in Greek)


In Vampire Academy Rose is distraught when Dimitri gets turned into a Strigoi
In Half-Blood Alex is distraught when her mother turns into a Diamon


The structures of the school and the society. THE EXACT SAME THING.
In VA there are Dhampir and Moroi vampires - Dhampir = half-blooded, Morio- pure blooded
Dhampirs in VA are meant to protect and cater to the needs of Moroi
In Halfs-Blood, Halfs are expected to cater to the needs of PURES. Halfs are considered below the pures. Same for VA.

In Half-Blood HALFS train in combat to Protect people from Diamons
In Vampire Academy DHAMPIRS train in Combat to protect people from Strigoi.

The similarities are endless. Bottom line--this story was a complete rip-off of VA. Coincidence? I think not. The story follows the plot way too closely. It's impossible not to miss.

Good news? I loved the author's voice/style and Alex's characters. Why? Because they're the only thing about this story that's even remotely ORIGINAL. I have a strong dislike for books that are rip-offs of other books (rip-off isn't even the correct word for this book--more like half-stolen) but I enjoyed the story nonetheless--mostly because I missed VA and this story was basically a re-write of it. Towards the end the author surprises us by using some of her own ideas. I hope she continues with that in the next book.

UPDATE: 11/13/11

EX. OF SIMILAR DIALOGUE:
“You will lose what you value most, so treasure it while you can.”
― Richelle Mead, Shadow Kiss

-__- Doesn't the witch lady from Half-Blood say the EXACT SAME THING? I didn't even notice this till today but seriously I'm speechless? There's also A LOT more copies of dialogue during the Alex/Rose and Dimitri/Aiden moments.

2.5 stars


I try to never compare books to each other. I actually find it kind of annoying. But this book isn't just similar, it's been copied to the point where I got confused over whether I was reading Half-Blood or Vampire Academy. Whole plots/characters/scenes/ and dialogue have been copied. And no I will not convince myself to give this author credit for stealing from VA just because she wrote a novel.

Let me explain this in a different situation: A person steals a college essay off the internet and changes the names, locations, and switches the words around, but at it's core it's somebody else's words--somebody else's hard work. That person gets into their top college, in big part to "their" gut-wrenching essay. That person does not give credit to the original essay writer and is taking all the congratulations for getting into this college that's super tough to get into. Would YOU think that was okay to do??? That is why I cannot reward plagiarism, even though I enjoyed reading Half-Blood. It's not fair, it's unprofessional, and it's an insult to the person she stole from. I mean, she's making profit from someone else's work, without their consent. NOT cool at all, whatsoever. You want to be proud of something that you created, not guilt-ridden.

- - - - - - -

So I went on to read the second book, hoping the rumors were true that the it was completely vampire-academy-less. So not true! But I admit that she did try harder to use original ideas than she did in the first book. Here's my review of PURE:

http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

[Emily May · Rating 2 out of 5]

Surely this book is illegal. I mean, someone once tried to sue J.K. Rowling because their book included a kind of wizard sport tournament similar to the one found in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, they claimed she had stolen the idea from them... and this small matter takes up such a minuscule percentage of the novel! Not to mention the fact that no one I knew had ever heard of the guy's novel before...

Now, pretty much everyone I speak to has heard of - if not read - the Vampire Academy series. The first two thirds of Half-Blood is exactly the same as the first in the VA series, I'm not even exaggerating. There are some scenes where if you changed "Alex" to "Rose" and "Aiden" to "Dimitri" then you would have a difficult time guessing which book is which. In each novel, the protagonist has been away from their centre of training (St Vladimir's and The Covenant) for a long period of time. When they return, they are admitted for a trial period in which they must attend training by professional (and super sexy) hunters. In the training rooms, they fight the older and forbidden pros and get their arses handed to them repeatedly... then slowly they get better, stronger, and things start to get just a little too hot and sweaty between them and their trainers.

Oh, and another in-your-face similarity? There are pures and half-bloods, the former look down on the latter, pures would never stoop so low as to start a relationship with a half-blood, etc, etc. Alex, like Rose, is a half-blood. The only big difference is that Aiden, unlike Dimitri, is a pure. So the relationship in this novel is even more forbidden than the one in Vampire Academy. But I was just astounded by how many characters mirrored the ones in VA, this wasn't an accident, it simply couldn't be.

Two stars on goodreads means "it was ok" and, trust me, this very nearly got one star because plagiarism is never ok. But there was a big improvement in the last third that gave me the feeling that the second book in this series - Pure - would leave the VA books alone and show some originality. Things started to branch off from the obviously stolen idea and take their own shape; like the introduction of Apollyon (a half-blood who is granted super powers in order to keep pures in check, but only one can exist at any given time) and some other interesting discoveries that I can't talk about without giving away huge spoilers.

Even though Half-Blood is a well-written, dark and sexy novel, I couldn't help but be turned off when I discovered that the author had taken someone else's idea. Perhaps I'd have felt differently if I hadn't just read Vampire Academy in 2011? I don't know, but I'm not particularly interested in reading Pure right now.

[Katerina · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm in love with Aiden St. Delphi.



Of course that's not a big surprise, since he's the reincarnation of one of my first and eternal book crushes, Dimitri Belikov, but still it's a reason to smile (well, not for my mother, she weeps every time I fall for another fictional character instead of producing grand-children).

“You will kill the ones you love. It is in your blood, in your fate. So the gods have spoken it and so the gods have come to foresee it.”

There is a secret society, one us mortals are not aware of. Once upon a time, the horny greek gods mated with humans, and thus the Hematoi (or Pure-Bloods) Moroi were born. Due to their divine heritage, they are extremely fast and strong (and beautiful), and they can wield elemental magic. Their lesser halfs are the Half-Bloods Dhampirs. They can't control the elements, but they're equally strong. Not particularly respected though. A Half-Blood will either become a servant, or will get the proper training to guard the Pure-Bloods, and the best of them, they can become Sentinels. Daimon hunters. Which brings us to the third kind of supernatural, gods-descended beings. Daimons Strigoi are the Pures that switched to the dark side, and feed on Pures. Our main heroine is Alexandria Andros (why her last name is a greek island is beyond me), who fled the Covenant with her mother, only to be dragged back after her mother's death. In order to graduate, she must train with my aforementioned love Aiden, a badass Pure, and try to survive the Pures' politics, daimon attacks, shocking revelations about her powers and her ever-growing yearning for Aiden. Because relationships between Pures and Halfs are strictly forbidden.

“Okay. I’m ready to move onto something else, like practicing with knives or defense against the dark arts. Cool things.”
“Did you just quote Harry Potter?”

As you can tell, there are many similarities with Vampire Academy. That's not a bad thing in my agenda, it's just that due to this resemblance the whole story lost the element of surprise for me. I knew exactly what was going to happen, when and where and how. But setting this aside, Half-Blood was delicious. When it comes to action, rich mythology, feisty characters and scorching tension, you know Jennifer L. Armentrout can not disappoint. Fast-paced, snarky, funny and equally heart-breaking, Alex's story hooked you from the start, from that very first show-down with daimons to the melancholic and beautiful last chapter. There was just one problem.
Alex.



I am the President of the Alex-Andros-Sucks club. The position of the Vice President is still up for grabs. I had such a hard time liking her, since her lack of self-control and discipline, her total disregard for the rules, her selfish, reckless and impulsive attitude that kept endangering not only her, but also the people close to her, were too much for me. I know that most YA heroines are like this but, believe me when I say it, she is worse. So much worse.



On the bright side, Rose Hathaway really grew up throughout Vampire Academy, so I'm not losing hope yet. Even though Alex is the reason I almost gave Half-Blood 3 stars, it is Aiden that deserves all the stars in the sky. He's so caring, fierce and sweet that he makes your heart melt. The chemistry between Alex and Aiden is simply sizzling, their scenes are both tender and toe-curling, and swooning is inevitable.

“Then he leaned forward and rested his cheek against mine. Hot tingles spread through me as his lips moved against my ear. "You should tell me to stop."
I didn't say a word.”

But alas, I can sense a love triangle coming, and somebody will end up crying. Probably me. The good thing is, there is a reason behind it. It won't be thrown for drama purposes only, but it serves the plot, so I'm going pretend it won't bother me a lot.

“Need covers itself with love, but need… need is never love. Always beware of the one who needs you. There is always a want behind a need, you see.”

Despite its flaws, Half-Blood is an addictive ride I absolutely recommend to every paranormal/forbidden romance/greek mythology lover!

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[Maja (The Nocturnal Library) · Rating 2 out of 5]

In Daimon, the short story prequel, Alex’s mother was killed by a group of Strigoi daimons, but Alex was lucky enough to escape. At the beginning of Half-Blood, she is found by Dimitri Aiden and other Guardians Sentinels and returned to the Covenant, where she hopes to continue her education. However, the dean is none too happy with her. She has lost three years of training and he thinks she shouldn’t be allowed to rejoin her classmates. Instead, he wants to give her the elixir which will turn her into a mindless slave for the Moroi Pures. Of course, Aiden steps up and offers to train her in his free time and because of his words, Alex is given a chance to prove that she can become just as good as the others by the end of the summer.

Relationships between Pures and Half-Bloods are strictly forbidden. Alex is a half-blood, try guessing what Aiden is! If they end up together and someone finds out, nothing will happen to Aiden because he’s a Pure, but Alex will be forced into slavery and will probably have to be a servant in her stepfather’s (who also happens to be a very powerful politician) house.

I think this book was some sort of an experiment: how much can an author take from another author and avoid being sued for plagiarism?! Jennifer Armentrout crossed the line considerably if you ask me. It’s true that we are used to YA paranormal literature being formulaic, but that’s not what this is about. Armentrout wasn’t just following the usual formula - more than half of this book is flat-out stolen. Far too many characters and situations were just copied from the Vampire Academy series to Half-Blood for it to be an accident. I can't help but wonder what this woman was thinking. She had too know how obvious it'll be.

Under normal circumstances, Half-Blood would have been a solid 4-star book for me. The characters are interesting enough, the world is well built, the plot is compelling and the writing itself isn’t half bad. But I can’t bring myself to reward Armentrout’s actions. If I do, if we all do, where will it end?

There are some differences between Half-Blood and Vampire Academy, especially in the second half. But by the time I reached those parts, I was already going back and forth from depressed to angry and I just couldn’t find it within myself to care.

Vampire Academy fans should read this out of sheer curiosity. I recommend borrowing it from the library or something because buying it means encouraging other thieves authors to do the same. I really don’t want to see The Panthers of Hope Falls on some shelf next year.

[Candace · Rating 4 out of 5]

Paranormal/fantasy books are not my favorite genre, but every once in a while I like to read one to change things up a bit. This one had been sitting on my TBR list for quite some time and when I saw the Audible edition on sale, I decided that it was as good a time as ever to finally give it a listen. While I'd by lying if I said that it was the kind of book that makes me fall in love with the characters and rush out to grab a copy of the next book in the series, I can't deny that I enjoyed it.

The story centers on a seventeen year-old girl who was born into a "secret society" of sorts. She is what is called a half-blood, born of a pure-blood "Hematoi" mother and a human father. She was schooled at the Covenant, where pure-bloods and half-bloods train to be Sentinels - fighters that hunt daimons, the evil pure-bloods that feed off of other pure-bloods.

However, before Alexandria could complete her training her mother leaves the Covenant, taking her with her. The two are on the run, hunted by the Covenant's sentinels. When they fall prey to the daimons, Alexandria's mother is killed and Alexandria is returned to the Covenant.

Upon her return, Alexandria is given a mixed reception. Her uncle and stepfather seem to be out for her blood, wanting to relegate her to the role of a servant. She is unexpectedly championed by Aiden St. Delphi, the sentinel that is the best of the best and as good-looking as he is talented as a fighter.

Aiden argues that Alexandria has a lot of potential as a fighter. He was impressed with the way she held her own against the daimons, even managing to kill successfully. This is a feat that is practically unheard of, especially for a half-blood that has not completed training.

He proposes that he be allowed to personally teach Alexandria. If he can get her caught up on the training that she has missed, then she will be allowed to return to train with the others. There isn't much time and the odds are against them, but he's confident that it can be done.

When Alexandria's uncle reluctantly agrees to Aiden's plan, the clock starts counting down. Alexandria undergoes rigorous training, growing closer to Aiden with every day. She cannot deny her attraction to him, but knows that nothing can ever come of it because unions between half-bloods and pure-bloods are strictly forbidden.

Making matters more complicated is Alexandria's youthful, often immature, disposition. She is wild and reckless. Often, she fails to recognize the implications of her actions, acting out in dangerous ways. It is almost like she wants to be kicked out of the program, even as she denies this wholeheartedly.

Things come to a head when Alexandria is faced with an impossible situation. Her loyalties are tested and she finds herself in more danger than she'd ever imagined. However, new facts come to light, revealing that she is far more important than anyone had ever known before.

All things considered, this was a great book. I enjoyed it, but it was a little innocent for my tastes. It was written with a younger, teen audience in mind, so it hit it's mark for the genre. However, I require a little more steam.

While the brewing love story between Aiden and Alexandria was tantalizing, it was more like a tease. The primary focus of the story was on the paranormal/action aspects. I needed less fight scenes and more romance. That being said, if you're looking for a paranormal/fantasy book with a lot of action, then this is a fantastic choice.

At some point, I might continue the series, but I'm not worried about it right now. For me, personally, it just wasn't compelling enough. I don't have that anxious, impatient need to get my hands on the next one, like I do when a read a favorite. Nothing wrong with it, just not my cup of tea.

[High Lady of The Night Court · Rating 5 out of 5]

”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.”
“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.”

Team Aiden all the way. I’m decided.

I love everything about this world. The concept of the Greek gods in this book is great. Hematoi are the children of Gods and mortals. The children of two Hematoi are pure bloods who can control the elements. Children of a Hematoi and a mortal gives a half-blood who doesn’t have magic but has strength and the ability to see the true form a Daimon. As the blurb says, the half-bloods are considered below the pures and either become Sentinels to kill Daimons or to be pushed into servitude.

The characters are truly amazing. The protagonist Alexandria is not who you would expect a protagonist of fantasy series with a paranormal vibe. She is light-hearted, snarky, irrational, and is driven by her emotions. Her mother’s death hardens her but watching the events of this book gradually change her is intriguing.
Alex had been on the run from Daimons since they invaded her house and killed her mother. Now, Alex is taken back to the Covenant to be trained as a Sentinel, which has been her dream. Three years ago, Alex’s mother took Alex and ran away from the Covenant with no reason and now to be accepted back into the Covenant and to be trained she must prove that she can catch up with everything she has missed. If Alex makes any mistakes or fails to prove her worth she will either be killed or given the Elixir which will turn her into a mindless servant.

The plot itself is bigger than Alex proving her worth but revealing anything else would be a spoiler. As events unfold, the story moves forward in many more ways than Alex becoming a Sentinel.

The blurb doesn’t give it away but I wanted to tell you guys that this series consists of a love triangle, which I probably gave away by the first sentence of this review. If I had known that this series had a love triangle I would probably be more hesitant to read it, and as always the love triangle frustrates me to no end but the book is still a great read.

The plot of these books is great and the characters are amazing. The world building and the history of the world and these supernatural creatures is mind-blowing.
But the one thing that frustrated me is that the protagonist ignores everything the Oracle says. Yes, there is an oracle in this book but while she is considered an Oracle the protagonist doesn’t pay attention to many of the things she says till after the events occur. It is understandable that the words of the oracle weren’t interpreted, but the fact that the words were not even given any consideration is pretty irritating. Some part of what the Oracle said is not even very cryptic and could have been understood, but no Alex didn’t pay any attention to what she said.

Putting that aside, the book was great at highlighting the relationship between the characters and revealing just as much past as the future of the characters. I look forward to the rest of the books and have a good feeling about them, but I really hope this love triangle will end soon.

[♛ may · Rating 1 out of 5]

Every once in a while a reader might be fortunate enough to stumble upon a piece of published literature that makes them feel SO BLOOD ADEQUATE as an aspiring author.

For me, this book has done it.

If this stuff can be published and loved then I think I’m gonna be a best-selling author in multiple universes.



Name your most hated clichéd tropes, kids and I will guarantee you will find them in this book. :)

1. The writing is so immature. IT’S LIKE A TEN YEAR OLD WAS GIVEN A FREE PASS AT WRITING FAN FICTION AND THIS IS THE BEST THEY CAME UP WITH.

2. If someone could direct me to the plot that would be great, still trying to figure out what the purpose of the book is. . .


3. //AIDAN IS HOT. HE’S REALLY SUPER HOT. He’s probably as hot as the sun. No, maybe hotter. Did you catch that one, guys? He’s hot. GORGEOUSLY HOT//

"The grin increased to a full smile. And… oh, man. He had dimples. The air in my lungs died."

"Aiden was… hotness incarnate. I alternated between staring at those ripped arms and being envious of how he moved with such fluid grace, but it was more than just his ability to make me drool on myself."

Please, stop.

4. OH MY GOD, WHO WOULD LIKE ME??? I’M SO UGLY WITH MY PLATIUM HAIR AND MY PERFECTLY TONED AND SCUPLTED BODY AND CHISELED FEATURES LIKE EW, I’M SO UGLY.

"I’d been so stunningly beautiful he couldn’t help but notice me. That last one was the most absurd. I’d been gawky and a total dweeb then"

Someone end me.

5. Oh and there’s Girl Hate™ bc no book is successful without a little bit of Girl Hate™.

"Lea sauntered in, and I swear, she managed to get the uniform as tight as humanly possible. I looked down at my own and noted that my legs looked nowhere near as good as hers did. Bitch."

6. Everything is so . . .dramatic !!! yet not interesting enough for me to CARE why it’s so dramatic.

7. I have no idea what the ending is. My brain went into Protection Mode and saved me the trauma of having to remember the final chapter.


Overall, this book was a wonder!!! :) :) :)


1 star!!


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Buddy read with my girl, Bluey ~ thanks for BRing this with mehhhh <3 <3

[Stacia (the 2010 club) · Rating 1 out of 5]

More VA similarities come out here and here. And that's not even my entire list of similarities. I just got tired of marking them all (because there were so many) when it started getting down to them both having rose necklaces as a significant thing and other random little details sprinkled throughout just about everywhere.

*edit* July 2012*. Sigh. Eff it. I really didn't want to have a star rating on this book because of my mixed feelings (good and bad) but since I'm not risking having yet another review sent to the void, I will award a star rating.

*edit* March 2012. I have since removed my star rating because I don't know the fair way to rate this book anymore. If you've read either Half-Blood or Vampire Academy (it doesn't matter which one) this review will basically be spoiler free because you'll know what's going on from reading either book when I do my comparison. If you haven't read VA, then I'd suggest skipping this review altogether and picking up a copy of Vampire Academy. Do yourself a favor and read the original before deciding whether or not to read this. It's the only fair thing to do. Mead deserves credit for creating this world.

*edit* January 2012. After having three different discussions about this book in the past few days, I'm tempted to erase my entire review. I wrote it with hope that there must have been a reason for the similarities. Now, I'm pretty sure that the author isn't claiming this as fan fic, when that's what it reads as. I tried to see the positives. I really did.

~ Original Review from 2011 ~

This has got to be fan fic?

I can't imagine that someone would blatantly rip-off the entire premise of Vampire Academy without it being some form of fan fiction. I would say at least 85% of the story was ripped from VA books 1 and 4, and the other 15% was given a Percy Jackson-like twist.

I read the book because I was craving a Mead fix, and missing Dimitri something fierce. And this book delivered on that at least! Actually, I forgot after a while that we were dealing with offspring of the gods because when you have races like pures (moroi), half-bloods (dhampir), and daimons (strigoi), as well as jobs like sentinel (guardian), servant (blood whore), and lazy upper class (royals), all taking place on a remote island school (remote vampire academy), it's easy to forget that we're NOT reading VA. Did I mention that there is a Rose, a Dimitri (right down to being the guardian/sentinel trainer), an Eddie, a Mia and a semi-ish Adrian character? Okay, well there you go. It's VA. Did I also mention that there was a crazy strigoi daimon hunting our lead female? Yep. Crazy, I know.

*edit* to also add that there were similarities between Alex/Aiden's scene and the lust charm scene in VA 1, as well as Rose/Alex wanting to train with real weapons instead of fake. I'm going to stop now before I start thinking of every single scene that was similar.

BUT...I actually liked the story. I was engaged the entire time and never bored once. However, I'm not sure if this was because I already knew what was going on, so I didn't have to learn anything about the world, making it easier to get into right away. Heck, I may have even liked it a little bit better than VA book 1 (blasphemy, I know, especially considering how much of a Mead fangirl I am) because a lot of the world building was pushed back in favor of more action. If I was rating this book based on story alone, I'd easily go 4 stars because I enjoyed it that much. However, since there was nothing NEW about the story (oh wait, the two Apollyons twist...hah), I can't in good conscience go that high. So I'm thinking 1 star for originality. Not even one thing about the mythology was new. I'd read it all before in other books, and some of it felt like I was rehashing Percy Jackson (especially the part with the oracle).

So uh...yeah. I really liked the book! I can't wait to read the next one! Let's hope it branches off into something completely different so I can go higher on the rating because I really did like the author's storytelling, fresh characters errr...writing style. Yeah, that!

[Karla Martínez · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5

no esperaba terminar el libro en 24 hrs, pero la verdad es que me gustó muchísimo! la jenny siempre me sorprende con sus historias... estoy segura que amaré la saga <3.

[Sandee is Reading · Rating 5 out of 5]

WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT???!



This is what I was talking about! Ms. Armentrout! You really know how to make your fans scream out more!!!





Merged review:

MY REACTION AFTER READING THE BOOK:



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Yes! I am extremely happy!
This book exceeded my expectations!


THE GIST

Here are some of the things you need to know about first before I get to the real gist of this book. We all know that the Greek gods were very fond of mingling with humans. And when they mingle with humans in a not so innocent way, the by-products would be the Half-bloods. But of course there was another type of Hematoi (children of the gods) and they were the Pures who were the offsprings of two Pures which basically means both of them are descendants of gods. The Pures were considered as the upper class citizens while the Half-bloods were the second to lower class citizens. There was no equality between the two. The pure-bloods were given all the privileges while the half-bloods either become Sentinels or become slaves of the Pures (talk about discrimination huh?). Union between the Half-bloods and the Pures were also forbidden.

So here is the real gist!

Alexandria Andros was a half-blood. She was the daughter of a pure and a human. When she was thirteen her mother ran away from the Covenant (Hematoi school) for a reason her mother never explained to her. Three years have passed their worst fear came, the Daimons found them. Alex was able to escape but horror filled her because she saw her mother killed before her very eyes by the Daimons. Fortunately, people from the Covenant a Pure named Aiden St. Delphi (the guy she’s been secretly fantasizing over for three years) found Alex and took her back to where she belongs. But does she really belong there? Why did her mother discreetly took her away from that place? What was the secret? Will she ever find out? Will her attraction to Aiden cause her troubles? How will she deal with her mother’s death?

The answers to those would shock the hell out of you!!


FIRST IMPRESSION

This book actually proved to me that first impressions are not always right. This book sucker punched me with its awesomeness!

But okay to be honest my first impression on this book was not good. I read Daimon first because I was told by my friend who recommended this series to read it first and I did. Problem was at that time I wasn’t sure why but the book didn’t give me anything. It didn’t give me the same fired up feeling that I got when I read it the second time. After Daimon, I immediately went and read Half-Blood which gave me ecstatic feeling although out reading this book!

Why did I reread it? Well basically because Daemon from Obsidian made me do it! :p You guys get what I mean!

Yep! First impressions does not last for long especially if there is an Aiden St. Delphi to make you change your mind!


CHARACTERS

There are a lot of seriously amazing characters here. Of course there’s Aiden Alex.

Alex was definitely my type of girl. She may not be a Pure but she is one hell of a fighter. She was kickass! She was also annoying at times because she has no regard for the rules but even though it’s annoying I still like her. Why? Because she wasn’t the typical goody goody female lead. I hate weak female lead. She does get her ass kicked a lot but still she was definitely a character you’ll love! She was strong. She was outspoken up to the point that sometimes for me it was totally disrespectful already (one thing I didn’t like about her).

I didn’t know what to expect with the male lead character Aiden. I mean yeah Daemon from Obsidian was hot as hell but I didn’t know that Jennifer could create someone as hot as Daemon but in a different way! Ohhh Jennifer! I’d like to know if you have Daemons and Aiden’s hanging out with you there because I want to have one!! Aheeemm. Back to talking about Aiden! Let me just make it short. There is nothing you wouldn’t like about Aiden. He was the perfect gentleman. He was nice even though he was a Pure. He was gorgeous. He was body was chiselled in all the right places. He was totally delicious a total hottie.

Seth was someone I didn’t see coming. Yeah he was the type of guy who you’d like to kick in the groin for being so arrogant! But yeah he has this soft spot too that I didn’t expect to be there. Hope to get more out of him on the next books! And I hope he doesn’t turn out bad because I’d be heartbroken. Oh yeah! Seth is delicious a hottie too just so you guys know!

The supporting characters were there to love and hate too. I love Alex’s friend Caleb. He was a total sweetheart. Leah was a totally Btch! hateful. Marcus (Alex’s uncle) and Lucien (Alex’s stepdad) all played their roles well.


ALEX + AIDEN = MATCH MADE IN HEAVEN

ALEX and AIDEN was a match made in heaven!
If I was to rate this book just based on their chemistry, I would have given this book an immediate 5!
The thing between them was undeniable even without them saying anything about it.
All that pent up tension!!!
Waaaaahhhh! I couldn’t take it!
I want more ALEX and AIDEN!


QUOTABLE QUOTES

“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.”

“People do the damndest things when they’re in love.”

“I was gonna be super pissed in the afterlife if I died a virgin in this crap hole.”


HIGHLIGHTS

If you are looking for highlights there are a lot but let me just list my faves:

* I am a fan of Greek Myth so it’s pretty important to me that it is used in a way that it won’t be disrespectful to how the Greeks made their gods to be. I am proud to say that this book did not mess it up. Ms. Armentrout just used it and made it relatable to the current times.

* The characters were well developed for me. Kickass female lead and a swoon worthy male lead! What more could you ask for?

* Oh my gods! I love the pace and how the story developed. Usually fast paced books have fewer details on the lives of the characters but this one just had the right amount of information and action.

* The chemistry was out of this world! Alex and Aiden are two characters definitely to watch out for.


FINAL WORDS

Okay so I have read loads of reviews comparing this book to Vampire Academy. Honestly, I wouldn’t know because I haven’t read that yet. But one this for sure, I still would love the Covenant series. Whether I read VA or not, whether or not it’s the same or not, I don’t freakin’ care.

All readers are different. Some interpret things the way they want it to become. Readers have to keep an open mind though that sometimes it may really be just coincidental but really it’s wrong to judge that they plagiarized someone’s work. That is just so wrong. Respect people!

Anyhow, I would definitely be recommending this book especially for those who love mythology like me and for those who want a good paranormal romance novel! It totally exceeded my expectation. It has everything that I could ever ask for in a book plus a lot of add-ons on the side.

Ms. Jennifer Armentrout, you did it again!
You made me squeal in anticipation for your next books!


A very happy group of minions for this book!

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5 stars!

[chan ☆ · Rating 4 out of 5]

^this is to all the h8ers who don't appreciate some good YA paranormal angst

bc this shit was... good??? i've been pretty let down by a lot of YA lately shatter me so it was kind of refreshing to read something that was nice and entertaining.

now let's be clear: this book isn't going to win any awards for like, achievements in literature but it was FUN. we have "pure" blooded hematoi (descendent from Greek gods) and we've got, you guessed it, half bloods. both breeds fight daimons which are pure blooded hematoi that have been "turned."

yes. this is a lot like vampire academy.

but actually, the lore is better!

because pure bloods and half bloods only sort of coexist. there's some inherent racism in the system. which definitely comes into play in this book; it's also a subtle thing in VA but was never fully addressed in the way that i wanted to be. i have a feeling that in future books this magical racism is gonna come into play more. me likey real world issues in fantasy in paranormal.

that's it for plot. now the good stuff: man meats

there's a scinty hinty of some super special love geometry and i'll be real clear with you: I DON'T GIVE A FUCK WHAT YOU SAY. i like love triangles. but i also think if you hate love triangles that you will still enjoy this.

also probably good to mention that our main hoe, alex, is super fun and kick ass with vulnerability. we stan a self aware queen.

if you're looking for some freaking FUN paranormal and you've been slumpy, give this a go.

PS thank you jess for the inadvertent recommendation, you're the realest.
-----------------------------
i'm ashamed to admit that i've started reading this...

also saddened to say that this is a less exciting, age gap free, vampire academy rip off with worse lore. but... i also have poor taste. so i'm going to continue reading it.

[Rachel E. Carter]

Fast-paced and infused with JLA humor that has since become the norm when I read her books. Felt like the school aspect of the plot was a bit unrealistic (haven't read Vampire Academy so not sure if it was an issue in that one too) but I could be a bit biased in boarding school-related settings. Liked the main character, Alex, and Aiden, her teacher-crush. Seth was by far the favorite but he didn't have too many parts in this one. I loved how she shares the same role as Seth and he doesn't get along with Aiden, that should make things very promising for the sequel. As always, I feel like JLA's strength lies in dialogue & romance, her weakness in this book was definitely the action and a bit the overall plot. Will be continuing this series as it is a light, fluffy fantasy read & easy to pick up after a hectic day.

[Giorgia Reads · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars

I see most reviews have said this series is pretty much a copy of the Vampire academy!? one and I can’t comment since I haven’t read that.

So, that aside, I would say that didn’t blow me away. You know when you are bored and you have a vague idea of what you wanna watch or read and so you set out to find that thing to pull you out of that state? Well I did that, but it turned out that this didn’t pull me out of boredom, it kinda relaxed me into it. Meaning, it wasn’t bad enough for me to dnf, but it wasn’t good enough to excite me either. I think I’m gonna try book 2 as well (mostly cause I already bought it and also cause i feel like the action is just getting started)

Overall, this was a very average read but there wasn’t anything glaringly bad or wrong with it. It just wasn’t exciting enough.

[ily · Rating 1 out of 5]

Jennifer L. Armentrout, writing Half-Blood:

[Carol [Goodreads Addict] · Rating 5 out of 5]

Half-Blood is book one in the Covenant series by Jennifer Armentrout. The world Jennifer has created in this series is both disturbing and amazing. This book has both intense action and sweet love. I was hooked on page one.



Alexandria or Alex for short is a Half-Blood. Her mother is a pure and her father whom she never met was a mortal. Pures are like the royalty. Half-Bloods not so much. Halfs are either trained as Sentinels who hunt and kill daimons or they are forced into servitude for the Pures. It is expressly forbidden for there EVER to be any physical relationship or emotional relationship between a Pure and a Half. Each Pure has a power of one of the elements. But their blood is also rich with aether which the daimons crave. A Half’s blood is very diluted of the aether so the daimons usually aren’t interested. Then, there is the Apollyon who is a Half but has special powers over all of the elements. There is only one Apollyon and that is Seth.



First of all, I do want to say that the social standing of the Halfs in this book really bothered me. And they pretty much just accepted it. That was what they were and they will never have more. Still, though, I couldn’t help but to fall in love with Alex. She is so strong. Impulsive but strong. She has lost her mother and is doing all she can to try to catch up to the other Halfs who are training at the Covenant. The person that is training her is none other than the Pure, Aiden St. Delphi. She has fallen for him big time, even though she knows it can never be. I just love Aiden. Silent, strong, adorable Aiden.

There is something special about Alex, though. Before she found her way back to the Covenant, she was caught by a daimon and when he bit her he was amazed.

“What are you?”

Months later when the Apollyon, Seth, showed up on campus, he repeated these words to Alex: “What are you?”

“In a matter of hours, everything had changed. Our world - my world - was no longer the same. It was too much.”

During those summer months Alex will experience loss, the beginnings of love, pain and strength. She is continuously deceived by those she should be able to trust. Aiden is there for her but he is still bound by his social status. Alex’s best friend, Caleb is her strongest ally throughout everything.

“Do you know what your name means? Your real name - Alexandria? He smiled slowly. It means ‘Defender of Man’ in Greek.”



I knew this series would be amazing and I was not disappointed. I can anticipate there is so much more coming for Alex, Aiden, Seth, and the other residents of the Covenant. I can’t wait to see what happens next.

[Avital · Rating 1 out of 5]

First I would like to say I've never given a book 1 star, because I think that just the dedication of an author earns him at list 2 stars. The second thing is that I think that's the longest review I've ever wrote. It says something.

This book doesn't deserve rating at all. Because it was a perfect copy of Vampire Academy series. And not in a good way.
I'm utterly disappointed and upset with Jennifer L. Armentrout. How can she do that? How did the publishers let her publish a book that is a copy of another?

First of all, the main idea. Daimons? Half-bloods? Pures? It equals Strigoi, Damphirs and Moroi.
Once a Pure drinks the Aether (blood) from another, it becomes a monster, a Daimon. It's just like vampires.

The plot begins with Alex who is returning to the Covenant (The Academy) after a long time. She needs to catch up with her training, to be a Guardian - Oops, a Sentinel one day and kill Strigoi - ah, Daimons. And of course no one agrees to give her private training, except for the hot Sentinel (Guardian) Aiden.

Just like with Dimitri in VA.

From then the plot focuses on the relationship of Alex and Aiden and her training.

Some of the scenes with Alex and Aiden were just like with Rose and Dimitri that I really became furious. Aiden treating Alex with her injury just like Dimitri did Rose, Aiden preaching Alex about her behavior like Dimitri did.

And the characters!
Alex=Rose.
Aiden=Dimitri.
Lea=Mia.
Caleb=Mason.
Deacon=Adrian.

And I'm sure there's more.

And the ending?? Alex being kidnapped just like in book 2 in VA series.

I tried to give this book a chance when I started reading it and noticed all the similarities because I thought- NO WAY IS SHE COPYING EVERY WORD AND EVERY SCENE!

But she did. And it's just a shame.

[MISS VAIN · Rating 5 out of 5]

"There's nothing like a bunch of catty teenagers who could either kick your ass halfway across the country or set you on fire with a mere thought.

That alone changed who people picked fights with or became friends with.
And at the end of the day, it was always good to have a Firestarter in your back pocket."

Okay soooo As a HUGE Vampire Academy fan please allow me to adress the whole "It's just like V.A. Issue"..... Well it did have several moments especially in the beginning as well as the concept that held an uncanny resemblance to Vampire Academy, there's no denying that, however keep reading because Half-Blood transforms into something unique and desirable that will capture the hearts of their own fans. In Half-Blood the premise revolves around mythical creatures which I'm finding very intriguing at this moment.

Meet Alexandria, or more preferably known as Alex, she's smart, witty, fascinating, sarcastic, irresponsible, and basically thinks she's "bad-ass" like every other seventeen year old and she charmed me from page one. She's considered a Half-Blood; with her father a mundane human and her mother a Hematoi a very powerful race of Pure-Bloods, a product of the Greeks shacking up after the demigods died. She finds herself back at the Covenant living on Deity Island after her mom succumbed to an attack by force from a group of Daimons.

"She was everything to me!" I jumped to my feet. "She did nothing but think of me. What happened to her was horrific---'tragic' is for people who die in car wrecks!"

Daimons are basically the Strigoi of this series, but they drink blood from Pures and Half to obtain the Aether carried in their bloodstream. If you can't get past the Vampire Academy similarities stop now, but if you can you're in for an awesome new series because it takes us readers on an entirely different ride than Vampire Academy. It's equally emotionally charged but look put because the plot is uniquely heartbreaking, breathtaking, and exciting!!!!:-)

"Just picture me as the enemy Alexandria."

Oh that won't be too hard, Dean Andros."

I raised my hands and motioned him forward. I was a total badass."

Alex becomes determined to become a Sentinel guard to protect others from the tragic incident with the Daimons that has changed her life forever. In many ways she's wise beyond her seventeen years and at times she's just a struggling teenager with fantasies of love and immeasurable dreams.


Her best friend Caleb was an extremely desirable best friend to have and he was hilarious!!! I found him extremely likable and a very reliable friend to Alex. What I love most is that they both supportive friends and that just it; they're platonic friends with no desire of a relationship, a productive example once again that males and females can be just friends. I look forward to more of Caleb throughout this series.

Caleb stood up as I walked into the living room."You look hot."I scrunched up my face."You think this is hot?"He laughed as he turned toward the door."No"


Then there's the sexy Aiden St. Delfi, a Full Blood also referred to as Hematoi; he's fiercely responsible and dedicated to training Alex to becoming a powerful Sentinel. He also unbeknownst to himself has been in possesion of the key to Alex's heart for the past three years. Quickly he becomes her confidant, mentor, and masculine shoulder to cry on. He proves himself crushworthy Swoon along the way and you cannot help but encourage the budding relationship between Alex and Aiden because he's loyal, trustworthy, strong, and cares about Alex's well being above his own. When Aiden St. isn't training his forbidden crush Alex he is carrying out the parental figure with his alcoholic abusing fun loving, promiscuous brother Deacon and each and every scene he's in was a mixture of fun and rebellion.

But wait because the list of lustworthy males is still in abundance because I can't seem to get dangerously gifted Seth The Apollyon out of my thoughts, especially since he is also described as being inhumanely gorgeous by Alex.

"I knew you were here. Not you so to speak. But I knew someone---someone different. I felt it outside, before I entered the lobby. It was like a magnetic pull. I zeroed in on you immediately. That has never happened before."

he unfolded his arms to reach for me. I pulled back. There were a multitude of reasons why I didn't want him to touch me. Alarmed that he was actually going to,

I blurted out the first thing that came to my mind.

"I saw your tattoos."

Seth froze. Hell he no longer looked like he wanted to touch me, or be in the same zip code as me.

The Apollyon is a unique and rare anomaly amongst the half bloods. As an Apollyon he has mastered every element at a Full Blood's disposal such as Air, Water, Fire, as well as Earth Spells and Compulsions all at once and his blood is merely classified as a half blood. Often he's feared and revered amongst his kind as almost a deity as he is all powerful and has no limitations on what powers are at his disposal. He holds plenty of mystery as well as inherited gifts that enables him to be more powerful than even the purest of Hematoi. There's something about a mystically charismatic character with a bit of a feisty naughty boy quality that captures my attention and mesmerizes me to no end.



For those readers like myself that need plenty of males to gush about in not only do we get funny lovable Caleb, but we get Fiercely responsible Aiden, irresponsible Deacon and mysterious Seth.

I can already see that this premiere series by Jennifer L. Armentrout will be on my favorites list. This book was amazing and with all of it's plot twists and turns, I can't even imagine what is in store for us readers in Pure Blood next year.


Alex begins this journey as a rebellious adolescent, that unfortunately has to grow up when she is faced with the task of killing someone she loves in a technique of self preservation.

What was I supposed to do? Kill her, Run from her. Save her somehow?

She endures all this angst while enjoying a taste of love, experiencing immeasurable pain, fortunately she has the comforting embrace of a loyal and devoted friend.

Alex receives an electrifying revelation that will change her life forever as a predestined future set forth by the gods before her. I'm Obsessed excited to find out how this revelation into her bloodline is carried out with this series and a certain someone.

I can't say enough wonderfully awesome things about this book! I loved, loved, loved it!!!

For all of you readers that enjoy an exciting page turner this is the book for you.

"This cannot be happening."

He looked up his eyes glowed in the darkness. The bewildered look faded replaced by anger.

"We're going to die."

Like what you see here, check out more of my reviews at http://missvainsparanormalfantasy.com/

[Abbi Glines · Rating 5 out of 5]

UGH! Now I have to wait until April to find out if she gets her head on straight and realizes Seth is her man!!! LOL! Loved this book =)

[Khanh, first of her name, mother of bunnies · Rating 3 out of 5]

I might have rated this book higher had I read this before Richelle Mead's Vampire Academy series. As it stands, the characters and the plot all feels like a very watered down version of VA. I couldn't help comparing one character to the next, and they all felt lacking. The premise is slightly different, but the boarding school setting, the reviled and necessary half-bloods, the evil daimons/strigoi, all felt rehashed, and not in a good way.

Alex is Rose, without the spunk, with more slut-shaming (does she really need to repeatedly call her nemesis Lea a skank? Is it necessary to mention that Lea is probably promiscuous?). Her actions are more impulsive than rational. While Rose is literally, kick-ass, Alex is relatively weak, and her wins versus the daimons seemed more coincidental than from purely skill. Like Rose, Alex has been on the run for awhile, but it feels like she lacks the common sense to survive on her own.

While Rose is spunky and impulsive, she has the good sense to keep it under control when it matters most, whereas Alex just feels the need to be contrary just for the sake of pissing people off, even when she is endangering her whole future. When your options are entering in a lifelong sentence of mindless servitude or being a more or less respected Sentinel, any person with common sense would try to behave and not get into further trouble. Not Alex. She is smart-mouthed and just a jerk in general, even admitting it herself.

There is the love interest, Aiden, a watered-down version of Dimitri. Caleb, the lesser version of Christian. The almighty Seth is the only one of whom I can't find a clear-cut double in Vampire Academy, but he's not altogether likeable yet.

It seems as if all of Alex's companions and closer friends are male. I'm really smelling a Mary Sue here, but I'll continue on with the series to see if that's the case.

I do like the incorporation of mythology. Whereas in some other series I've read like Mythos Academy, the living gods and goddesses do not get involved in the characters of their creation, whereas here they actually do take a part in monitoring their descendants. I enjoy the bits of lore, and I hope that will be fleshed out in the books to come.

[myo ⋆｡˚ ❀ * · Rating 2 out of 5]

i’m sorry but Jennifer L. Armentrout needs to be sued for this shit

[Penny Well Reads · Rating 1 out of 5]

I can’t believe what I have listened to. It is a brazen copy of the book Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead. Unbelievable, I am astounded at the nerve of the writer.

The worst part is that it is way worst. At least in Vampire Academy Rose discovers step by step what is going on, she makes the effort to find out and resolve the mysteries. However, in Half-Blood, Alexandria doesn't find out anything by herself, all the discoveries are told to her by other people.

I can't believe this book has been allowed to be published. Why the writer has not been sued yet is a mystery.


Pure (Covenant #2) - 1 star
Deity (Covenant #3) - 2 stars
Elixir (Covenant #3.5) - 3 stars
Apollyon (Covenant #4) - 1 star
Sentinel (Covenant #5) - 2 stars

[Jacqueline's Reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

FIVE FUN FACTS about JENNIFER L. ARMENTROUT + Book Signing Photos - > HERE



6 FUCK ME HARD (OR JUST RUB UPON ME) AIDEN STARS

It’s not secret I am a Jennifer L. Armentrout (J.Lynn) fan. Yes, I have a girl crush list (just like a book boyfriend list) and she is an author that is on there. So, with my mini me (that’s my reading buddy, I call her mini me, b/c she’s ten years younger than me and reminds me of me ten years ago) told me to read Half-Blood, I said, well what the heck.

Oh my god, where have I been and I can’t believe I didn’t pick up the Covenant series sooner! I love the Lux series, but book 1, Half-Blood, oh no comparison.

I fucking gobble this shit up and real good! (I know that didn’t make sense, but it was the only way I could convey my feelings)

Alex (Alexandria) is a Half-Blood and Aiden is a Pure (full-blood). Alex ran away from the Covenant (a school) for three years and finally came back, b/c her mother died. Aiden is in charge of training Alex to get her up to speed, so when school starts Alex isn’t so far behind.

Okay, that summary is just a TIP of what you will be reading. First off, the whole half-blood, pure, daimon, Sentinel is all confusing to me, but eventually you get the hang of it and all that stuff is just story, what really did it was the writing style. Oh how I love Armentrout’s writing, how can you write a YA book with that much wonderful sexual tension? I do not know but she does it.



I love Alex, she’s strong, feisty and never really irrational. I want to be her and you do feel for her. It’s sometimes hard for me to sympathize with young Heroines or Heroines in YA paranormal reads, but I completely was in tune with Alex. So yes, I could imagine myself as a seventeen year old Half-Blood. Oh Aiden, how much I love him. Sigh, swoon, major book boyfriend. Half-Blood reminded me a lot like Divergent, the whole older Hero training the young Heroine thing just does it for me. It’s cute, it’s adorable and you will be glued reading the pages.

There’s tension from the students, there’s tension from external forces and there’s tension from the school, but it’s NEVER annoying. It’s just the right amount to get you going. The majority of the story is Alex and Aiden, THANK YOU! Yes, there’s back story and side characters, but I love reads where it’s mainly about the Hero and Heroine.



BUT do not be fooled, this is no boring read and there’s plenty of twists and turns! I was like Oh my god until the last second and you will too.

If you aren’t a huge fan of YA paranormal reads, I just think you aren’t picking up the right books. I get you, the whole super natural stuff, is like huh? BUT believe me, if it’s written well, you will definitely keep these types of books on your shelf. Try Half-Blood, you will be a fan!

AMAZON

[Kate Kaynak · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is amazing! Fans of VAMPIRE ACADEMY will love it. The main character, Alex, has a wonderfully edgy, sarcastic voice, and she's simultaneously strong and vulnerable. I pulled this query out of the slush pile and read the manuscript in a day--I couldn't put it down! Put this on your "to-read" list; you won't be disappointed!

[Hulya Kara Yuksel · Rating 5 out of 5]

So freaking good!!! 😍😍😍 I'm going to read next book like right now... 😏😏😏

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[Ceitidh · Rating 1 out of 5]

Okay, a few people has asked me why I only gave 1 cheap star to this book that seems to be a favorite of so many. So, I decided to explain how I feel towards this book with the following points.

But first, I am sorry in advance if I offend a fan of this series. I know it hurts when someone talks crap about a book you love and I know this book has tones of fans but SORRY!

So here I go!

1. I got almost halfway through the book. I read like 45% of it and I couldn't keep reading. So yes, I didnt' finish it. It's not that is a bad book, or that the writing sucked (my own writing actually sucks big time so I never judge about that aspect) but I think is pretty much a big copy of Vampire Academy.
I know, WOW! big heavy words, but if you read Vampire Academy then you'll immediately notice the striking similarities between both books. And by striking similarities I mean general plot, characters, species, romance,even dialogues! I remember Aiden told something about the daggers to Alex (Aiden is training Alex under pretty much the same circumstances as Dimitri is training Rose) something like "you haven't earned the right to use one of those" (He said this when Alex wanted to grab one of the dagger) Well, something very similar happened in Vampire Academy) and the similarities continue and are endless! (and notice that I didn't even finished the book. I just got halfway through it and that was enough for me to feel like I was reading a complete Vampire Academy rip-off. Hopefully thing changed by the end of the book and things turned out to be Armentrout's own ideas (I really hoped that). However, I have been talking with a few friends and it happens that, according to them, that's not the case. (that is the opinion from people who did finish the book, just so you know)

2. I feel like the author tried to re-write Vampire Academy on her own way (but not really, she just changed the names and places) and then oops! it happened she sold it and got published. I still wonder, how that even happened? O_o?? I knew there were similarities between VA and this book but... aren't they too many? hmmmmmm...

3. I cannot like a book I felt uncomfortable reading and for respect to Richelle Mead, I coudln't keep turning this book's pages without feeling like crap for her. And that's why I willingly stopped reading this book. Thanks LORD I didnt buy it but borrowed it from a friend! if not, I would have burned it already.

I totally understand when books (or whatever) have similarities. That's totally fine. Originality is impossible and everything comes from something else. That's what sources and inspiration are for. But well... this is not the case.

There you have it my dear fellow readers. You may actually enjoy this book if you have never read Vampire Academy. Otherwise, it may feel repetitive, predictable and even offensive! (it was in my case)

[Cecilia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Libro ameno, divertido, de lectura rápida, con harta acción, personajes interesantes y una protagonista con una personalidad fuerte; no obstante, tiene los típicos clichés de una novela juvenil: el mejor amigo que la apaña en todas, la que le cae mal o enemiga, el tipo que le gusta pero que no puede tener nada con él (amor prohibido), otro tipo que está conociendo y como que comienza a simpatizarle o algo más, para después formar el famoso triángulo amoroso.

No mencionaré que es el mejor libro que he leído de la autora, pero me ha parecido original, entretenido y con una narración bastante fluida; obviamente continuaré con la saga.

[Booknut 101 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Re-read 30/9/13:

Re-reading this book was like visiting an old friend with a great sense of humour! I fell in love with this series all over again from the very first page - the tale of Alex, the kickass halfblood heroine, and her journey, one that I will never, ever tire of :)

Original Review

"It was him - Aiden St.Delphi."

As soon as I read that I was all like, "Oooooh yeah. She's got it baaaaaad." But then I read about how pures and halfs can't be together and I was all:


Shit. Is. Going. To. Go. Down.

What really annoyed me was that no one seemed to have any faith in her. I mean - hello?! The girl survived on her own and killed two daimons, plus she saw her mum die. I think I wasn't the only annoyed one - Alexandria was pretty upset too. But Aiden's like "No one here is your enemy, Alex, it's all in your head - I'm sure they all want to come over and have a tea party later on."


Sure, buddy... sure .

Kickass - with tonnes of action, a brilliant new world and Armentrout's signature humour - this book is epic and is a definite must-read.

[Vicky Herrera · Rating 5 out of 5]

rating: 4.8/5⭐️
canción: wildest dreams de taylor swift

AAAAH todavía estoy en modo fangirl por este libro! La verdad es que estaba media asustada de volver a leer a la Jenny porque la saga lux es de mis favoritas de la vida y from blood and ash fue una ultra decepción, así que no sabía qué esperar de este libro pero AHH

Me gustó mucho la creatividad del mundo que hay en este libro, la idea de que son descendientes de los dioses griegos pero relacionados con la sangre (tipo vampiros) la encontré muy creativa

Es un libro muy rápido de leer y muy adictivo, siempre están pasando cosas y el final de cada capítulo te deja enganchado para el siguiente🤩

Los personajes se llevan el protagonismo entre toda la acción, especialmente Aiden🛐 nuestra protagonista, Alex, es super entretenida y graciosa y hace que la lectura se haga chistosa y amena

De verdad se los recomiendo muchísimo! Voy a estar leyendo el segundo en unos días💗😻

[Sabrina · Rating 1 out of 5]

I just got into the first few pages and the "WTF counter" was already exploding.



I get it that you'd like to write a book but don't have anything new to say.
I get it that you are unsure and feel more secure using elements already proven successful.
I get it that you REALLY liked the Vampire Academy series.
I don't think you have to be completely original to write a (good) book: you are allowed to pick ideas here and there.

But.

SERIOUSLY.

COME ON.

[Prem Kaur · Rating 4 out of 5]

Anything by my queen, Jennifer, is freakingtastic-mindblowing AMAZING!!