Daimon: The Prequel to Half-Blood (Covenant #0.5)

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Daimon: The Prequel to Half-Blood (Covenant #0.5)

Author(s)

Jennifer L. Armentrout

Publisher

Spencer Hill Press

Genre(s)

Mythology & Folklore

Age Range

14+

Release Date

May 06, 2011

ISBN

9780983157250

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For three years, Alexandria has lived among mortals--pretending to be like them and trying to forget the duty she'd been trained to fulfill as a child of a mortal and a demigod. At seventeen, she's pretty much accepted that she's a freak by mortal standards... and that she'll never be prepared for that duty.According to her mother, that's a good thing.But as every descendant of the gods knows, Fate has a way of rearing her ugly head. A horrifying attack forces Alex to flee Miami and try to find her way back to the very place her mother had warned her she should never return-the Covenant. Every step that brings her closer to safety is one more step toward death... because she's being hunted by the very creatures she'd once trained to kill.The daimons have found her.

Editor reviews

4 reviews

Overall rating

4.2

Plot

4.0(2)

Characters

4.0(2)

Writing Style

4.5(2)

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A Taste of A Great New Series

April 29, 2012 (Updated: April 29, 2012)

Overall rating

4.7

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I first found out about Jennifer Armentrout when I read her Lux series. I was instantly entralled with her characters and world. The writing isn't one dimensional but rather engaging with chemistry that sizzles. I wanted MORE. Then on Twitter I read about another series of Armentrout's. Better yet, her prequel DAIMON was up for .99 cents. So I downloaded it on my Nook.

I was hooked.

This novella drew me in and I couldn't put my Nook down. Thank goodness I recharged my battery the night before or I would have been very upset if it died. Yes, this short novella is that good. Think I AM NUMBER SIX meets ROSWELL the TV series but better written with characters you are instantly drawn to.

First off, Armentrout starts by showing us Alex's world in such a way that's it's not loaded with backstory dump. We see Alex on the beach with one of her human boyfriends before the scene that starts Alex off on the run.

Love, love, love this new Sci-Fi YA. What makes it rise above some of the others has to be the characters. I read somewhere that people forget stories, but keep strong memorable characters close to their hearts. This is the case with this series too.

I was really excited to find that the book PURE was out.

Guess what I'm reading next?

If you like books with strong protagonists in worlds that grab you by the collar, then this is the one. Be prepared for one intense and engaging ride!

Good Points

1. Love Alex, who isn't the stereotypical cardbox heroine
2. Great taste of yet another fab series
3. Great writing, pacing, and worldbuilding
4. I wanted MORE

Kim Baccellia, Staff Reviewer Top 10 Reviewer 889 reviews

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A good into the Covenant Series

March 20, 2012

Overall rating

3.7

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In "Daimon: The Prequel To Half-Blood" (Covenant # 0.5) Alex and her Mom, Rachelle have been away from the Covenant for three years, living in Miami among the mortals. All that changes when they're viciously attacked and Alex is forced to flee and return to the Covenant, the one place her mother never wanted her to go. The closer she gets though, the more dangerous her journey, as she's hunted down by the very creatures she was born and trained to kill.

The daimons have found her and will stop at nothing until she's dead but Alex, being the strong and stubborn half-blood that she is won't give up that easily. Thankfully, she gets a little help from some familiar faces, one in particular whose haunted her almost every day for the past three years.

Turns out though, her fight isn't just against the daimons and she'll have to face the consequences of having left the Covenant in the first place, a fate that could be worse than death.

I've read the first 3 books of this series in about 30 hours and have really enjoyed them. I liked the mythology, the good vs. evil, the witty banter, the friendships, the romance, all of it.

Good Points

I like Alex's character - she's strong, stubborn to a fault, yet she's willing to accept and learn from her mistakes.

Jen Top 10 Reviewer 415 reviews

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User reviews

3 reviews

Overall rating

4.8

Plot

4.3(3)

Characters

5.0(3)

Writing Style

5.0(3)

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Prequel to the Covenant Series!

January 24, 2013

Overall rating

4.3

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Steph’s Review:
This prequel was really, really unnecessary to me. It is just a very short story of Alex’s life in the mortal world before she is dragged back to the Covenant. Problem is, Half-Blood recaps the gist of this entire book, so if you read Half-Blood before Daimon like Dani and I, this prequel was especially dull since you already know everything that happens. If Daimon wasn’t out there, Half-Blood would still give you plenty of background on Alex’s life so that you wouldn’t even have to read the prequel.
I have to give some points to Jennifer though, because if you didn’t read this after Half-Blood, it was probably a lot more suspenseful and exciting. Alex is pretty badass in the human world as well (yeah, she’s beating people up), and as resourceful as she is in the other books in the series. I did sympathize and feel bad for her in this book sometimes, since this is basically where Alex’s life starts to come apart at the seams. It was a pretty good introduction into the Covenant series I suppose. It gives you glimpses of what the Covenant was like and how its system worked, but not so much that it just blew the plot of the actual first book. It leaves you quite interested in finding out the rest of Alex’s story (if you actually did/are planning to read it before Half-Blood that is).
To any readers that haven’t actually read Half-Blood, and you want to start reading the Covenant series (which I wholeheartedly recommend!), you should definitely read Daimon before Half-Blood. If you don’t, and you backtrack to the prequel, Daimon will seem very boring to you. I don’t want anyone thinking less of the Covenant series, which is one of my all-time favorite series, because of one iffy installment. So, this series needs to be read in sequential order.

Dani’s Review:
I believe that few books can be described in a single word, but Daimon is an exception. My one word to describe Daimon: boring. I feel like it is cruel to call one of Jennifer Armentrout’s books boring because i am a HUGE fan of her Covenant and Lux series, but that’s what I thought about this prequel. I had read Half-Blood before Daimon, so I already knew what was going to happen. Daimon was intended to be read BEFORE Half-Blood because it was released previously to get readers hyped up for a new book series, but unfortunately, that’s not how it was with Steph and I. As a result, I found Daimon boring.

Steph and Dani @ A Walk on Words Top 500 Reviewer

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Love this Covenant Series, This prequel is amazing, get a great look into how it all started!

August 21, 2012

Overall rating

5.0

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Originally Posted at my blog Concise Book Reviews by Michelle
http://concisebookreviewsbymichelle.blogspot.com

This book is a great book that will get you excited to read Half-Blood. I have not read any of these yet, so I just started with this one. Glad I did, it was short, but full of action, and a good introduction into the world Alex lives in.

I like Alex, (Alexandria Andros) she is a strong willed young girl who is a half-blood (half human, half God), her mother is a Hematoi (pure-blood). This gives the back story to her life, and how her mother got murdered. We start Half-Blood with her mom already dead, and Alex fighting off Daimon’s that are after her. This book will leave off, right before Half-Blood starts. She is in the warehouse, getting ready to fight off the Daimons.

I really love how Alex kicks 2 bully boys butts on the beach, to the horror of her boyfriend, who I would think she just emasculated him by doing that. He was upset, and broke up with her, as he didn’t like violence. Well, she had lots of training, she was in training to be a Sentinal possibly, but her mother took her and ran from the Covenant 3 years before, the have been hiding from them since. She has to work at suppressing her natural strength and speed of the Gods. It’s hard to fit in the Mortal world, she can’t be herself. Daimons are what used to be Pure-Bloods, but turned from the gods, and they killed Pure-bloods for their aether life force. Half-Bloods like Alex are the only ones who can see them for what they really are, before their elemental magic disguises them to look like a normal pure-blood.
Here is a quote of Alex’s description of daimons

Kindle location 427 of 1056:

They couldn’t see what I saw. No Mortal could. Not even a pure-blood could. Only half-bloods could see through the elemental magic and witness the trued horror- skin so pale and so thin that every vein popped through the flesh like a baby black snake. His eyes were dark, empty sockets and his mouth, his teeth…
This is one of the things I’d been trained to fight at the Covenant. This was a thing that thrived and fed on aether-the essence of the gods, the very life force running through us-a pure-blood who had turned his back on the gods. This is one of the things I was obligated to kill on sight. A daimon-there was a daimon here.

I found I really liked 17 year old Alex, and love that she is tough as nails. I felt bad at what happens to her mother. Alex and her mother had such a nice relationship, so caring, and understanding. But funny too, as her mom was oblivious to mortal things, so some stuff said will be over her head. Here is a funny quote where she is telling her mother about the 2 boys she beat up:

Kindle location 339 of 1032

“They were total douchbags. I swear.”
“Lexie!”
“What?” I giggle at her expression. “They are. And douchebag isn’t a cuss word.”
She shook her head. “I don’t even want to know what it is, but it sounds revolting.”

I love that she is so close to her mom, which made it even more painful to read when she dies. I recommend this book to anyone who has read this series, or wants too, and to start with this one, is nice. I feel I know Alex well, I just started Half-Blood, and feel more in touch with her now that I read this one. It’s a free ebook, so go get it. It’s a download from Spencer Hill

Good Points

everything is good.

Michelle L. Top 500 Reviewer

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Daimons

April 07, 2012

Overall rating

5.0

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Daimon is a short prequel to the book Half Blood. This book starts off on a beach with Alex, a half-blood. She is then dumped by her boyfriend and she goes home only to be then attacked by daimons. She is now on the run from the daimons, not the convent any more which she is now trying to reach. This book is short and sweet and has given me a heads up of what is to come in the next book. It has got me wanting to read the next one. If you want to learn a bit of Alex's complicated past, well then Daimon is for you. It is written well and I so recommend it.