Review Detail

I borrowed a copy of Half-Blood from my local library. I have read a couple of Jennifer L. Armentrout's books (mostly from her Lux series) and I loved them. I wanted to see how her other famous series mounted up against my favorite series. The story starts very similarly to another series I have read.

Alex's mother whisked her away from the Covenant 3 years ago for some unknown reason. Alex adjusted as best she could to the mortal world up until she found her mother murdered within her bedroom. Her mother had been drained of all her both and the mysterious aether that the daimons are addicted to. Alex runs from the daimons she still feels is hunting her and just before they close in on her to give her the same treatment as her mother, she is rescued by the gorgeous Aiden and his team of trained Sentinel killers. Alex is returned to the Covenant and is told the only way she can stay in training and out of servitude is to prove she can get caught up on 3 years of training in the matter of a few months.

Faced with the mystery of why her mother chose to leave the comfort of the Covenant, her growing attraction for her teacher, and the question of who she is and what makes her special are just a few trials and tribulations Alex faces in this story. She longs to be a Sentinel and put her fighting skills to use but her love for Aiden and her malicious stepfather could put a stop to that.

There are clear and obvious plans for Alex that the hierarchy of Hematoi's, The Council, do not seem to wish to divulge to Alex. I am sure these issues will be addressed in future books more thoroughly than this series debut.

This first book was so similar to Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead that I had to close the book and check to make sure I hadn't picked up a copy of that book instead. Let's hash out the similarities. Daimons can turn pure and half bloods into one of their one by draining their aether through drinking blood. Sounds very vampire-ish to me. Alex starts to have feelings with her teacher who she is forbidden to be involved with. Same as Rose and Dimitri in the Vampire Academy. Someone Alex loves gets turned into a daimon and she feels the responsibility to track them down herself and end their undead-ish life. Alright, something is just fishy. Are these two books the same book just with Greek demigods versus vampires?

Well, I absolutely loved The Vampire Academy, so it's no surprise that I loved this book too. To be fair the similarities between the two books was a little frustrating since I felt like I was re-reading a book I had just finished not long before. I liked the fact that in Half-Blood it was more about Greek gods than about vampires (which are pretty overdone), but the daimons are pretty vampire-like regardless.

Half-Blood is an a story of starcrossed lovers, forbidden romance, darkness, and the lengths one will go to to save a loved one from themselves.

Review Posted on: http://www.ladybugliterature.blogspot.com