Book Review: Half-Blood

Title: Half-Blood by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Release Date: Oct. 18, 2011
Publisher: Spencer Hill Press
Pages: 281 pages
Genre: Mythology
Source: Publisher

Goodreads Summary: 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.

I’m a huge fan of mythology and after reading Daimon and Obsidian, I am huge fan of Jennifer Armentrout as well. Half-Blood was even better than I expected. This book is awesome, fast paced, action packed and highly entertaining!

Half-Blood gives us a new spin of Greek mythology where demigods or Hematoi (and their children with each other) are considered pure but their children with mortals are considered half-bloods. The Hemotoi live by a brutal caste system where half-bloods are either forced into drug induced servitude or trained to protect the pures.

Our main character, Alex, is snarky, has an attitude problem and has a huge issue with authority. I can’t say that I blame her, being subject to the complete control that the pures have over the half-bloods would give anyone a bad attitude. Even with all her issues, I really like Alex. She’s had to deal with some horrific situations and is just trying to find some purpose in it. She is also flawed and makes some less than ideal decisions. I admire the way she takes responsibilities for her actions and faces the consequences head on. The secondary characters are well written and I especially like Aiden (of course) and Seth. While there is no love triangle in Half-Blood, I’m very curious to know what will happen with these three in the sequel.

One of the many things I love about Armentrout’s writing is how she creates relationships. Alex’s relationship with her mom is so precious and heartbreaking. Her relationship with Aiden is all slow burn and so well developed. I’ve mentioned my dislike of insta-relationships in books before so the romance in Half-Blood was a huge relief for me. Theirs is also the forbidden romance which just ratchets up the tension in an awesome way.

While I would have liked to know more about the gods, I have a feeling Armentrout will go more in depth with the mythological aspects in upcoming books. With lots of action and romantic tension, Half-Blood keeps you turning the pages. The sequel, Pure, is now one of my most anticipated sequels of 2012. I cannot wait to find out how this story continues!

While Half-Blood can be read on its own, I suggest you read the prequel novella, Daimon, first as it will gives more insight to Alex’s state of mind when she arrives at the Covenant. You can read my mini-review of Daimon here and download it from Spencer Hill Press for free.

Content: Sexual situations, kissing, mild profanity, violence and underage drinking. More appropriate for older/more mature teens.

My Rating: The Best!