Daimon by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Series: Covenant, Prequel

Publisher: Spencer Hill Press

Format: Paperback

Published: 6^th May 2011

Number of Pages: 86

Book: Gift (My Family Is Awesome)

Genre: Paranormal, Mythology, Urban Fantasy, Fantasy, Romance, Paranormal Romance, Thriller, Suspense, Action-Adventure, Greek Myths, YA

Recommended Age: 14+

Contains: Violence, Death, Swearing, Alcohol References

No Drug References

Author's Blog: Jennifer L. Armentrout

Love in my world usually ended up with someone hearing “I smite thee!” as she was cursed to be some lame flower for the rest of her life.

For three years, Alexandria has lived among mortals – pretending to be like them and trying to forget the duty she’d been trained to fulfil 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 know, 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.

                                                                   Review:

“It wasn't like I could tell him anything.  I could see me now.  Guess what?  You ever watch Clash of the Titans or read any Greek fables?  Well, those gods are real and yeah, I’m sort of a descendant of them.  Kind of like the stepchild no one wants to claim.  Oh, and I hadn't even been around mortals until three years ago.  Can we still be friends?

Not going to happen…”

The Hematoi are the pure-blood descendants of demigods.  They have superiority issues.  Kind of understandably.  They have godlike powers. 

The half-bloods are half Hematoi, half human.  They have no powers and only two possible options. 

The first is to be sent to the Masters: basically, they'll be servants for the Hematoi.  Joy.

The second is the Covenant, where they're trained to be Sentinels and to kill daimons.

Half-blood Alexandria chose the daimons route.

Until she didn't.  Until her mother dragged her out of the Covenant without any kind of explanation.

She's been living in the mortal world for three years now, trying to be normal and fit in.  She sucks at it.  She beats some kids up and gets dumped.  Lame.

Little does she know that's the best part of her week. 

Suddenly she's alone and on the run, hunted by daimons, the beings she was once trained to kill.

With nowhere else for her to go, Alex has only one choice.  She has to return to the place she fled from, without knowing why she had to leave and whether returning is any safer than staying away...

Those of you who follow my blog may know that I am the biggest Jennifer Armentrout fan on earth.  So I've been absolutely desperate to get stuck into her Covenant series for soooo long!  When I got the series for my birthday I did a crazy happy dance all over the place.   And then I stopped and picked Daimon right up.  I loved it.  Like seriously freaking loved it.  Jennifer is a book goddess – her books are always freaking amazing and always completely addictive.  Daimon, whilst only a novella, was no different.  It was brilliant – a read-in-one-go little novella.  It also left me totally desperate for Half-Blood – thank gods I have it! 

And Alex was brilliant – so totally kickass!  She was a mixture of all my favourite book heroines: tough, vulnerable, funny, sarcastic, witty, brave, loyal, stubborn, kinda violent, in love with totally the wrong guy.  She made me laugh and then I hurt right along with her.  I can't wait to read more about Alex!

And Aiden, from what I've seen from the Half-Blood extract, anyway: Yum.  All I'm gonna say.  I think that says enough.

But this world: loved it!  I know it's often been compared to Vampire Academy, and sure there are similarities.  You have the magic 'pure bloods' and the 'half-bloods' that serve and protect them.  There's a school where the half-bloods train to kill.  The only other option for them is less than desirable.  There are the 'bad guys' that they could turn into – sorta similar to Strigoi.  One of the half-bloods on the run – a sarcastic and impulsive half-blood.  So, yeah.  Similarities.  But also just as many differences.  There are gods – awesome.  These pure-bloods fight – awesome.  The magic is different – and awesome.  And so on and so on.  Basically everything was awesome – too awesome, really, for the word awesome.  It really combined some of the most brilliant aspects of two of my favourite series: Vampire Academy and Percy Jackson.  We had the Greek gods and their demigod descendants along with Hematoi, half-bloods, daimons and the Covenant.  I just loved this world to freaking pieces!

Daimon is only like sixty-something pages long but a hell of a lot happens in these few chapters.  More than enough to leave a girl chomping at the bit for more!  It was all very fast-paced, but not so much that anything was taken away from the world-building.  And already I'm having a sneaking suspicion that I'm desperate to learn more about - like right now!  And the writing, as ever with Jennifer, was amazing.  I really got a feel of Alex and was laughing along with her and then feeling my heart break a little bit (a lot, really...).  I've already fallen for Alex.  I'm starting to fall (hard) for Aiden, even from hints throughout the novella and from that one-chapter extract of Half-Blood from the back of the novella.  I'm more than one-hundred-percent in love with this world.

So this all leads down to two closing statements:

One: Read Daimon.  It's awesome.  I loved it so much.  I don't care if you're worried it's too like VA – it's just too good to care!   Even from this little novella I can tell this.  It's official Armentrout.  That is, absa-freaking-amazing.  

Two: Where'd I put my copy of Half-Blood?  I need it right right now.  Gimme.  *grabby hands*  I need more right now now now.  I have titanium and I will use it if you don't give me my book.  And if you guys don't read this series.  And I'm totally giving all of you deadly serious looks right now.  

Don't make me set a daimon or something on you.  Not sure how I'd do it, but I'd find a way.  And that's a promise.

Star Rating:
4 Out of 5

Read this book if you liked:

Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead

Percy Jackson by Rick Riordan

Anti-Goddess by Kendare Blake

The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare

Challenges It's Taking Part In:

100 Books in a Year Reading Challenge 2013 (Hosted by Book ChickCity)

Happy Reading

Megan