Series: Covenant, Book One
Publisher: Spencer Hills Press/Hodder
Format: Paperback
Published: 15th December 2011
Number of Pages: 304
Book: Bought
Genre: Paranormal, Mythology, Fantasy, Romance,
Paranormal Romance, Urban Fantasy, Thriller, Suspense, Action-Adventure, Greek Myths, YA
Recommended
Age: 14+
Contains: Violence, Death, Swearing, Alcohol, Sexual References
No Drug References
Author's
Site: Jennifer L. Armentrout
Warning: This review will be an excited rambling of a
fangirl.
You have been warned…
Could you kill the one you love?
The
Hematoi descend from the union 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.
Review:
“You will kill the ones you love.
Fate
had been right about that...”
Once
upon a time, the gods walked among humans. They had children with humans,
who came to call themselves the Hematoi. The child of two Hematois are
pure-bloods and have godly powers – and godly views of themselves.
The offspring of a Hematoi and a human is a
half-blood. They have no powers and only two choices: to become servants
for the pure-blood, with no free-will or thoughts...
Or they can become Sentinels and hunt the
Hematoi who have renounced the gods and taken to stealing aether, the godly
essence. Daimons.
Alexandria Andros has just returned to the
Covenant after her mother took her and ran. Alex doesn't know why they left.
All she knows is the one she cares about most is gone and she has to
return to her kind – to the Covenant, so she can train to kill the daimons that
hunt her.
Of course, her becoming a Sentinel depends
on her catching up on the years she missed – and on the gorgeous pure-blood
Aiden St Delphi.
The main rule when you're a half-blood is
this: Never fall for a pure-blood. They're untouchable.
Unfortunately, Aiden makes sticking to that
rule damn near impossible...
Once again caught up in the power plays,
politics and dangers of the Covenant, Alex must find out why her mother left
before the secret destroys everything. And that reason might not be the
only shock that hits her, now that she's returned to her own world...
Have I mentioned how much I adore Jennifer
Armentrout? Only a million times? Huh? So few? Well, I
best sort that out, hadn't I? I freaking love Jennifer Armentrout. And I'm seriously peeved that I
left reading Half-Blood for so
long. Why? Because I freaking
loved it. It was so, so amazing. It was funny, witty, so many
layers of awesome, addictiveness and so very fast-paced. I read the whole
book in a single sitting, completely ignoring any company we may have had
(rude, but when a book's this good you just don't care) and even the chocolate
that was on the table. And yes, it really was that good.
I'm gonna start my crazy ramblings with
Alex. She was awesome – kickass, but also really untrained, strong as
nails, but very vulnerable, funny and witty and just brilliant. I loved
her in Daimon and I loved her even
more in Half-Blood. I just
loved all of her – how she isn't perfect, how she doesn't let the deaths
destroy her but also doesn't just jump up and get over it right away. She
has to fight to carry on, but she does carry
on, and I love her for that. Almost as much as I love her for her snarky
wit and sarcastic remarks!
And as for Aiden, our forbidden love...
Oh, yummy. He is
gorgeous. I didn't think I could love anyone as much as I love Daemon
Black, Jennifer's other hottie, but I love Aiden almost as much. He's
Daemon's complete opposite: more serious, less snarky; he has a really
brilliant dry sense of humour, is all broody and worldly and protective and
then there's the whole forbidden badboy thing. C'mon, you gotta love
that. Plus, he's just Aiden,
ok? Those grey eyes... Sigh. I love him.
And the forbidden romance, fight training
and exchanges of witty remarks... Forgive me while I swoon. I just
love these two together – damn all the stupid rules! They should be together! Or, failing that, Aiden
can be mine. You know. Worst Case Scenario (For Alex)...
Oh, and I must mention Aiden's brother
Deacon, who is equally brilliant – he absolutely kills me! He reminds me
a tiny bit of Adrian Ivashkov – he's snarky, always drunk, funny and sweet.
I loved him and really really
want to see more of him!
Then there's Seth, who I can't figure out
but who intrigues me. Caleb: who's so sweet and who I love. Marcus:
again undecided. Lucian: I hate him (lying, smarmy, enterbadwordhere).
Rachelle: My heart breaks. All of them are just so brilliant – and
so awesome!
And the world... I had this whole
rant in my review of Daimon where I
just ramble about how this world is like Vampire
Academy's world and how completely, amazingly different it is too. I
mean, sure, VA has vampires and that's totally awesome. But the Covenant series? It has gods, people! Freaking Greek Gods. It's like Percy Jackson meets Vampire Academy meets Buffy
the Vampire Slayer. Camp Half-Blood meets St Vlads. It is
totally freaking awesome! I love the idea of daimons, of Hematoi, of
half-bloods, of the Apollyon, all the legends and gods and myths. They
are so freaking awesome and I would so move to this world if I could, enter the
Covenant and train to be a Sentinel – under Aiden St Delphi, of course!
Ok now, I'm gonna admit this upfront: I did
see some of the twists coming. One thing in particular about Alex I
guessed pretty early on. But others? Um, no. And I adore
Jennifer's habit of just killing people off. Not enough books do that.
But if you kill my favourites (Alex, Aiden, Caleb, Deacon) I will cry.
A lot. Just sayin'. The point is, the plot was awesome,
twisty, action-packed and so very addictive. I rushed through it and
instantly picked up Pure, which I'm a
good way through even as I write this! I loved the plot to pieces, and I
loved Alex's voice just as much – it was just so Alex, you know? Funny, witty, sarcastic, kinda vulnerable at times.
I loved it!
Ok, sometimes this is similar to Vampire Academy – in all the best ways.
But that... that isn't why I love the Covenant
series. Because it's just so much more than 'similar-to-VA'. It has
its own characters, its own smouldering romances, its own kickass plots, its
own I-wanna-move-in-right-now world, and it's very own addictiveness that runs
through all Armentrout books. It leaves me needing more – always more –
and thanking the gods that I have the next couple of books. Trust me, I’m
already ordering the others!
Half-Blood has left me craving Pure
and the world of the Covenant series
the way daimons crave aether – i.e., I have no control and will go on a killing
spree if I don't get another hit right now. Ok, I don't really think
daimons kill when they don't have aether. They probably die or
something... Point is: I'm stopping this crazy, rambling review right now
so I can get back to Pure.
If that and
freaking ignoring chocolate isn't
a sign of how amazing Half-Blood is,
I don't know what is. I don't think I'll threaten you again. I
think I did that twice in my review of Daimon.
Wait 'til Pure. I'm sure
I'll be titanium-wielding and element controlling, ready to force everyone in
the world to read Jennifer's books...
And on that note: Happy Reading!
Star Rating:
4½ Out of 5
4½ Out of 5
Read this
book if you liked:
Lux by Jennifer L. Armentrout
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:
Happy Reading
Megan
