Half-Blood by Jennifer L Armentrout
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.
Following books :
My review :
So I decided to finish ready all 5 books before I wrote this review. This is going to be quite short really, because it will be hard for me to review all five books without giving any spoilers. And this is such an interesting series that you wouldn't want be to ruin it for you.
The first three books for me were amazing. The fluidity of the plot between those three was amazing. Never did I feel like the story was dragging, or that I was getting bored (which happens a lot) really amazing. The first book, Half-Blood, it a great job at introducing the world and the characters ... The second and third book both focused on the discovery of the main character's problem. And by the end of book 3, Deity, everything the one thing the characters were dreading finally happened. Book 4, Apollyon, the plot was a whole different one: it was no longer try to prevent something from happening, but trying to get rid of it; not avoid the problem, but resolving it. And all of this was great because it was moving along smoothly. However, towards the second part of book 4 I started getting a bit bored with the 'action'. I did have to force myself to finish the book and read the last one. I mean, after 3,5 books of commitment towards the characters you can't just abandon them and not know who it'll finish.
Concerning the setting/world. I don't want to talk to much about it because it's fun to discover as you go along. But it was already a winner for me since the beginning of the series because it focused on a modern world, ruled by the Olympian Gods (without the mortals knowing of course). And Greek antiquity is a big passion of mine. It was really great to have some of the myths about the Gods told as you were reading the books. A good way to enlarge your common knowledge!
The characters, again, I won't say much not to give anything away. However, let me tell you, Alex is the biggest most amazing badass there is out there. I usually have a problem with heroines in adventure/dystopian books. Specially long series. Honestly, after barely 1,5 books of the Hunger Games Series, I couldn't even hear the name 'Katniss' without wanting to bitch-slap someone. But Alex is really amazing, she is not a martyr, she is not a damsel in distress, she is not a saint, she is just herself. And I find that freaking amazing. She is brave, sarcastic, rude and kind-hearted, and also a bitch sometimes. But she understands her position on the story and tries to deal with things herself. I really liked her because she wasn't just a whiny little girl (yes this is for you Katniss).
Aiden, oh dear Aiden, why are you so amazing? I'll admit I sometimes got very frustrated with Aiden, mainly because of his cold attitude towards everyone and everything. It wasn't that he thought himself superior, it's that he isn't the bad-boy type I'm used to as love interest. But I'll admit his and Alex's 'Star-crossed lovers' thing probably had something to do with his cold attitude. If you can tell from the very beginning that he has feelings for Alex, they get together towards the middle of the series, and you really start to get a different side of him, more intimate. His willingness to take a bullet from Alex is both sweet and irritating, also the need he has to follow her every-freaking-where, but I guess we did need someone to contain some of Alex's recklessness. And it being Aiden is actually not all bad.
Now the ending. I have to say I was not really disappointed, but it wasn't exactly what I was expecting. The story resolved itself very well, still with a few losses. I liked the ending, but it was bittersweet for me because even if the characters were happy with their fate, I would have wanted something better for them. After all they'd been through, they deserved it.
I just finished the 5th book, Sentinel, a couple of hours ago and I already feel a sort of emptiness. After spending 5 books with these characters, I know I'll miss them, which is something that hasn't happened in a really long time for me. Honestly, I feel like a mother watching her kids leave for college. But I'm glad at the same time.
Overall, I'm giving the series a 5/5 because it's a wonderful series, with great characters, you understand their struggles and what they're going through and you can't help but get attached. This is a book series I highly recommend. Really, you need to read this.
My rating : ✦✦✦✦✦
