(book review): Half-Blood

Half-Blood (Covenant #1)

By Jennifer L. Armentrout

Half-bloods only have two options: become trained Sentinels who hunt and kill daimons or become servants in the homes of the pure-bloods. 

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.

Rating: 3.25/5 stars

Romance Swoon Scale: 2.9/5 stars, Nice, Cute-ish, Seth ftw, Aidan's the sweety. 
Published: October 18th 2011
Series: Yes. Daimon, Pure, Deity and Apollyon. 

Heated Moments: A few. But majorly one.

Sex: Nope
Swear Words: Kinda, yes.
Action: Oh yeah.

Genres: Young Adult, Greek Mythology, Paranormal-Fantasy-ish, Romance

Half-blood was different from a lot of Greek-myth related books I'd read and I enjoyed reading it.

The Story:

Half blood was fast paced and, even though there was a ton of action, the thing that made me finish it was probably Alex- her voice was awesome. 

The story itself was engaging too. The whole twist on Greek myths with the half and pures was pretty interesting- though it made me wonder.
WHY had the half not done anything about it as yet? The whole thing about the half being used as slaves- either the fighting kind, or the cleaning toilets kind, and how they had to worship the pures, seemed a bit unbelievable. I mean, I got through this aspect of the novel with grudging acceptance, and suspended my disbelief and shizz, but still. I love Jennifer L. Armentrout, but I thought this seemed so dark-ages. And kinda lame, since, the half-bloods were so rigorously trained, couldn't they revolt or something? Why did they allow this to happen? I don't know. 
But if you ignored this glitch in the plot and read on, like I did, the story was, pretty good.
Action, with Alex training under the unattainable guy she liked, some twists and turns along the way. More action with Alex fighting for her life.
 Pretty great stuff, in my opinion.

Characters:

I really liked Alex, the protagonist. (The story is written from her point-of-view.) 

Brave, strong and stubborn, she was the epitome of kick ass heroine. She was also sarcastic and snarky two traits which really make a good heroine for me.

Her love interest Aiden was sweet, and probably the epitome of 'perfect boy', a Prince Charming type and so obviously, I liked him. However, I may start liking Seth way more... just because he had that spark of personality, which out shined Aiden's- sorta too perfect to the point of being a bit dull character.

Overall, Half-Blood was a pretty good book, filled with action, a kick ass heroine, two lovely love interests and Greek mythology! 

Now I await its sequels eagerly.

xx

CLG

Shadows (Lux #0.5) by Jennifer L. Armentrout

                                         Shadows (Lux #0.5)

                                                  by Jennifer L. Armentrout

 

The last thing Dawson Black expected was Bethany Williams. As a Luxen, an alien life form on Earth, human girls are…well, fun. But since the Luxen have to keep their true identities a secret, falling for one would be insane. Dangerous. Tempting. Undeniable. 

Bethany can’t deny the immediate connection between her and Dawson. And even though boys aren't a complication she wants, she can’t stay away from him. Still, whenever they lock eyes, she’s drawn in. Captivated. Lured. Loved. 

Dawson is keeping a secret that will change her existence...and put her life in jeopardy. But even he can’t stop risking everything for one human girl. Or from a fate that is as unavoidable as love itself.

Rating: 3/5 stars
Published: February 21st 2012
Series: Yes, the prequel to the Lux trilogy.
Swoon Scale: Hearts In My Eyes, Adorable Gooey-ness 
Sex: No 
Swear Words: Kinda
Action: A bit, not much.
Romance swoon scale: 2.9/5 stars 

Shadows is a Lux novel. Its the story of Dawson and Bethany, and takes place before Obsidian.

After Obsidian, I had expected good things from this novella and thankfully it did not disappoint! 



The romance was as warm and gooey as ever and I loved Dawson- the male lead. Hes a nice, non-brooding guy who actually acts upon his feelings for once! 
He was sweet and adorable- and I'll say it again, I really liked him. 
Bethany was also nice enough I guess. 
If I had to choose between Kat (from Obsidian) and Beth though, Kat would win hands down, thanks to her sarcasm and book-blogger-ness. But Beth's an artist! So that's cool too.


  It was also fun to get to know the Luxen a bit better, and although I knew the ending, thanks to Obsidian, I really hoped it would not end the way it did. 


Speaking of the ending, I felt it was a bit too rushed. 
I wish the emotions of loss and pain had been more drawn out. Jennifer L Armentrout had succeeded in making me care for her characters and  if the ending was handled better, this novella would had definitely left a stronger mark.


Other than that, a nice little romance novella with a paranormal sci fi touch. If you are planning to read Obsidian (which you totally should) read this first. 
Or, if you loved Obsidian, this book is a must read.


xx


Chicklitgirl

Obsidian (Lux #1) by Jennifer L. Armentrout

                                         Obsidian (Lux #1)

by Jennifer L. Armentrout 

Starting over sucks. 

When we moved to West Virginia right before my senior year, I’d pretty much resigned myself to thick accents, dodgy internet access, and a whole lot of boring…. until I spotted my hot neighbor, with his looming height and eerie green eyes. Things were looking up. 

And then he opened his mouth. 

Daemon is infuriating. Arrogant. Stab-worthy. We do not get along. At all. But when a stranger attacks me and Daemon literally freezes time with a wave of his hand, well, something…unexpected happens. 

The hot alien living next door marks me. 

You heard me. Alien. Turns out Daemon and his sister have a galaxy of enemies wanting to steal their abilities, and Daemon’s touch has me lit up like the Vegas Strip. The only way I’m getting out of this alive is by sticking close to Daemon until my alien mojo fades. 

If I don’t kill him first, that is.

Rating: 3.2/5 stars
Published: November 29th 2011
Series: Yes, trilogy, other two books not yet released.
Swoon Scale: Hearts In My Eyes, Longing Filled Sigh, Big Creepy Smile Of Anticipation, Sweet Frustration
Heated Moments: Yes
Sex: No
Swear Words: Yes
Action: Yeah
Romance swoon scale: 4/5 stars

Obsidian starts with Kat moving into a new house, in a new town. She soon finds out the boy next door is the hottest, meanest guy alive, while his sister is the sweetest.

This was an excellent novel. The romance was toe curling, and at the same time so warm and fuzzy!
Daemon was one of the seriously hottest, swoon worthy guys I have ever come across in YA books.
Good looks, bad boy personality, amazing other worldly powers but at the same time, obviously sweet and caring in his own sexy way.
*Sigh*, reading the charged scenes between Kat and Daemon was like savoring a particularly rich bar of chocolate or having a hot mug of cocoa on a chilly day. They warmed me up and that silly smile on my face just would not budge.

The concept of Aliens was also nice, bringing in a supernatural element to the story.
It was handled well, and since its a series, obviously not everything was fully explained, but whatever was, was enough for the first book, and did not feel incomplete.

I really liked how the author wrote 'Kat finally learns the truth'. It was believable, and unlike a lot of other YA books, not all 'oh ok, they're vampires/werewolves/angels, its kewl, I knew that d'oh!'
Kat did freak out, and did everything a normal, brave teenage girl would do.

Speaking of which- I loved Kat's character.
The best thing about her was her normality. She wasn't ravishing, though yes, she was pretty, she had a FREAKIN BOOK BLOG and she LOVED books! She also did things, like work on her blog in the her spare time. She had actual hobbies, instead of just doing her homework and thinking about Daemon. Little things like these made her more realistic, more developed. As a person she was incredibly brave and extremely loyal and I really admired that about her.
In her collisions with Daemon, yeah Kat succumbed to her hormones/attraction, making her even more real and believable- but she also understood that he was a jerk and did not let herself be swept away and get pushed over by him.

This is the first novel in a probable trilogy. It can be read as a stand alone, if you keep in mind that there ARE other novels and the mystery WILL be explained later on. [Mild spoiler] I really liked how by the end the romance WAS identified, but not completely well, resolved. [Spoiler over]
Sequels with both the love interests already lovey dovey are usually not a lot of fun because either the author introduces a love triangle or they have lame fights.
The chemical explosion of feelings stage is so much more exciting/fun/yummy.

The action scenes were also well written and served just the right amount of excitement and anticipation!

Over all, Obsidian was a book of no regrets, a fast and over all quite a good read.
I will most definitely be reading the next books in the series as they come out! Will also check out Jennifer L. Armentrout's other works.

xx

Chicklitgirl