Book #52 - Half-Blood (Covenant #1)

Half-Blood (Covenant #1), Jennifer L. Armentrout
281 pages
paranormal romance, urban fantasy
Started 5/1/12
Finished 5/2/12
4.5 STARS

I read the prequel to Half-Blood, Daimon, a few months ago to see if I could get a feel for what the series and author, Jennifer Armentrout, would be like. She was a new author to me, but most of my Goodreads friends really love her books. The good news is, my friends know what they're talking about. And, based on the 60-odd pages that I read, I knew I was in for a good series.

Alex's father is a mortal man, and her mother is half-mortal, half-God. Alex is a half-blood, which in their society, is equal to a second-class citizen. Half-bloods are raised to either be body guards or mindless servants for the pures. The two groups tentatively hang out and certainly never date. So, Alex is a little freaked out when, after returning to The Covenant (the school that trains bodyguards, or Sentinels) after a three-year absence, she finds herself falling in love with her trainer. Aiden. A Pure. Not to mention that she's dealing with the death of her mother at the same time. Poor Alex has a lot on her mind.

Sometimes YA authors seem to get it in their heads that the teens in their books need to talk or act a certain way. It almost becomes like a caricature of what a real teen is like. Either the character says things that are completely ridiculous, or they act much older than they're supposed to. It's so frustrating sometimes.

Armentrout seems to not fall into this trap, though.Her characters, aged 17, 19 and 21, sound like kids those ages. They use occasional bad language. Mouth off to their superiors, and even say intelligent things sometimes. They worry about small things and big things. It's very refreshing.

Half-Blood was a fast, easy read for me. Armentrout's writing is so smooth and enjoyable. I can't wait to see what happens next.