Half-Blood

Covenant, Book 1

De: Jennifer L. Armentrout

Narrado por: Justine Eyre

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.

©2011 Jennifer L. Armentrout (P)2014 Tantor

Reseñas de la Crítica

"Sexy, sizzling, touching, and fun." (Leigh Fallon, author of Carrier of the Mask)

Story as good as narrator is bad!

So worth the read if you can get past the narrator! I actually started the Luxe series written by Armentrout, but didn't make it because of the narrator. I did better with this book, and I can get over the too gravely voice of the heroines, but I still hate the way she does the male leads. In trying to stay in character, she makes the voice too monotone and sucks all the sexy and emotion right out. "nuff said.

This story is pure fantasy. It's like BH 90210 with a paranormal twist. I found myself brought back to my fun college days of parent-free living, only with money and nothing but super hot guys around. Call me shallow, but it was fun to put away my Mom jeans and dive to the dark side for awhile. And the nice thing was that while there was a real superficial edge to the setting, the characters were real people, with real emotions. Of course there are hook-ups, but the romance was real -- you like the people, you get to know them, and it's clear they care about each other. It might start with attraction, but this author doesn't have them fly into bed just based on that -- she establishes at least a preliminary emotional bond. As far as YA, the characters are older and so the themes are more mature -- Underage drinking, pretty grim violence, slavery, hookups, virginity, etc.

Good Book, Terrible Reader

Is there anything you would change about this book?

The reader. I really enjoyed the story, but I will have to get the rest of them as books to read myself, because as an audio book, it just annoyed me.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Half-Blood?

When Alex went to the infirmary to visit Cain, and he turned out to be a half-blood demon! Very scary and while I wasn't really surprised, it wasn't pleasant in a good plot twist kind of way.

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Justine Eyre?

Anyone who doesn't sound like they are working on a bowel movement while reading! I can think of any number of readers that would be better. I do like when there are male and female readers in particular. Love the Phil and Natalie paring of the fever series by KMM.

Do you think Half-Blood needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

I can't wait to read what happens next with Alex and her men. First we have to find out what all this stuff about her being the second Apollyon and Seth and her attraction to Aiden and the changing laws regarding Pures and half-bloods dating. Lots of loose ends!

Any additional comments?

Please, for the love of all that is holy stop letting Justine Eyre read books. She is not good at it. When my friend told me it sounded like she was on the toilet, I was amazed at how right he was. I am not usually a mean person, and hate to say this, but if this is the only way to keep her from ruining more books, then it has to be said. Maybe, she needs to find another line of work at which she can excel, because this ain't it.

I just love Alex! Undisciplined Female Teen led!

Where does Half-Blood rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

It ranks at a 10.5 for me.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Half-Blood?

When Alex had to kill her mother.

Which character – as performed by Justine Eyre – was your favorite?

Alex... duh...

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

A few places.

Great Book, Narrator Was Not Great

I loved this story when I originally read it. It was fantastic. However, listening to it was painful, especially at first because I could barely hear the narrator. After awhile, it got better but I still wasn't terribly impressed by it. Still, Great story.

Also, I read this story before the Vampire Academy. Yes, there are similarities, but honestly, LOTS of HS paranormal private school stories are like this. It's a very common trope. My guess is JLA liked the basic idea of Fulls, Halves and a forbidden love all set in a private school and wrote her own version. This happens a LOT in novels. An author might read a Rockstar romance book, decide she can do better or decides she LOVES the idea and does it. Now because a spunky regular girl gets a rock star to fall in love with her and takes her on tour and gets hated on in the media, does ALL those books copy each other? No? Well, duh.

Unless entire passages are copied, it's not plagiarism. Otherwise, JLA would have been sued and the books would have been pulled off retailers.

Just saying.

Amazing!!!

I listened in under 24 hours! it captivates you from the start! I truly got to be a part of that world definitely about to start the next one right now!

love it

I love Justine Eyre and JLA. This is a win win for me! 👍 thanks

Irritating Narrator

This narrator is really hard to listen to. She's so horribly nasally. She sounds like someone with new false teeth at times and at other times like she's speaking through clenched teeth. Really not good.

Avatar Meets Academy

Olympic based genetics that have powers similar to Avatar the Last Airbender. The story is good but I was expecting more spice from an Armentrout book. Most of the spice scenes were more fade to black preteen but I really enjoyed the interpersonal relationships between characters and the growth of the fmc throughout the books.

Very chill

I honestly like this book. A lot of the comments about the performances is not agreeable. I like the voices then are very calm.
Looking forward to the other series I couldn’t stop listening.

Súper atrapante

Me suena un poco a Vampire Academy, pero me encanta el mundo, amo los libros con profecías y como estas se van descubriendo mientras la historia avanza. No quiero que termine con Seth manden ayuda 😭💔.