Half-Blood
Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout
Series: Covenant #1
Genre: Young Adult, Romance, Fantasy
Release Date: October 18, 2011
Publisher: Spencer Hill Press
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.
First Sentence: My eyes snapped open as the freakish sixth sense kicked my fight or flight response into overdrive.
I received an ARC of Half-Blood through ARCycling. Thank you ARCycling! (:
My Review:
I’ll start my review with this: If you’ve read Vampire Academy, stay away from Half-Blood if you don’t want to read the same thing. Likewise, if you’ve read Half-Blood, stay away from Vampire Academy. Otherwise, you’ll be basically reading the same book.
When I heard that Half-Blood was like Vampire Academy, I didn’t realize how much it was like Vampire Academy until now, when I actually read it. About 90% of Half-Blood was taken straight from Vampire Academy, making me feel like I was reading Vampire Academy all over again. The worse part was that I read Vampire Academy only a week ago, so I recognized every single thing that Half-Blood took from Vampire Academy. It got so frustrating that I wanted to stop reading Half-Blood in anger because it was like I was reading Vampire Academy all over again.
I was going to make it – I had to make it. I’d be super-pissed in the afterlife if I died a virgin in this craphole.
“Little half-blood, where are you running to?” (ARC 2)
I don’t even know where to start with the similarities. Half-bloods are basically dhampirs from Vampire Academy, pures are Morois, and daimons are basically Strigoi. Pures can control the four elements like Morois could and only Apollyons can control the fifth element, which is bascially called Spirit in Vampire Academy. Like Morois in Vampire Academy, the pures in Half-Blood also have the power of compulsion. The Covenant is basically St. Vladimir’s Academy. Mia from Vampire Academy is Lea in Half-Blood, but unlike Vampire Academy, Lea and Alex doesn’t have any good reason to hate one another. They just do.
Pures weren’t supposed to use compulsions on halfs who weren’t in servitude; it was considered highly unethical since compulsions stripped people of free will, choice, and everything. (ARC 10)
The scene where Alex’s ability to kill two daimons without training resulted her staying in the Covenant? That’s like the scene where Rose’s bond with Lissa allowed her to stay in St. Vladimir’s Academy. The scene where Alex confronted Lea in front of everyone? Yeah, that’s like the scene where Rose had confronted Jesse in front of everyone. The scene where Alex has to kill the one she loves? Yep, that’s the scene where Rose had to kill the one she loves. The scene where Alex was fighting with Kain? That is like the scene where Rose was fighting with Natalie. There were so many scenes that Half-Blood took from Vampire Academy that it made me feel ill.
To make matters worse, Alex looks very similar to Rose: they both have long dark hair and is both curvier than other people. Alex’s forbidden love with Aiden? Yeah, that’s Rose’s forbidden love with Dimitri. Both Rose and Alex share the same loud, reckless personality and gets physical when they get mad. And to make things even funnier, Alex’ mother’s name is Rachelle. (Reminds you of Richelle Mead anyone?)
What can I say? I cleaned up nicely.
With all the dirty and overall grossness gone, I looked just like my mom. Long dark hair fell down my back; I had those high cheekbones and full lips most pures did. I was a bit curvier than Mom’s willowy frame and I didn’t have her amazing eyes. Mine were brown, homely old brown. (ARC 17)
Obsidian, Jennifer L. Armentrout’s other work, was a lot like Twilight, but not to the very high extent that Half-Blood is like Vampire Academy. This factor definitely ruined my enjoyment of reading Half-Blood.
Half-Blood wasn’t all bad. I have to give it this: it was a bit entertaining. I enjoyed reading about the whole Apollyon situation, even though I saw that plot twist coming from a mile away.
He was the first Apollyon – the only half-blood with the ability to control the elements and use the same kind of compulsion the pures could use on mortals.
In other words, the Apollyon was one big, badass of a half-blood. (ARC 86)
It’s sad that I didn’t enjoy reading Half-Blood. If Jennifer L. Armentrout had stuck to her own ideas instead of copying Richelle Mead’s work, Half-Blood will definitely get a higher rating. At least the whole Apollyon thing in Half-Blood isn’t like Vampire Academy at all. Hopefully Jennifer L. Armentrout will focus on the Apollyon aspect instead of copying more of Vampire Academy.
Will I recommend Half-Blood? I don’t know; I really don’t know. If you want to read a book very similar to Vampire Academy, then Half-Blood is the perfect book for you. However, if you prefer books with originality, then you should definitely skip Half-Blood.
This one made me so sad when I read it. I knew it was like VA, but I wasn’t expecting it to almost be a carbon copy. After I finished I honestly felt like crying (I’m emotional, okay?) because I adore the Lux series and I was expecting good things from this. BUT, I was an avid fan of VA first, and Richelle Mead did it first so… No, JLA, not cool.
Love this review though, you felt pretty much the same as I did.
Amber (Books of Amber) recently posted…Another Little Piece by Kate Karyus Quinn
When I first read the first two chapters, I felt like crying too. And like throwing the book across the room. I was expecting so much more and Half-Blood was so disappointing. It was so much like VA that I couldn’t help but feel disgusted.
Definitely not cool.
Kelly recently posted…ARC Book Review: Half-Blood by Jennifer L. Armentrout
I’m on the fence about this one….I’ve heard good and bad alike. To read or not to read???
Jackie
Jackie recently posted…Stacking the Shelves
If you want to read another book EXACTLY like Vampire Academy, then sure, go get a copy of Half-Blood. Otherwise, avoid this book at all costs, especially if you prefer to read books with originality.
Kelly recently posted…ARC Book Review: Half-Blood by Jennifer L. Armentrout
That is exactly how I felt when I read the book. I got so frustrated by how unoriginal it was. I can’t help but sideeye Jennifer L. Armentrout. Scenes were lifted from VA with different names. It’s blatant plagiarism. It makes me incredibly sad because I actually liked JLA’s Lux series. Knowing how her Covenant series is 90% similar to Richelle Mead’s VA series makes me question her work.
Cee @ The Novel Hermit recently posted…STACKING THE SHELVES {8}
Yes, it’s definitely plagiarism, plain and simple. I just don’t get how some people can get away with it. :l
You’re not the only one to question her work. I’m now questioning her work myself after reading Half-Blood and I don’t like it.
Kelly recently posted…ARC Book Review: Ink – Amanda Sun
Ooh OUCH. I haven’t read any of JLA’s books but now it kinda makes me question all of her work. Half Blood and the rest of the series is on my TBR but I’d rather just read the original version, Vampire Academy. Thanks for the heads up – I would have been very disappointed had I read the whole book myself!
Yeah, Half-Blood is like Vampire Academy while Obsidian is like Twilight. Can’t JLA come up with an unique idea for her first book without using anyone else’s ideas?
Definitely read Vampire Academy first, the original version is always better.
No problem!
Kelly recently posted…ARC Book Review: Ink – Amanda Sun
I’d actually recommend to read Half-Blood first before VA because VA is just so much better in terms of the first book. I tried reading Half-Blood again after I finished VA but just couldn’t :P Thankfully, it gets better after the first book. Pure, Deity, and Apollyon have less in common with the VA series and I’d say they’re worth a shot!
PS. Lea and Alex actually do have a reason for hating each other. I didn’t really like it, but I guess it works
LOL, reading Half-Blood after I read Vampire Academy was plain torture because nearly everything was the same. I agree – Vampire Academy is definitely better than Half-Blood.
I’m glad to hear that Pure, Deity, and Apollyon have less in common with the VA series! That definitely gives me some hope.
Kelly recently posted…ARC Book Review: Ink – Amanda Sun
Ahh I agree! Half-Blood could have been amazing if it hadn’t nearly been an exact copy of VA! And the sad thing is VA is so much better at everything. VA’s world is so much richer, beautiful, has more of a reason and I can actually see it. Where as all I see in this series is a flat land with a plain sky because the surroundings are never really described. Alex is extremely unlikeable and self centered. I dis-like her so much that if I didn’t own this series I would have stopped reading, but I spent money on these books so I’m determined to get through them.
I just finished Pure the other day and I have to admit I was disappointed, not because it was so much like VA but because it focused solely on the relationships rather than the plot and I got bored, and then by the end I sat there going ‘Hardly anything happened in this book at all, what was the point of this?’ And Alex was still very unlikeable. And I want her to end up with Seth but we all know that he’s ‘Adrian’ from VA so Alex won’t end up with him. Unless this series really deviates from VA. All I know is I don’t like Aidan.
I mainly don’t like the world in this series because its so flat, I don’t know what it looks like and there’s no life in it. There are just too many things that I DON’T like and hardly anything I do like. It’s highly disappointing. Yet I will soldier on.
Miss J @ Miss Book Reviews recently posted…[Discussion] Part Three: What I DON’T like about multiple POV’s
You have an excellent point there – I couldn’t picture anything in Half-Blood, but in VA, everything just stands out effortlessly.
I don’t really dislike Alex, but I definitely like Rose a lot better. Rose is sassy, reckless, and just plain awesome while Alex is so bland in when you compare them two.
Nooo, Pure has no plot? That’s got to suck.
And I don’t really see the appeal in Adrian. What makes so many other people like him? He’s just so…simple.
Good luck with the rest of the series! (:
Kelly recently posted…Top Ten Books I’ve Read So Far In 2013
Cool review. I love Jennifer Armentout as an author. I haven’t read this series yet; I have only read the Lux ones. I hope to start this one soon. <3
Thank you! (:
I hope you enjoy Half-Blood Cali. You probably will if you don’t mind the fact that it’s so much like Vampire Academy.
Kelly recently posted…Top Ten Books I’ve Read So Far In 2013
Great review & so glad it is supremely honest!
ReadingRenee recently posted…Enough with the plagiarism
I write nothing but honest reviews. o:
I don’t like to lie. :P
Kelly recently posted…Book Review: Wallbanger – Alice Clayton
I hear ya. I have never read Vampire Academy but Half-Blood wasn’t that good. She kept pausing randomly in her sentences in my ARC copy. Like this but only……. worse since I saw no reason for her to pause. The Love was also insta and I just didn’t like it. Glad we agree on this book. Also I read Obsidian a couple of days ago and thought it was much better written than this was.
So I wasn’t the only one who noticed that too in my ARC copy! The “…” was so weird too, especially with the extra space after the “…”.
Vampire Academy’s romance is SO not insta-love, thank goodness. You should give Vampire Academy a try, it’s so much better than Half-Blood in my opinion.
Obsidian is definitely better than Half-Blood, no doubt.
Kelly recently posted…Cover Madness Giveaway Hop
I am a VA fan and had heard previously that Half Blood is like VA and recommended for VA fans. Thankfully I have not gotten around to reading Half-Blood yet other wise I would have felt just like you did, pretty angry! I will not be reading this series . Thanks for the lovely Review !
Gayatri recently posted…Stacking the Shelves (2)
Yep, if you’re a huge VA fan, stay far, far, far away from this book. It will make you SO angry. Ugh, I can’t believe this can happen. ):
Kelly recently posted…Book Review: Throne of Glass – Sarah Maas
Wow, I had no idea that it was so similar to The Vampire Academy series! I haven’t read the books yet, so I rather enjoyed The Covenant series. The VA has been on my TBR list for a while because everyone says its great (and apparently it’s becoming a movie?), but now I’m not quite sure if I should still read it or not due to the fact that they are pretty much the same book. I will probably give it a try anyway though since you say it is better than Half-Blood. Great review though!
Ariel recently posted…Cover Reveal: The Transfer: A Divergent Story (Divergent 0.1) by Veronica Roth
VA is definitely becoming a movie. I can’t wait to watch it! :D
I hope you’ll enjoy Vampire Academy a lot more than you enjoyed Half-Blood, especially since Vampire Academy is the original, non-copied version. o:
Thanks! (:
Kelly recently posted…ARC Book Review: Thornhill – Kathleen Peacock
I did find similarities to VA in Half-Blood but honestly I truly enjoyed this. I love Jennifer’s work and this series is an absolute favourite of mine. And I its hard not to compare books, but I try to avoid doing that. Sorry this didn’t work out for you. Thanks for the honest review! :D
~ Maida
Literary Love Affair
Maida @ Literary Love Affair recently posted…Review: Breaking Point by Kristen Simmons
I’m glad you enjoyed Half-Blood Maida. (:
Thanks!
Kelly recently posted…Book Review: Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea – April Genevieve Tucholke
It took me a LONG time to jump on the J.L.A train, but I finally took a chance with this one. I enjoyed it. I don’t remember everything about it, but looking back I recognize some similarities between these two. Granted, it has been a long time for Vampire Academy……
It’s like all those books out there that had copied Twilight. I had wanted to read something original, not something that has been done before that I have read really recently.
Kelly recently posted…Waiting On Wednesday [34]
I personally think your review was not good at all, the only thing you did was compare Half Blood to VA the whole way through. After your first statement that you could not believe how similar this book was to VA and there is no point in reading this book if you had read VA then why not talk about the book you were supposed to be reviewing for the rest of the time? Instead you made it be all about showing us each similarity. There were many things you could have focused on in Half Blood besides the similarities and if you could not find anything then I would’ve rather you stop your review and been done with it then sit there and read you complain more. I never read VA, I have read every book in the Covenant series and can’t wait for Sentinel to come out so I didn’t need to read you going on and on about characters and things from the VA books because if I did want to read them you have already spoiled parts of them for me. The funny thing is the only reason I even read your review was because I entered the giveaway to win Jennifer’s signed book Origin, if I was her I would pull any involvement she has with this blog and you comparing Obsidian to Twilight is crazy, they are nothing alike, wow you need to read it again so I hope you didn’t turn even more people off of her books with that crazy statement. I am so disappointed I think I am done here.
I did talk about the book I was reading – I had to talk about Half-Blood to compare it to Vampire Academy if you read my review carefully.
“There were many things you could have focused on in Half Blood besides the similarities and if you could not find anything then I would’ve rather you stop your review and been done with it then sit there and read you complain more.”
If you had read my review carefully, you will notice that there’s a very short paragraph where I talked about Half-Blood and only Half-Blood: “Half-Blood wasn’t all bad. I have to give it this: it was a bit entertaining. I enjoyed reading about the whole Apollyon situation, even though I saw that plot twist coming from a mile away.”
No where in that short paragraph did I mention Vampire Academy. You’re free to re-read it again if you want.
Everyone has a different opinion on the books they read and this one happens to be mine.
And hey, maybe if you bothered to read Vampire Academy, you will know what I’m actually talking about when I mention all the similarities, and hey, maybe you’ll surprise yourself by agreeing with me. Who knows? (:
And don’t worry, Jennifer L. Armentrout has NOTHING to do with my Origin giveaway OR my blog. I bought a signed copy myself WITH MY OWN MONEY to give away; Jennifer L. Armentrout is NOT funding the giveaway. I can do that right?
Just so you know, I’m not the only one who thinks Obsidian is like Twilight. Go to goodreads – it’ll be a real eye-opener. Hey, even reviewers on Amazon mentions it. Nearly everyone mentions how similar Obsidian is to Twilight, but then again, you didn’t know, did you? (:
Maybe you should look up what I said first before you accuse me of turning “people off of her books with that crazy statement.” It might not be so crazy after all. (;
Kelly recently posted…Blogoversary Day 2: Cover Guessing Game
I haven’t read Half-Blood yet but I think I will because I’m very curious! I read the Lux series and I really liked it; plus, I haven’t read The Vampire Academy so I think I’ll give it a shot!
I hope you’ll like this one better than I did Frannie, but I suspect you will since you never read Vampire Academy yet. :P
Kelly recently posted…Stacking the Shelves [52]
Wow! I haven’t read VA yet but I’m shocked that another author would essentially copy it! That is awful!
Yeah, I know. :l
I mean, I know Jennifer L. Armentrout can write amazing books, it’s just copying other people’s ideas isn’t the way to go.
Kelly recently posted…ARC Book Review: Wild Cards – Simone Elkeles
I’m not sure if you read Daimon (#0.5) yet, but I was utterly disappointed by the book. The synopsis was enticing, but when I read the prequel, it was utterly devastating. I enjoyed the concept of Alex’s world and such, but the writing was poorly written. I have never read the Vampire Academy series so I didn’t have any troubles with the comparing and contrasting. When I saw Half-Blood listed on your reviews, I immediately clicked on it because I wanted to know your opinion. I am definitely not going to be picking up the first book to the Covenant series.
Prequels are usually disappointing because it’s so short, but them being poorly written just sucks because prequels are counted as books themselves and should be written like it’s a full novel or something like that. :l
I don’t think I will continue on with the Covenant series either. It’s just not my thing, like you can see from reading my review.
Kelly recently posted…Stacking the Shelves [54]
I’ve not read either series, and I don’t think I will. I never was interested in the Vampire Academy and I can’t support a series which so closely resembles another that it sounds like it could be plagiarized. That’s sad; Half-Blood sounded interesting, too.
Thanks for the review.
Yeah, it’s really disappointing to see some a hyped-up series was plagiarizing someone else’s work. :l
Kelly recently posted…Book Review: Of Beast And Beauty – Stacey Jay
@Anita Powers : I bursted out laughing when I read your comment. This it too funny. EVERYBODY knows Half-blood is a complete rip-off of VA, there was no need for you to behave like such a petty child because you didn’t agree with everything Kelly said. Plus, I’m sorry to ask, but are you related to the author maybe ? I know that JLA’s extremely popular and has a huge fan base all ready to rip us mere mortals a new one if we so much dare say one bad thing about her books but this is just ridiculous. It’s not like Kelly was attacking the author, she was merely stating a fact. One I happen to agree with wholeheartedly. Even people who like JLA’s writing – like myself – know that she often ‘borrows’ plot points from other writers. Seriously, it’s like her trademark *snorts* We’re not making false assumptions, or being trolls. All one has to do is open one of her books to draw the same conclusion * sigh*
@Kelly : I love your blog and I love your review. It was perfectly well-constructed and I’m sorry for overstepping since you know, it’s not my blog or anything :))))) I just hate mean fangirls
Thank you Noemy! You absolutely made my day with your comment. (:
Kelly recently posted…Book Review: Of Beast And Beauty – Stacey Jay
I don’t really understand how the Covenant series is allowed to exist…isn’t it plagiarism or something? I haven’t read it (and probably never will), but basically all anybody says about it is how similar it is to Vampire Academy. I really, really like the Vampire Academy series (well, I still haven’t read the last two, but I will this month!), so I don’t think I’d ever be able to read this. I just think I’d be super mad the whole time about how Armentrout took everything from VA.
Miranda @ Tempest Books recently posted…Weekly Wrap-Up (#11)
I’m assuming from reviews it is like VA. Not that I can vouch on that as I haven’t read vampire academy. But I have read Half-blood and found it so good, I read the whole series in about 2 weeks. I found it infuriating, the whole forbidden love, but of course you have to see the frustration between them, and this compelled me to read on. I love mythology, so anything intertwining Gods is definitely my cup of tea.
I love action books, where fighting and killing-only when it is a daimon- is involved. I feel like I need to take up a self-defence class or boxing, which evidently never happens. Half-blood was no different. I would recommend the series, and even if you feel it does bore you-which it shouldn’t- carry on, because you may regret it.
Sorry but Half blood was way better than Vampire Academy