This is one of those books that has been on my TBR forever! Thanks to #coyer book club, I finally got around to reading it last month. And y’all I could kick myself for how long I waited to read it. Half-Blood by Jennifer L Armentrout is an urban mythology set in North Carolina (I believe, don’t hate me if I’m wrong). In this world, Hematoi are descendents of half-gods and considered pure-bloods. Half-bloods, like our main character, are the result of a Hematoi and mortal union. Hematoi have god-like powers. Half-bloods do not, however they are stronger than the average mortal. My copy of Half-Blood had the prequel novella Daimon. If you haven’t read that prequel, I highly recommend it. I skipped it at first because I wanted to jump right into the main story, but I felt lost. I went back and read it, and suddenly everything made sense. Half-Blood is a fantastic, edge of your seat read, perfect for fans of urban fantasy/mythology.

At the start of our story, Alex has just returned to the Covenant, a school that trains the Hematoi and half-bloods in their history and to fight daimons, fallen pure-bloods who, for lack of better terminology, remind me of vampires feeding on the blood of Hematoi. Alex’s mother took her away from Covenant three years ago for reasons Alex has never known. When the daimons found them, Alex was forced to run and found herself back with the Covenant. Her entire life up til three years ago was focused on training to be a Sentinel, a guardian/soldier of the Hematoi. Now she’s back and forced to follow the rules set out by the Covenant, one of them being no romantic relationship between a pure and half-blood. This is hard for her when her crush also happens to be her trainer.

Aiden is a pure-blood and offers to train Alex, get her up to speed so she has a fighting chance at reaching her goal of being a Sentinel. I like Aiden. He’s very by the book, reminds me a little of Zayne from Armentrout’s Dark Elements. Even when he is by the book though, he is looking at how to bend the rules. He lost his parents when he was younger and was forced to raise his little brother while still not an adult himself. This makes him sympathetic to Alex who has just lost her mother to the daimons and has never known her own father.

The plot of this one sets the stage for the entire series. Alex trains with Aiden and learns what she can about the Hematoi and daimons. As she readjusts to her old life, she also hunts for what sent her mother into hiding three years earlier. No one is aware, and rumors abound. My heart hurt for Alex as she struggled with the loss of her mother, falling into old routines, and hiding her growing feelings for Aiden. But then again, forbidden romance makes the best kind