Half-Blood by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Title: Half-Blood
Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout
Publisher: Spencer Hill Press (October 18, 2011)
Series: Covenant #1
Length: 304 pages
Format: paperback



Goodreads Description:
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.

My Thoughts:

     Despite having heard numerous wonderful things about this book I stubbornly put off reading it. I made a mistake. Half-Blood is a very unique enjoyable read and I quickly fell in love with the world of the Covenant series. Ms. Armentrout masterfully combines a new twist on Greek mythology with creatures that one could call vampires. How awesomely genius is that? This book has so many aspects that I love and number one is the characters are all seriously kick-butt. Alex is training to be a Sentinel and learning how to do some serious damage to the daimons (and some of her fellow classmates) that have made her life a living hell. You have to love a strong female lead who can take care of herself. Onto the guys! Many readers are tired of love-triangles, but I just can't get enough of them. Half-Blood doesn't really develop one, but I can see one in the future of the series. I'm torn in this book between Aiden the Pure (smoking hot and completely forbidden) sentinel who takes her under his tutelage and Seth (whom I won't give any spoilers about). I must say that I am Team Seth. Other than the characters and potential romance triad of the story is the world that is created in the Covenant. Readers are thrown into the world of the Covenant, but Ms. Armentrout effortlessly and naturally introduces this new world and is able to keep readers up to speed. This world is strongly based on a rigid class system and class systems fascinate me. I cannot wait to see the evolutions of the characters, the world, and laws as this series progresses. I eagerly await the next installment to arrive in my mailbox and give this book a 4 STAR rating.

Bite Me! by Melissa Francis

Title: Bite Me!
Author: Melissa Francis
Publisher: HarperTeen (July 28, 2009)
Length: 304 pages
Source: Hastings
Format: paperback

Description from Amazon:

AJ Ashe isn't your typical seventeen-year-old vampire—as if there is such a thing! She's stuck in the middle of a huge fight between her two BFFs. Her ex-boyfriend—whom she's still totally in love with, by the way—is now her stepbrother. A former classmate—who, um, she may or may not have turned into a vampire—is stalking her. And now, apparently, the fate of humankind lies in her little undead hands. What ever happened to the good old days, when all a vampire girl had to worry about was the occasional zit and hiding her taste for blood?
My Thoughts:

Melissa Francis has gained a new fan! Bite Me! was a cute, short, and fun read. It wasn't spectacular writing or that the characters were out of this world, no it was the simplest thing of all. Bite Me! was pure romantic, supernatural, action packed drama in a big ball of fun. Every now and then you need to read a book that doesn't require you to look for the hidden meaning or soul search. The characters in the book were easy to connect to despite them being supernatural beings. AJ Ashe is a really good heroine. She has a "natural" teenage dialect and maturity, that I sometimes find missing in YA books, along with the ability to take care of herself. I loved the forbidden romance between her and her stepbrother Ryan. The tension and wanting between the two of them was off the charts. The family part in the book was a nice touch. It's pretty refreshing to read about a blended family that doesn't hate each other (there are comparisons to The Brady Bunch). There wasn't really anything wrong with this book. If I have to pick on something it would be that I didn't really like Malia. There is just something off about her (maybe it's supposed to be). Lastly, I never saw where it explained why AJ lost her memory of a certain night. Maybe I just missed it and if I did please comment and tell me. Bite Me! is a light and fluffy novel, but if I did have to come up with a lesson learned from the story it would be that a lack of communication will be your downfall every time.  I give this book a 3 1/2 STAR rating.