Half-Blood by Jennifer L Armentrout

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.   –   Blurb via Goodreads.

Highly addictive, fast-paced, funny and steamy. This is a fantastic light read and put me in mind of Vampire Academy but with Pure-bloods, daimons and half-bloods rather than Moroi, Strigoi and Dhampir. There’s no denying the similarities, which progress with the series, but it’s still entertaining and I know I’ll continue with the series, so it’s no use me griping about similarities. The characters were compelling, the dialogue fun, and the adventure fast-paced.

Alex is wonderfully flawed; she’s stubborn, irreverent and sarcastic. I may not find the bare bones of the plot original, but I think her interaction with the other characters is brilliant. Alex’s friendship with Caleb, her peculiar affinity to Seth and her love for Aiden make the story shine.

It helps that Aiden’s ideal book boyfriend material. Handsome, sensitive, and pumped full of integrity while smouldering with inherent sensuality. He’s also a pure-blood so is off-limits to half-blood Alex – and what’s more interesting than forbidden love, right?

Alex: “How come you smile when you knock me down?”
Aiden: “It’s the little things that make me happy.”

Seth’s fascinating in that his arrogance seems to know no bounds, but at the same time, there’s an emotional vulnerability that will have some people wanting to hug him. Seth is one conflicted guy, and he’s what’s known as the Apollyon, which means he’s the one half-blood the purebloods have to respect – but Alex doesn’t seem to have received that memo.

“Seth glanced back over his shoulder at the door. “Alex, you’re starting to worry me. Insult me… or something.”

Don’t expect anything highbrow; just expect to be entertained. If like me you enjoyed the Vampire Academy series, then you’ll love Half-blood.