Sentinel Tour ~ Half-Blood Day

*squeeee* Time for my stop on the Sentinel tour! 

The book I'm spotlighting is Half-Blood, the book where it all began...

It must say that I am sad that this series is coming to an end but I'm damn excited to be a part of this tour.

Also don't forget to answer the totally awesome giveaway below!

Find the complete tour here.

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.

Amazon | Barnes & Noble

# 1 New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author Jennifer L. Armentrout Lives in West Virginia. 

All the rumors you heard about her state aren’t true. 

Well, mostly. When she's not hard at work writing, she spends her time, reading, working out, watching zombie movies, and pretending to write.

She is the author of the Covenant Series (Spencer Hill Press), the Lux Series (Entangled Teen), Don't Look Back (Disney/Hyperion) and a yet untitled novel (Disney/Hyperion), and new YA paranormal series with Harlequin Teen. 

Jennifer also writes New Adult and Adult romance under the pen name J. Lynn. The Gamble Brothers Series (Tempting the Best Man/Tempting the Player) and Wait for You. Under her pen name, she is published with Entangled Brazen and HarperCollins.

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

As an optional thing to add I decided to feature the author interview I did with Jennifer last February.
Enjoy!

1. What was one of the most surprising (bad or good) things you learned in creating your books?

The good thing that I've learned is how caught up I can get in my characters. Sometimes they feel like real people. Another surprising aspect that's not necessary bad, but something an author can't control, is how people perceive your books. You never know what someone is going to take away from it.


2. What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?

I CANNOT write in a room full of people or really in a room with anyone in it. I'm too easily distracted, so I doubt that I'd ever go to a writing retreat.


3. Which author would you love to co-author a book with someday?

Oh, wow. There are too many to pick from. A few would be Rachel Vincent, Jana Oliver, Jeri Smith Ready, etc.


4. What three books would you recommend people to read?

Losing It by Cora Carmack, Demon Trappers series from Jana Olivier, and Soul Screamers Series from Rachel Vincent. 


5. What are some of your current or future bookish projects that you can share with us?

I have a NA novel coming out on March 4th 2013 called Wait for You that I'm very excited about and there is a YA paranormal series that I hope I can share info on soon.


Jennifer, thank you for taking the time to answer my questions and I'm looking forward to your upcoming books! :D

Thanks for having me!

--

I also have this mini interview from JLA to share with you all:

For JLA – Half-Blood was your first published book.  Does it hold a special place for you or do you wish you could have a chance to re-write it?  Half-Blood definitely holds a special place for me, and I wouldn’t want to re-write it.  I’m happy with the book.

For Leon – You defended Alex and advocated for her to stay and be trained.  If you’d know she was gonna be such a pain in your ass, would have do that again.  Why?  Oh yeah, Alex needed to be trained, but I would have advocated for an attitude adjustment along with the training.

For Aiden – That day that Alex meets Seth for the first time, did you notice anything then that could have warned you of what was to come? Everything about him warned me.

For Seth -  Did you know that Alex was not impressed with your name when she met you?  She thought you should have a more Greek name like Apollo or something.  Turn around is fair play.  Your thoughts on her name?  She’s named after a boy.

Spencer Hill Press is giving away a $200 gift card to Barnes & Noble, Amazon, Book Depository or any indie bookstore of the winner's choice to not only stock up on amazing books, but to perhaps buy a Nook HD or Kindle Fire. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Review: Half-Blood by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Title: Half-Blood
Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout
Series: Covenant #1
Publication: 18th 2011 by Spencer Hill Press
Genre: Young Adult ~ Paranormal Romance
Format: Paperback, 281 pages
Cover Rating: 3/5
Overal Rating: 4/5

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:


I'm a huge fan of JLA's Lux series so I knew I had to read this book also. I had heard a lot of great things about it so when I was finally able to get it, I read it right away, finished in 3 days because I just couldn't stop reading and was not disappointed at all!

I'm sure everyone has seen the similarity between Half-Blood and Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead. Not everyone thinks it's so great that it's almost exact the same, only different names and a slightly different story. Like how Alex is Rose and Aiden is Dimitri. At first I found it weird. It was like re-reading Vampire Academy all over again. As lots of people know and I'm a huge Vampire Academy (and Bloodlines) addict. But I got over it pretty fast as I started getting into Half-Blood more and more. Even with the similarities Half-Blood is definitely different and has its own voice.

We meet our heroine Alexandra 'Alex' Andros who is a half-blood, when she's running for Daimons. Trying her best to fight them off, she gets rescued by the swoon-worthy pure-blood Aiden St. Delphi (who she used to have a crush on) and other Sentinels. Eventually she's brought back to the academy (sound familiar? Sorry, couldn't resist myself to say this!), where her uncle is now the dean. 
Of course Aiden suggests to train Alex, to help her get caught up for the begin of the new school year after the summer. Slowly Alex begins to have more and more feeling for Aiden until it's definitely more than a crush. One problem only though... Relationships between halfs and pures are forbidden! You would think that's Alex's only problem. It sure isn't. If she can't get caught up by the end of the summer she'll get sent to her awful stepfather and be turned into a mindless slave. On top of that she learns that her mother has changed into a daimon and that she's coming for Alex.

I can't remember the exact moment when I started really enjoying Half-Blood. I guess it caught me by surprise and sucked me into this awesome world. I'm sure lots of people know the awesome Daemon Black and have read the Lux series but this series is nothing like it. It's also really good but this one is more greek myth based which I adore! Anything mythical is right up in my alley. Love reading stuff like that. I especially like Armentrout's take on it. 

I love Alex! She's a kickass, punch first ask questions later, awesome character. She went through SO much and yet she stayed really strong. I admire that about her. I would've lost it a long time ago if I were her. Something else I also like about her is, she doesn't go all love sick puppy on Aiden and she is aware that is forbidden. Yeah, eventually she goes to 'hell with that!' but she sure handles it okay.

Aiden St. Delphi is hot! Now way around that. It's a fact. He's a Sentinel, so he knows how to fight and boy, is he good! Unlike other pure-bloods he doesn't look down on halfs. He treats them like equals. I love that about him.  Also he raised his brother when his parents got killed which was really amazing of him. Just all *swoon* But I gotta say he is not my all-time favorite guy from this book. Shock, right? More about that later!

Another character I loved was Caleb, Alex's best friend. He is awesome. I want him as a friend. There's no romance whatsoever in their relationship. Gotta love that for a change! The only thing I am worried is about is that prophecy from the oracle. Never good. I definitely have my theories about it.

And then there's Seth, who is the Apollyon. It's a big deal in this world apparently. And let me just say... *swoon, fangirl, drool and all of that* He's dangerous, mysterious and totally sexy. Now we've got that out of the way... I so love Seth! I love the way he annoys Alex and how Alex isn't impressed by him like the others are. And then big twist! Which I kinda had actually seen coming but it was nontheless fantastic. 
My favorite scene with him was at the end when he was in Alex's bedroom. I won't say anymore so I'll not spoil too much about this book but it made me laugh a lot and also 'awww' a lot. (and he totally reminded me about Adrian Ivashkov at that certain scene =$). I can't wait to read more about him and what all of this Appolyon stuff is going to turn into. All very exciting and kind of disturbing (not in a totally bad way) how it might turn out. 
I know most people prefer Aiden. I love him too but I can't help but be team Seth! ;)

Another character I should probably mention is Deacon, Aiden's little brother who is acting out with drinking and flirting. A lot of people compare him to Adrian Ivashkov (yes him again!) which I agree with to a certain point although I think the Adrian of this book could also be Seth. Sorry for all the VA references, but I can't help myself. I liked Deacon alright, I hope to see more of him in the next book(s).

The conclusion of Half-Blood wasn't at all like Vampire Academy (not the first book anyway) and had lots of fighting and asskicking. I loved it immensely and I found myself not giving a rats ass that it looks like VA because in the end it's just about what THIS story is about, these characters, the awesome writing of JLA and just the joy of a new journey in a new book. 

Was Half-Blood better than Obsidian? No. It takes a lot to top Daemon Black but it was good in its own mythical way. 
Overall I just love this world that Jennifer L. Armentrout has created and I can't wait to read more about it. I bet a lot of exciting things are yet to come!

I really liked it!

~Favorite Quotes:

I was gonna be super pissed in the afterlife if I died a virgin in this crap hole.

"Did you think he was just some lazy pure-blood who needed protection?” His voice dripped sarcasm.
“Well he looks like one! How was I supposed to know he was secretly Rambo in Dockers?"

"Okay. I’m ready to move onto something else, like practicing with knives or defense against the dark arts. Cool things.”
“Did you just quote Harry Potter?"

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

~About the author:

USA TODAY Bestselling author Jennifer lives in Martinsburg, West Virginia. All the rumors you’ve heard about her state aren’t true. When she’s not hard at work writing. she spends her time reading, working out, watching really bad zombie movies, pretending to write, and hanging out with her husband and her Jack Russel Loki.
Her dreams of becoming an author started in algebra class, where she spent most of her time writing short stories….which explains her dismal grades in math. Jennifer writes young adult paranormal, science fiction, fantasy, and contemporary romance. She also writes adult romance under the name J. Lynn.

Visit Jennifer at:

Twitter | Facebook | Website | Goodreads

Purchase Half-Blood at:

The Book Depository | Amazon | Fishpond | Barnes & Noble