Latest Read: Covenant series

Here are the basics ...
Books: Half-Blood (#1); Pure (#2); Deity (#3)
Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout
Site: http://www.jenniferarmentrout.com/
Category: Young Adult - Paranormal

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. 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. (Adapted goodreads.com) 

My thoughts…

The good: In a lot of ways, this story may sound awfully familiar. Forbidden relationships, love triangle, the paranormal setting, destiny and the impending battle between good and evil. What made the series work for me was the fast pacing, a strong (albeit frustratingly stubborn) heroine and the bonds formed between the different characters. They live in a world where Greek gods exist and the Hematoi are the result of their dalliances with humans. The children of two Hematoi result in powerful pure bloods. The children of Hematoi and mortals? Still powerful, but minus any of the respect. They're called half bloods and the only options they have are to become Sentinels (who hunt and kill daimons) or mindless servants to the pure bloods. As you can imagine, the half blood heroine, Alexandria, or Alex for short, won't settle for being anything other than a Sentinel.

The first word that comes to mind when I think of Alex is reckless. Quickly followed by swagger. She's an act-now-think-later type of person and that leads her to make some bad decisions throughout the series. But her heart is always in the right place. When she loves, whether it's family, romantic or her best friend, she does so wholeheartedly. She has a tendency to get into a lot of fights and she's got problems with authority. But she's still a teenage girl and I thought the author did a great job of balancing her superhuman powers and just the every day stuff girls go through and feel. Like.. falling for the hot, totally swoonworthy guy you can't have (because he's a pure blood and being with one might just lead to your death). I enjoyed the progression of their relationship. Even though the attraction is instant, they both fight it because of who they are. Plus they have different personalities so there's a lot of bickering, frustration (um tension!) and slowly opening up about their painful pasts. The person who becomes the other man in the love triangle doesn't show up until the second book (and I don't want to spoil anything!) but I have to admit, he grew on me a lot throughout Pure. He's a more mysterious character and I had a feeling about what he was up to fairly early on. But he and Alex had a certain chemistry of their own too.

(Minor) reservations:  I flew through these books over the course of a weekend so I was definitely into the story and the characters. But I did feel like the author made some predictable choices and I think the books overall would've benefited from more world-building. A lot of the politics between half bloods and pure bloods is explained but not much about how it became that way or the involvement of the gods.

Do I recommend?: If you're in the mood for an entertaining paranormal romance type series, I would recommend this. I felt like the each book got better and I'm excited to read the 4th book, Apollyon.

Happy reading!