I thought this was very good and I will have to add this to the shop shelves. Thank you for the chance for us to review.

I didn’t know that this was a reprint, but this author has been everywhere lately and I really wanted to try out a book from her repertoire and so I have and honestly, I love this book.

The premise of her other books don’t really appeal to me anymore because they’re usually coming-of-age/“find out that I’m the chosen one as soon as I turn 18” kind of books and I’m not in the right headspace to want those books anymore. This book still had the same kind of flavor, and yet, it was different all the same.

I liked the bond aspect and how she tries her hardest to not give into it. I also really like the cover and I’m excited to see what the other reprints look like, I just don’t know if I’ll read the rest of the series.

Not my favorite my JA sadly. I had a hard time connecting with the characters and the worldbuilding was lackluster.

I really liked it but I didn't love it like I thought I would... I couldn't connect with the "romance" of the story, yet. However, JLA's books never fail to disappoint me. Her world-building fascinated me, the story was beautiful written, and it got the perfect amount of action and humor. The characters were great, Jennifer successfully created a badass heroine, Alexandria has everything I could ever look for in a character, I really liked her. Man this book is not original at all but it is still a great deal of fun with fantastic banter and a hot love interest. I am exited for more!

Half-Blood is the first book in one of my all-time favorite YA series from when I was a teen. When I saw it was getting re-released with new covers and sprayed edges, I knew I needed to take another look at this beloved book. It's been a while since I've read it, so beyond remembering some plot beats and characters, it was like coming in fresh.

Overall, I really enjoyed Half-Blood. The story is fun, the characters are delightful, and the romance burns. I love that it's set on the NC coast, and it's proximity to Bald Head island is exciting for me personally, as that's a place I used to go as a kid. After finishing it, I knew I needed to re-read the rest of the series.

One thing that stood out to me is that the book is definitely dated. I'm not sure if it was edited at all for the reprint or if it's the exact same text from earlier editions. There are a number of references that don't work as well. Minimum, I would have liked to see the HP comments edited out. I know JLA has a lot going on, and who knows what the contract for this book looked like, but I feel like a light revision (no actual plot, just wording and such) would have enhanced the book and brought it even better to a new generation of readers.

There was one other element of the world building that I think, if written today, would have been done differently. In this world, there are gods, pure-bloods (those with magical abilities and more closely related to gods), half-bloods (a mix of a pure and a human), and humans. The gods basically leave the world alone and the magical world lives pretty separate from the human one. The pure-bloods rules the magical world and give half-bloods two options: fighting as soldiers or slavery. Not just servitude where they're still payed and treated with some dignity, but full-on slavery. Additionally, they are drugged while enslaved to keep them compliant and stop and rebellion. Alex is constantly threatened with enslavement if she misbehaves or gets kicked out of school. It just.... doesn't feel right. I think if the book was written now, as the YA genre and the care it takes towards center issues, has evolved, the same plot point could have been handled with more care. Especially as this is a re-release vs me just reading an older book, I think this would have been a great opportunity to evolve that world building as well. And this is not me saying to remove the plot point entirely, but perhaps treat it with more care and reframe how the characters approach it.

Decided to read this even though I quickly learned it was a republished version. In the beginning there was confusing writing to get it going in terms of the attack. The main character Alex is thrown into turmoil after a death. However she then does things that don’t make sense. I get she is grieving, but she has also been trained since she was 7 years old to be a fighter. Yet that all apparently goes out the window… except when she is somehow being belittled by dumb men.

Later into the book I really found myself saying Omg I hate this main character. How is she the only one who almost always beats up pures and is so stupid? Also the description of the book is not accurate with these “other powers”.

Honestly this book was a mess and I do not recommend.

I would probably rate this more in the 3.5/5 star scale. Overall the book was extremely enjoyable and I did find myself actually liking the characters a lot, the only problem is that I kept finding myself comparing the plot to the plot of vampire academy. Unfortunately there were quite a lot of similarities, from the tropes to the characters themselves, but overall was still enjoyable. I would recommend it to fans of vampire academy as well as the shadowhunter series as they will have a similar vibe.

In a world where descendants of gods are divide into pure bloods and half bloods, one girl will find herself seeking revenge, facing monsters, unlikely powers awaken, and a forbidden romance blooms. The Covenant is a school where pure descendants of gods attend and half bloods such Alex, also go to as well to train to kill daimons. Yet one day her mother takes her away and they've been on the run ever since... now 17 years old and out of time, daimons come after them and murder her mom and Alex finds herself being brought back into the Covenant where she will be trained under the handsome and talented older student, pure blood Aiden. Pure bloods and half bloods are forbidden from entering into a relationship, yet the more time she spends training with him the more blurred the lines between trainer and trainee are. Not to mention Alex has to deal with the strange new powers that had awakened in her, rekindling old friendships, and dealing with the fact that someone she loves might have turned into a daimon and is now after her..... Alex has to find a way to stay alive through the school year or risk being kicked out and forced to become a servant... or worse, be killed by a daimon. I am going to say I went into this book completely blind, I had no idea that this was in fact a repub of the already finished and old series by JLA. This book was a rip off of Vampire Academy, but instead of vampires it was with greek gods. I adore, absolutely love Vampire Academy, but reading this left a bad taste in my mouth if I am going to be honest. The characters are no where near as likable as the characters in Vampire Academy and the romance was not there at all. I really wanted to like this but it just felt too similar to Vampire Academy, yet without any of the great parts that made Vampire Academy fun. This is definitely something I think younger YA readers could get into, but it felt a bit dated to me and honestly, it just couldn't compare to VA or stand out enough that I would like it on it's own. Sadly, it's a pass for me, however if you enjoy teen school drama set in a magic school and an older/forbidden love interest, give this a go!

*Thanks Netgalley and SOURCEBOOKS Bloom Books | Bloom Books for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*