Common Sense Media Review
By Carrie R. Wheadon
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Decent series starter is great for Twilight fans.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 13+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Read
What's the Story?
In HALF-BLOOD: COVENANT, BOOK 1, Alex is running for her life from the daimons that killed her mom. Just as she's cornered and about to get bled dry, Aidan and his team of Sentinels finds her. She doesn't have much choice about going back with them to the world she and her mother hid from for three years. She's a Half -- someone with a mortal father and a Pure mother descended from the Greek gods. All the other Pures and Halfs live in relative safety on Deity Island and some train at the Covenant. Alex is so far behind after three years on the run that she's sure she'll be shipped off to a Pure's home and drugged to make her a complacent servant for the rest of her life. But lucky for her Aidan steps in and offers to train her for the summer. Not so lucky for her, Aidan is both gorgeous and completely off-limits. Pures and Halfs caught in romantic relationships are severely punished.
Is It Any Good?
With vampire-like baddies, a spirited main character, and a forbidden romance, this page-turner will appeal strongly to Twilight series fans. Don't be fooled by the book's Percy Jackson series homage. This isn't Rick Riordan fan fiction. Sure, half-bloods here have one mortal parent, but there's one layer in between them and the (completely absent) Greek gods and it's the rich and entitled Pures. They're just godly offspring that kept marrying other godly offspring, they get all the power, and they will turn any half-blood into their drugged slave if they don't like how it is. Somehow this is not only okay(ish) but they've convinced half-bloods to fight for them against all those vampire-like daimons too. The half-bloods need a revolt more than the daimons do.
Readers may forgive these head-scratching undertones while they're ravenously devouring pages. I mean, come on – will or won't Alex and Aidan be a secret taboo thing? And can Alex really commit the atrocity the dreaded prophecy declares? Also, the hidden powers of the daimons Alex discovers are a deliciously evil twist. Alex's extra gifts, though? Too easy to see that coming. It's "hinted" at in the only page of the only book she reads in her dorm room. Still, the sequel is set up well. The looming threat to all these godly powers, along with Alex's role in this, is now established and is sure to move the series ahead in intriguing ways.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the romance in Half-Blood: Covenant, Book 1. Why are relationships between Pures and Halfs forbidden? In what other ways does Aidan have power over Alex? What could go wrong in a relationship with one person having power over the other?
Alex is a character who shows immense courage but also takes many dangerous risks. What other book characters that you root for show those attributes? How many of them are girls?
What do you think is next for Alex? What about Aidan and Seth? What about the daimons?
Book Details
- Author :
- Genre : Fantasy
- Topics : Fantasy ( Magic ) , Adventures , Family Stories ( Siblings )
- Character Strengths : Courage , Perseverance
- Book type : Fiction
- Publisher : Bloom Books
- Publication date : May 28, 2024
- Publisher's recommended age(s) : 14 - 18
- Number of pages : 448
- Available on : Paperback, Audiobook (unabridged), Apple Books, Kindle
- Last updated : September 18, 2025
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