Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

After reading the synopsis, I was eager to read HALF-BLOOD and discover this interesting world which looked to be a UF novel of a hybrid vampire-Greek god race. While the mythology set-up was interesting, within 25 pages of reading, it became clear that something kept me from liking this book too much. And what would that be? This book seemed to be a direct clone of the first VAMPIRE ACADEMY book. This was noticeably in the first *25 pages* and grew more and more pronounced as the book progressed. Now I understand that in the world of UF and YA vampire novels, a lot of mythologies and ideas overlap, but this was no mere coincidence. There were literally plot lines and direct phrases lifted from VA. I couldn't believe it. Here are the startling similarities: (**warning: spoilers if you have not read Vampire Academy or Half-Blood) *Girl is 17-years old, of a halfie race that is considered a lower caste than the superior pure race above her who have power to wield the four elements. *The halfie race retains incredible physical powers that allow them to battle an evil vampire-like form of their race, who are immensely powerful and drain the blood of the pure and half-race. Young halfies are trained at their race's society-run boarding school, where they train to be deadly guards/protectors to the superior race and slayers of the evil race. *Girl has been on the run from the school officials for several years due to an unclear danger there Is caught by a hot older guy belonging to the elite group of guards and brought back. *Girl is almost expelled by headmaster/mistress, but is vouched for by previously mentioned hot guard, who agrees to train with girl every day to make up the years lost in her training. *Girls apparently has a reputation at school for being a flirt, admits to kissing a lot of guys, but is still a virgin. There is a pretty mean girl who constantly snarks at Girl and tries to get her expelled. *Which is not hard, because Girl has a fiery personality and doesn't take smack from anyone. Also has problems with rules/authority, constantly gets in trouble/almost expelled. *Hot guy is a quiet one who rarely smiles and acts all serious/professional most of the time. But the more time Girl spends with hot guy training, he lets out these rare smiles that make Girl's heart race, as she falls for him and he starts falling for her *Girl gets injured during training. Hot guy insists they step aside as he treat her injuries delicately, while they have Deep Meaningful Conversation. *There are important political things going on with the political elite, with power-struggles and a small but growing call for new rules/laws between the halfs and full bloods. The half-bloods have no political power or say in politics. *Girl knocks on door of hot guys room. Commence heavy making out that is interrupted by an important plot point. * Girl is attacked by fellow acquaintance that has been turned into one of the evil vampire races. Is saved by hot guy. *Climax occurs at a cabin/cottage far away in the woods. Girl helps save day, then blacks out. *In the end, hot guy admits he wants to be with Girl, but they can't be together because of their social positions. Cue angst. Now, these are the similarities I could list off from the top of my head. Although Armentrout's writing is easy and flows nicely, I find it lacking descriptions to detail, such as not enough information is given about the world they live in, it's history, et cetera. I was also bothered by the fact that I recognized entire phrases and sentences from Vampire Academy in the book. Moreover, I find the romance a bit rushed, and the fact that the main character was supposed to be a flirt who has "kissed lots of boys" unbelievable given the small glimpse we get of her interactions with her peers. Overall, I found the book an enjoyable read that was constantly overshadowed by the vastly superior Vampire Academy.