Review: Daimon by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Title: Daimon
Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout
Publisher: Spencer Hill Press
Publish Date: May 10, 2011
Genre: YA, paranormal
Pages: 62 (ebook)
Series: Covenant
Daimon (prequel)
1. Half-Blood (October 18, 2011)
2. Pure (April 2, 2012)
3. Deity (expected pub November 2012)

Synopsis:
For three years, Alexandria has lived among mortals—pretending to be like them and trying to forget the duty she'd been trained to fulfill as a child of a mortal and a demigod. At seventeen, she's pretty much accepted that she's a freak by mortal standards... and that she'll never be prepared for that duty.

According to her mother, that’s a good thing.

But as every descendant of the gods knows, Fate has a way of rearing her ugly head. A horrifying attack forces Alex to flee Miami and try to find her way back to the very place her mother had warned her she should never return—the Covenant. Every step that brings her closer to safety is one more step toward death… because she's being hunted by the very creatures she'd once trained to kill.

The daimons have found her.

From Goodreads

DAIMON (pronounced DEE-mun) is the prequel to Jennifer's debut series. The first book, HALF-BLOOD, is one book coming out in the Fall that I'm really excited about. Last time I had the opportunity to read a prequel to a book, I ended up reading it after reading the book itself. I thought the prequel was cute and could see how it was useful to read before starting the book. This time, I read the prequel before the book (DAIMON before HALF-BLOOD). It’s definitely made me want to read HALF-BLOOD even more than I wanted to before.

DAIMON is a really great intro into the world of the Gods and their descendants. It gives us a peak at the main character, Alex (Alexandria), and the way she’s living her life. Very quickly, I found myself having an emotional attachment to Alex, probably because of the trouble she runs into (and if that’s not an understatement, I don’t know what is!). We get a glimpse at her relationship with her mom, and how she’s unhappy with the fact that they have to live among mortals. Most of all, there are a lot of questions raised about WHY they have to live among mortals.

So far, I like Jennifer’s writing style. She puts a lot of humour in her writing, mostly in the form of sarcastic comments from Alex. One of my favourite lines:

I was so going to kick a Covenant Instructor in the face if I ever made it back there alive.

pg. 54

That is one line of many that made me laugh out loud. There’s definitely no shortage of them, and that’s what I like about her writing. At the same time, Jennifer also knows how to take things down a notch and make it serious and emotional when it needs to be, by including a good amount of detail without having it be overwhelming or drawn-out.

If you’re planning on reading HALF-BLOOD when it comes out in October (or before, if you have an ARC), I highly recommend reading DAIMON first. It is a great way to introduce us to the characters, and to Jennifer’s writing. And it ends exactly where HALF-BLOOD starts, which makes you want to pick up HALF-BLOOD right after finishing it!