The author has a real way of making character interactions and emotions seem real. More than once I found my heart pounding and it wasn't from an action scene. I believe this is really what carried me through the novel. I'm the sort of person who needs a fast moving plot. If it's just the same repetitious, mundane actions over and over, I'll get bored. The book's largest flaw was its predictable plot. It followed a pretty "by the book" YA blueprint. Plus there's a prophecy and lord do I hate those. I think authors try to word them in ways that will throw readers off, but it never works. Not for me anyway. There was one thing that I didn't expect, but aside from that it all worked out as expected. All-in-all a good way to spend my day. I talk about this book and others on my YouTube channel, here: http://bit.ly/RN2j5n 
 *Oh and it should be noted that there are a few typos in this book. Obvious ones that shouldn't have been missed on a book that isn't self published. And the ereader version isn't formatted properly. It's still readable, but there are large gaps between the paragraphs and at times in the middle of sentences. 
 My Spoilery Thoughts: (view spoiler)[I was actually surprised that Aiden had gotten Alex naked and on his bed. I don't care what anyone says, sex is rare in YA. No they didn't have sex (Shocker: they were interrupted *yawn*), but even getting that far is basically unheard of. 
 At this point, I am Team Seth. I like Aiden, but I have a tendency to be more interested in the second love interest. That's usually because the first love interest is always "perfect". He's the good, sensitive guy that will at some point turn broody, if he isn't already. Sure they're good guys and have swoon-worthy moments, but they just aren't interesting people. The second love interest is generally the dangerous mystery man-- he also almost ALWAYS turns out to be a bad guy. I don't mean "bad boy", I mean evil. In most cases, the girl will fall in love with Love Interest #1 (Mr. Perfect), but for whatever reason they wont be able to be together. So he'll break it off and deliberately hurt her just to get her to back off him. Then the doors are opened for Love Interest #2 (Mr. Sexy-Mysterious A.K.A. Secret Mr. Evil). Most likely she'll use him as a band-aid just to make herself feel better after her first heartache. Lover Interest #1 never fully leaves the picture or at some point he comes back and he'll constantly give hints that he cares for her. She'll either misread them completely, forcing me to bang my head against the book, OR she'll just be confused and use it as an excuse to obsess over him for an entire book. This, of course, unfolds over 3-4 novels. In the end, Love Interest #1 eventually gives in and confesses his undying love, to which she'll go on for 3 paragraphs about how she never stopped loving him and would do anything for him. Love Interest #2...usually ends up dead. This is how I expect this series to unravel itself. However, I would be very pleased if Jennifer shocks me completely and has Alex end up with Seth-- as unlikely as that is. 
 I will say this though, Seth calls Alex names a few times when he's pissed. Like Idiot and such. That is uncool and unacceptable in a love interest. I hope this is a character flaw that he loses. 
 Alex is nothing special. She's the typical "Oh she's so special and powerful, but in the end just another damsel" sort of female. Yawn. I found the ending to be truly irritating. I knew she wouldn't have been able to kill her mom right away, but I was equally pissed that she'd gotten her ass handed to her by the baddies. I mean really, she did nothing. I hope that she eventually becomes a badass, but these sort of females rarely do. They always need to be rescued. 
 Oh, the only thing that actually surprised me was that her mom was turned. I didn't see that coming. As soon as it was revealed though I instantly knew that Alex would kill her... The prophecy...duh. 
 I'm shocked that the Half-Bloods allow themselves to be treated the way the Pures treat them. It seems so unlikely that the Half-Bloods that don't go into servitude wouldn't be bothered by the fact that so many of their kind are so poorly mistreated. It's just as unlikely that any of them would ever be friends with the Pures. I mean really, look at history. How many slaves were ever too friendly with their slave owners? Not many. How many freed slaves were just ok with so many of their kind being enslaved? Again, not many. It just seemed like there would have at least been constant talk of rebellion, but there wasn't even that. 
 Btw, if I were a Half-blood and had the chance, I'd have ran. It probably would have meant that I'd have ended up dead by the age of 30, but as the saying goes... Better to die on your feet than to live on your knees. Fuck servitude. (hide spoiler)] 
 Recommended 
 Yes/No Checklist 
 Sex: Almost *Nakedness for sure 
 Gore: Yes 
 Rape: No 
 Magic: Yes *Glamour 
 Drugs: Alcohol 
 Star Categories 
 Romance: 4 Stars 
 Action: 3.5 Stars *Gotta knock it for the damsel routine. 
 Pacing: 4 Stars 
 Writing: 4 Stars 
 Plot: 4 Stars 
 Overall: 4 Stars 
 Protagonist Meter 
 Damsel-----*-----Badass 
 I'm sticking her in the middle. She sorta held own at times, but mostly got her ass kicked. I'm hoping for better in book two.