Daimon (Covenant #0.5) by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Summary:

"Love in my world usually ended up with someone hearing 'I smite thee!' as she was cursed to be some lame flower for the rest of her life."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. (Via Goodreads.com)

Pages: (E-book) 62

Release Date: April 19th, 2011

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Review:

   There is always a point in time when I read a book or a book series and I ask myself, "Where has this book/series been all my life?" When it comes to the Covenant series, the answer is, they have been on my Kindle for a long time. If you have read some of my reviews, more than likely you have picked up on the fact that I love Jennifer L. Armentrout. I have meet her three times and I can never say anything bad about her books. 

    The only Young Adult series I had not read by Jennifer is the Covenant series. There was no doubt in my mind that I would read the series, but I was hesitant to start the series after my friend told me it took a while for her to get into the series. My friend and I usually have the same opinion on books, but this time we did not. I absolutely love the Covenant series, and I am about to start the fourth book, Apollyon. My friend loves the series as well but it only took me the first sentence to get hooked on the series.

    The main reason I started the Covenant series right now was that back in May at Book Con (my review of Book Con: http://littleredsreviews.blogspot.com/2014/06/book-con-2014.html), I was given an ARC of The Return, which is a spin off book from the Covenant series. The Return is to be released in February of 2015 so I wanted to read the book series before the release date. I am also excited to announce that I will be attending, ApollyCon in February, which is the release party for The Return and there are going to many of my favorite authors in attendance (for more information on ApollyCon: http://www.tdevents.net/p/apollycon.html). 

     Anyways, Daimon is a prequel novella to the the Covenant series. You do not need to read Daimon in order to understand the series, but it does give you more of an insight as to what happened prior to the first book, Half-Blood. 
     Daimon is funny, full of action, features some romance, and has a strong female lead. I would highly recommend starting the Covenant series or anything else written by the lovely Jennifer L. Armentrout.

*Spoiler Section*

    I read Daimon very late at night in one sitting. I was extremely tired when I read it and like most, when I am tired I don't comprehend things or act like I normally am. This is my favorite scene from Daimon and it is hysterical, but when I originally read this I laughed for at least five minutes. This took place on pages 14-15:

   

     " 'You overreacted! They weren't going to kick my ass or molest you! And there won't be a next time. I'm not down with violence.' Matt shook his head and turned away from me, plowing his feet through the mounds of sand, leaving me standing all alone.

    'What the hell?' I muttered and then louder, 'Whatever! Go save a dolphin or something!'

     He whirled around. 'It's a whale, Alex, a whale! That's what I'm interested in saving.'

     I threw up my arms. 'What's wrong with saving dolphins?' "

     I love that there was a pronunciation guide in the beginning of the book. None of you  have heard me read things before, but I usually butcher words I have never seen before. I usually look at words upside down as if that is going to tell me how to pronounce it. 
     I love all the book covers from the Covenant series, they are all so beautiful and I want to have posters of all of them and hang them on my wall, they are so gorgeous. Plus, they do not have a cover change in the series, unlike the Lux series.
     I do not have too much to say about Daimon since it was a short novella but I really enjoyed it and I am excited to continue and finish the Covenant series.
~Casey

Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

Summary:

Melinda Sordino busted an end-of-summer party by calling the cops. Now her old friends won't talk to her, and people she doesn't even know hate her from a distance. The safest place to be is alone, inside her own head. But even that's not safe. Because there's something she's trying not to think about, something about the night of the party that, if she let it in, would blow her carefully constructed disguise to smithereens. And then she would have to speak the truth. This extraordinary first novel has captured the imaginations of teenagers and adults across the country.
(Via Goodreads.com)

Pages: 198

Release Date: October 22nd, 1999

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Review:

     Even kids that love to read can hate to read books for English class. Most of the time we are forced to read ancient books that do not interest us whatsoever. But, there is the exception when we are allowed to choose the book. For my first assignment in English this year, I had to choose a coming-of-age novel to read. I chose to read, Speak, because my best friend, Kylee, has raved about the book for years and I really enjoyed reading one of Laurie Halse Anderson's other books, Catalyst (my review of Catalyst: http://littleredsreviews.blogspot.com/2013/11/catalyst-by-laurie-halse-anderson.html) and Fever 1793.
     At the beginning of the book, I really connected with Melinda. Ironically, I started Speak on my first day of high school which is the same day Speak begins. Had I read this book any other time I would have still liked it, but I would not have related to it as much. I understood what Melinda was going through. Feeling like you do not belong and seeing all the cliques form but not having one of your own. It was nice to know that others have gone through the same problem and had overcome it.  
     Overall, Speak was a fantastic book and I highly recommend it to anyone. If you are soon or have just started high school I would suggest reading Speak.
     

*Spoiler Section*

     Speak reminded me of Easy by Tammara Webber, which is one of favorite books. Both books feature a female protaginist that was raped. People tend to ignore sexual assaults but they are a big deal. You experience first hand what Melinda goes through emotionally and physically as a result of Andy raping her. I would like to see a bigger spotlight on books that feature sexual assault victims.   
     I was so proud of Melinda when she fought back against Andy when he tries to rape her a second time. That was the moment the whole story changed. From that point on, the book was more upbeat and Melinda finally opened up to Mr. Freeman.
     My favorite quote from the book was on page 122 and said by Mr. Freeman, "When people don't express themselves, they die one piece at a time." That is exactly what was happening to Melinda as she stayed quiet about Andy raping her. She was breaking apart and losing her connection to her former self.
     When Heather stopped being friends with Melinda for the Marthas, I automatically thought of the song, Let Her Go by Passenger. The one line in Let Her Go that describes Heather and Melinda's relationship is, "Only know you love her when you let her go." Melinda thought she did not need a friend, but she really did. Melinda finds out when Heather has left that she really did depend on Heather being around.  

     After finishing Speak I really want to re-read Catalyst. Catalyst is not in the perspective of Melinda but it takes place in the same high school as Speak. We also get to see Melinda for a few more pages.
     The one question I still have about the book is, did David and Melinda start dating? We found out that Melinda had some feelings for him when she assumed he was the person who put a card on her locker on Valentine's Day. Also, he asked her to go to his house for celebratory pizza after the basketball team won a game, she did decline his offer because she was scared he would do what Andy did to her. If he asked her to come over then maybe he may also like her? I hope they did end up dating, they would be very cute together.

     I was shocked to find out that Speak had been adapted to a movie. When I found out, I jumped online and searched for it. I was turned off to the see the movie when I discovered that Kristen Stewart played Melinda. Kristen is a decent actress, but I can't see her as playing Melinda. Some of my friends that also read Speak with me want to have a movie night and watch it together. I am not against the idea of seeing it with them, but if it falls through I will not be disappointed.

     Overall, I loved Speak and I am curious as to why I did not pick it up sooner. Even though the book is only 198 pages, Laurie Halse Anderson makes a great use of every page. One thing I find so interesting about the book is that it is older than I am!

~Casey