Review: The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa

The Immortal Rules (Blood of Eden #1)

By Julie Kagawa

Published: April 24, 2012

Publisher: Harlequin Teen

Hardcover, 485 pages

"In a future world, vampires reign. Humans are blood cattle. And one girl will search for the key to save humanity."

Allison Sekemoto survives in the Fringe, the outermost circle of a vampire city. By day, she and her crew scavenge for food. By night, any one of them could be eaten. Some days, all that drives Allie is her hatred of "them." The vampires who keep humans as blood cattle. Until the night Allie herself is attacked--and given the ultimate choice. Die...or become one of the monsters. Faced with her own mortality, Allie becomes what she despises most. To survive, she must learn the rules of being immortal, including the most important: go long enough without human blood, and you will go mad. Then Allie is forced to flee into the unknown, outside her city walls. There, she joins a ragged band of humans who are seeking a legend--a possible cure to the disease that killed off most of humankind and created the rabids, the mindless creatures who threaten humans and vampires alike. But it isn't easy to pass for human. Especially not around Zeke, who might see past the monster inside her. And Allie soon must decide what--and who--is worth dying for. - GoodReads

5 friggin' stars! Ohh yeah!

Review

This baby has got to be one of the most ultimate vampire YAs out there. What's not to love about this book? It's packed with action (yes!), romance (double yes!), well-placed comedy (the knee-slapping kind), many untold secrets (oooo!), and above all, VAMPIRES. Not to mention, the story is set in a post-apocalyptic style.

The main reason I loved this book was because of the characters. You're probably sitting there thinking, "What? Why the characters?" Well, lemme tell ya why. It's just a pet peeve of mine, but I just HATE, HATE, HATE, the generic wimpy, female character that always depends of someone else (namely, the male love interest) to do everything and won't change herself for the better. I just love it when there's a kick-ass heroine that won't let anything get in her way. 

Allie Sekemoto was exactly the heroine that I adored. She was strong, fierce, and followed through with everything she said. And the best part was: she wasn't some ditzy girl all about finding her true love. No, she was more focused on surviving than sucking on some guy's face. Thank goodness for that, right? Not only was Allie physically strong, but she was also mentally strong. That's another thumbs up for me. I also really liked Allie because, although she turns into a vampire, she still holds some humanistic qualities. She does doubt herself, she does get tired, she does have issues. 

And of course, with a loooovely heroine, we absolutely-positively-must-have-not-one-but-two-hunky-love-interests!!!  Hmmmmm, I don't know how much I should give away about Kanin or Zeke, but let's just say that I was totally on Team Kanin. To find out more, you'll have to read the book, dearies. :P

Julie Kagawa creates a perfect mix of our very-imperfect-world with the supernatural-fantasy-vampire-world. No character is perfect, and each has to deal with his or her own problems. Just like the real world. Well, if you sprinkle a few vampires here and there.

 This story is narrated in first person through Allie's POV, which is nice because the language is very understandable and easy to get through. It's not like some old guy is reading it to you--it's as if Allie herself is telling you what's going on. I have to be honest with you, this book is not about bunnies and sunshine. When she needs to be, Kagawa can write some pretty graphic scenes. Don't worry, it's not a horror story, but The Immortal Rules is definitely not about sparkly vampires. The story takes place right after a huge disease has spread around the Earth, (sorta post-apocalyptic??) so the story, (in my mind) has a bit of a dreary/depressing/sad/dramatic tone.

I gotta say, this book kept me hooked! The plot was pretty darn awesome too. If I remember correctly, I think I finished this one in a 2 or 3 days, max. Which is saying something, because I can get distracted pretty easily if a book is dragging along. This story was action-comedy-romance packed, and I really had no idea what to expect when flipping the next page.  For all those vampire-action-some-what-original-plot-lovers out there, I suggest giving this book a try! Trust me, you won't be disappointed. Well, at least I sure wasn't.

And, if you liked Julie Kagawa's Immortal Rules, I'd also suggest giving her Iron Fey series a try. I, myself, along with M, enjoyed them very much.

The Iron King (Iron Fey #1)
The Iron Daughter (Iron Fey #2)
The Iron Queen (Iron Fey #3)
The Iron Knight (Iron Fey #4)

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