Tuesday, August 21, 2012

The Immortal Rules: Rule #1...Stay Alive.

The Immortal Rules (Blood of Eden #1)
By Julie Kagawa
Hardcover, 485 pages
Harlequin Teen, April 2012
Genre: Paranormal Fantasy/Vampires

Summary:

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.


Pricky's Review:
4 Stars on Goodreads

Just when I thought there couldn't possibly be yet another vampire novel...look who shows up. And if it were anyone else, I wouldn't have even given it the time of day (ah! no pun intended)...but I'd heard such good things about Julie Kagawa...but wasn't really interested in the land of the Fey. So vampires it was.


And can I just say how much I just LOVED that the main character Allie was Asian?! YES! We need more multicultural characters!!!!!

Immortal Rules begins with the decline of society and the rule of the vampire. It's no wonder Allie hates them. But given the choice between life or death, she chooses life...life as a vampire that is. Throughout the story, it's this choice that haunts me: Would I have done the same?


Given the choice, would you become that which you hate? And then after the panic of survival, how do you cope with your decision? Regret? Anger? Acceptance? Fear? This is the question that Allie faces over and over. Not only does Allie have to struggle with her new vampire demon, she also has to struggle with her own perception of who she is: because how can you be good if you are something bad.



Immortal Rules asks these tough questions and tells you a story filled with hard choices and decisions. Nothing is black and white. The story is very well paced and leads you through one dilemma to another. While at times predictable, I thought the story was very well thought out. And did I mention that I really like Allie? Kawaga really knows her characters: they are all multidimensional individuals: from the vampire who changed her to the boy who believes in her. My only disappointment was the ending: even though it made perfect sense, I was still hoping for everything to be wrapped up in pretty paper with a shiny bow. But then again, that would have seemed ridiculous. And of course, we wouldn't have book 2 to look forward to.


If you think you're exhausted by vampires, have no fear, this one will suck you back in. (Oh my, I'm full of puns this evening). I highly recommend you put this on your to-read list.

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