The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa: Book Review

The Immortal Rules 
Author: Julie Kagawa
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Series: Blood of Eden #1
Genre: Young Adult, Paranormal, Fantasy, Supernatural, Sci-fi/Dystopia, Romance
Publisher: Harlequin Teen; April 24, 2012
Pages: 485
Read Count: 1

Synopsis provided by Goodreads:

To survive in a ruined world, she must embrace the darkness…

Allison Sekemoto survives in the Fringe, the outermost circle of a walled-in 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 dies and becomes one of the monsters.

Forced to flee her city, Allie must pass for human as she joins a ragged group of pilgrims seeking a legend—a place that might have a cure for the disease that killed off most of civilization and created the rabids, the bloodthirsty creatures who threaten human and vampire alike. And soon Allie will have to decide what and who is worth dying for…again.

Enter Julie Kagawa's dark and twisted world as an unforgettable journey begins. 

June 27, 2013
**This is a spoiler free review**
5 Gold, Bloody Stars!! The Immortal Rules was a great read. The whole book was fast paced and was not boring. At all. I really am impressed with Julie Kagawa’s storytelling. She made her characters very likable and real. I rooted for Allie from the first page as her time as a human and in her transition to vampire. I liked her snark, her compassion, her logic, her emotion, and essentially her realness.

The other characters were also very likable, particularly Kanin and Zeke. Well, Zeke was more likable than Kanin but that’s to be expected. I mean, Kanin’s a really old vampire so he’s kind of more standoffish or, I don’t know, colder. I don’t know how to describe him. Nevertheless, I liked Kanin a lot. Zeke, on the other hand, is like the opposite of Kanin. All warm and open and very kindhearted.

Kagawa’s portrayal of vampires is very dark and really concerned with the humanity of them, well, more accurately, their lack of humanity. Kagawa’s vampires are really concerned with the struggle they go through to balance their inner vampire with their morals from when they were human. Kagawa shows all of this through the protagonist, Allison. And she did a fantastic job.

The bottom line is The Immortal Rules is an awesome book! If you love vampires, strong protagonists, great characters, a good plot and story then this book is for you. Go ahead and read it! You won’t regret it (at least I hope you won’t ‘cause, you know, everyone’s different).

To state the obvious, I’m definitely going to read the sequel, The Eternity Cure. I can’t wait!

Your Turn: What did you think of The Immortal Rules? Did you like Allie? Who do you like better, Kanin or Zeke? Sound off in the comments!!

Favorite Quotes

“Sometime in your life, Allison Sekemoto, you will kill a human being. Accidentally or as a conscious, deliberate act. It is unavoidable. The question is not if it will happen, but when.”
--Kanin

“I eyed the vampire at my side. “You know they’re going to kill us for being here.”

He nodded. “I’m counting on it.”

“You know that they eat people, right?”

Kanin stopped, turning to me with intense black eyes.

“So do I,” he said evenly. “And now, so do you.”

I felt slightly sick. Oh, yeah”
--Allison and Kanin

Kanin: “The night is waning, and we still have a good ways to cover before we reach our destination. Would you kindly get a move on? This is the third time I’ve had to wait for you.”
Allison: “You know, you could slow down a little.” I leaped down from a dead subway car and jogged back to him, ducking a pipe that dangled above the tracks. “In case you haven’t noticed, short people have short legs. I have to take three steps to one of yours, so stop griping.”
--Kanin and Allison

“My eyes stung, which was a complete shock. I didn’t think vampires could cry. Angrily, I swiped at my eyes, and my fingers came away smeared with red. I cried blood. Fabulous.”
--Allison

Kanin: “Did Sarren come down here?”
Allison: “Sarren? You mean psycho vamp with the messed-up face? Yeah. Yeah, he did.” I jerked my thumb toward the steel door, just as another thud echoed down the hallway, followed by a desperate screech. “Friend of yours, Kanin? He seemed very interested in peeling my skin off.”
--Kanin and Allison

Jackal: “I thought you might appreciate this,” he said, smiling evilly as he stalked forward. “Kanin was the one who taught me, you know. To master my fear, to use it to my advantage.” He twirled the stake between his fingers, grinning. “What’s the matter, sister? Didn’t he teach you the same? Or was your education cut short by our kin who want his head on a platter? How much practice did you get with dear old Kanin, anyway? I’m guessing less than me. I’ve known our sire a long time.”
Allison: “Did he teach you how to bore your opponents to sleep? Because I think I missed that lesson.”
--Jackal and Allison


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