Tuesday, April 24, 2012

The Immortal Rules, by Julie Kagawa


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.

THE IMMORTAL RULES, by Julie Kagawa, has to be the best book that I have read this year. At first a skeptic (Dystopian with a side of vampires? Yeah, I've seen that quite a few times!), the story quickly transformed me into a true believer. Though, to be honest, I don't think it surprised me any. Kagawa has a way with words that is like magic, turning simple descriptions into realistic settings that you can almost sense with all five of your senses.

For me, the characters were probably the selling point to the whole story. You have an incredible female lead that not only grows, but stays consistent in herself no matter what is happening in the book. This works incredibly well because Allison (lead) starts off as a strong character, yet somehow manages to grow and become an even stronger character by the end. The other characters stayed very true to their own stations as well. It's a very harsh world that THE IMMORTAL RULES takes place in and everyone seems to know their place in that world very well. Though, no matter how dark and dreary the world seems to be, there are always a handful of those who believe that it is better somewhere else and they will stop at nothing to get to that place. To be honest, their drive is endearing and I love the fact that it seems none of these characters seem to want to give up - no matter how hopeless they may feel at times.

This book is a little heavy... on descriptions, character emotion, story leads, etc. However, I couldn't see the book working any better with less story. Everything written in this story has a place and has a reason to be there. Every sentence has a purpose and to read it all is even more enthralling than reading a book with less... it has that much of an impact on the entire book. With Kagawa's twist of her own mythology on vampires, I know that all of my paranormal lovers will enjoy this tale. And even if you don't like vampires, if you like Dystopian stories then you will not want to miss this one. This story is about much more than vampires, but you'll have to read for yourself to understand what I'm talking about. Believe me, you won't be disappointed.

My Rating: 5.00
Avg Rating: 4.29



Title: The Immortal Rules
Author
: Julie Kagawa
Series:
Blood of Eden, Book 1
Publisher:
Harlequin Teen
Format:
Hardcover, 504 pages
Release Date:
April 24, 2012

Purchase Book
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | IndieBound

5 comments:

Paige said...

I really liked this book! Awesome review =)

~Paige @ Comfort Books
http://paigebradish1996.blogspot.com/

Melissas Eclectic Bookshelf said...

This book sounds more and more amazing the more I hear about it! I can't wait to pick it up!

The Literary Darling said...

This is going to be the next book I purchase! Can't wait! I'm glad you enjoyed it :)

-Ria xo said...

Brilliant review, I thought this was a great book!

Italia said...

The Immortal Rules! How can I contain my fangirl?!? Seriously ya'll, Zompires and a kick a$$ Katana welding heroine! If that's not enough to convince you to read TIR, then you're seriously going to miss out on awesomeness at EPIC proportions, just sayin.'

Allison Sekemoto is a perfect example of a kick a$$ chick. Which left me thinking Katniss who? Allie had the bravery and strength even when she was a human. I mean, she made it that long being a human, living off the streets, savaging for food. She could have gone the safe route and become a Registered and donated her blood to the vampires in exchange for food. But she didn't, every day was a fight to survive, to live. Turning into a vampire didn't change that, but now she is not the "weak" one. I liked how she was always truthful with herself. We all know those vampire who say "oh, I don't feed off humans; I'm on a veggie diet." How naive, that's nice and all but be realistic.

Post a Comment

Related Posts with Thumbnails
 
Website Hit Counter
[Visitors since 4/9/2011]

Blog Design by Missy using images from the Bedtime Stories kit by Kotozebra Designs