Friday 29 June 2012

The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa Review - Spoilers

Book Title: The Immortal Rules (Blood of Eden #1)
Author: Julie Kagawa
Publisher:Mira Ink
Format: E-book
Published:2012

Summary: In a future world vampires reign. Humans are blood cattle. And one girl will search for the key to save humanity. She must decide what - and who - are worth dying for.


My vampire creator told me this: "Sometime in your life, Allison Sekemoto, you will kill a human being. The question is not if it will happen, but when. Do you understand?" 


I didn't then, not really. I do now

Review:
This was the first Julie Kagawa book that I've read; I own the first book of her other series, The Iron King but haven't got around to reading it yet. However, I'm so glad that I bought The Immortal Rules as I really enjoyed it. In fact, I think I managed to read it in less than five days as it was so addictive and gripping. I just had to know what happened next.

First; the characters. Allison, or Allie was a great protagonist. After now having finished Legend by Marie Lu, she seems to be a mix of Katniss from The Hunger Games and June from Legend. With YA dystopian novels, you tend to find lots of kick ass female characters and Allie was no exception. She wasn't afraid of traveling to the deserted ruins at the beginning of the book to search for food. I especially enjoyed that she tried to suppress her feeding urges when she became a vampire, and tried to avoid feeding off humans. Overall, I really enjoyed reading about her character and look forward to reading more in the sequel.

The love interest, Zeke was also a great character. He always tries to see the best in Allie, even when many others around him try to doubt and question her motives and character. The romance that developed between them was very sweet, especially as Allie tried to keep away from him in the beginning, in order to try and protect him and to avoid accidentally harming him.

I also enjoyed the character of Kanin, Allie's vampire creator. I really hope we see more of him in the sequel as in my opinion he left the book far too early, although I think I can understand why the author wanted him to leave the story like that.

I also enjoyed reading about the world that the book was set in. At the beginning of the book, it reminded me strongly of The Hunger Games, due to Allie noting that she and her friends live in a poor sector of the city  called the Fringe, and have to scavenge and hunt for food on a daily basis. Also the fact that it is set in a far-off future, reminded me of other dystopian novels that I have read, but after the first few chapters, The Immortal Rules really creates a world of its own.

Overall, I really enjoyed the characters, the world that Allie lives and survives in, and the nonstop action that kept me reading the book and hardly putting it down. I look forward to the sequel next year.

Rating:4/5