The Immortal Rules by Julie KagawaExpected Publication Date: April 24th, 2012
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Page Count: 485
Format: ARC
Source: Borrowed
Purchase: Hicklebee's | Amazon | Books Inc.
In a future world, Vampires reign. Humans are blood cattle. And one girl will search for the key to save humanity.Julie Kagawa does it again! This book is nothing like her Iron Fey series, and it seriously rattled my cages a few times. I loved the detail that went in to creating such an intricate and desolate world, and Allison is such a kick ass chick, I really want someone to make a movie out of this book! The idea of putting together a dystopian/vampire world is so amazing, but at times I felt like things were dragging on a bit. My only real gripe with this book is its length, simply because I have a hard time really getting into books that are super long. Immortal Rules is a story about a fantastic heroine, defying her true nature to save a group of innocents while finding love in the most unlikely of places.
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 characters in this story were fantastically written. Allison is an orphaned girl living on the outskirts of a vampire city where she refuses to become a "blood bag" for the "bloodsuckers." She's such a kick ass heroine, I absolutely loved her from start to finish. She doesn't let anyone stand in her way, and she'll take a bullet for the people she cares about in a heart beat. All of the other characters are also really well written, I felt like I knew them after only a couple pages. There were so many times that I was feeling incredibly strong emotions towards one character or another, only to remember that they weren't real people! Kagawa does an amazing job immersing the reader into a story that's completely fiction, but feels like reality.
Her writing style, as always, is just beautiful. I'm not a big fan of long, descriptive paragraphs, but I never mind them in Kagawa's books because her writing is so poetic. I thoroughly enjoyed every page of this book, even if it did take me awhile to get through it. The world-building is always very well done. The vampire world is taught to Allison through her maker, and as she learns we learn along with her. I loved knowing the ins and outs of vampire politics, as well as understanding the world that now exists. Also, there are some AMAZING fight scenes between Allison and the rabids (diseased vamp-like creatures that have basically no control over their hunger) where she just mows them down with a sword, like a dancer on a stage. The way these scenes were described was just FANTASTIC. I found myself getting chills all over, and I could thoroughly picture it in my head!
Overall, I absolutely loved this book, but the length took some of the excitement out of it for me. I don't get a lot of reading time, so when it takes me a couple of weeks to finish a book I lose a bit of the umph behind it. Otherwise, Kagawa wrote an amazing piece of literature that I think anyone would enjoy. There's action, vampires, romance, dystopian qualities, and heart-breaking moments filled with emotion. If you haven't read anything by Kagawa yet, I strongly suggest you start with Immortal Rules. You'll be craving more, and only the next book will be able to satisfy your hunger.
