Book Review: The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa

The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa
Release Date: April 24, 2012
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Pages: 480
Source: Netgalley
Rating:  
Buy It: Amazon | Book Depository

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. – Source

Review:
Julie Kagawa, how are you so awesome?! After having loved her Iron Fey books, I was more than a little excited to read her take on vampires. If they were anything like her faeries, I knew that I would love The Immortal Rules…throw in a dystopian society to go with her vampires and I was all in!

Unlike mostly everyone else, I’m one who hasn’t been burned out on vampires after Twilight and all the books that followed its success. Sure, there were some that I came to be very ‘MEH’ on, but I found that the right author — Richelle Mead and her Vampire Academy for example — could bring something refreshing to the table. While Julie Kagawa eventually got there with her vampires, I must admit that I found the first part of the book a little slow moving. While necessary to her worldbuilding, I found my eyes glazing over all the details of the society, the vampire mythology, and her main character’s transformation. I’m sure new readers to the vampire genre will find no issue with these sections, but as someone who has already read many books about them, I found them to be repetitive and very “been there, done that.”

So where does the strength of Julie Kagawa’s The Immortal Rules lie? In her main character, Allison Sekemoto, her struggle, and the people she meets along the way. While I didn’t immediately warm up to Allison, I absolutely loved her by the end. She’s a good person, but she definitely goes through a lot of internal struggle due to her vampirism. I loved reading about her conflict, seeing her mess up, and always growing from her experiences. Not to mention, Allison knows how to kick some ass! Meghan’s character arc in the Iron Fey series was such a highlight for me that I’m really looking forward to seeing what Julie Kagawa has in store for Allie.

No doubt Julie Kagawa can write some amazing action scenes, and there were plenty of those in the book, but she also brought plenty of development to her characters. Kanin, Allie’s sire, is such an enigma that I was left eager to find out more. The group of humans she meets along the way had such an interesting dynamic, too, and it was fascinating to see her interactions with them. Zeke is the love interest and he’s the perfect contrast to what Allie is experiencing in some of her dark moments.

A perfect blend of horror, action, friendship, and forbidden romance, Julie Kagawa has a brilliant new series in her hands and I’m excited for the twists and turns ahead!

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