Monday, May 7, 2012

Review: The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa

Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Publishing Date: April 24th, 2012
Genre: YA, Paranormal, Vampires, Dystopia
Pages: 480 pgs
ISBN: 9780373210510
Source: Received from Netgalley for an honest review

Rating: 4 stars

Summary from Goodreads:
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.


My Review:
I was excited to be approved for The Immortal Rules on Netgalley because I quite enjoy Kagawa's writing style.  Fairies are not necessarily my thing and I did enjoy the Iron Fey series so I was excited to see what Kagawa would do with the vampire theme.  Vampires seem to be everywhere not only in YA literature but also in adult fiction so you never know what to expect when you see a book with this theme.  I have to admit that I wasn't sure what to expect but I was pleasantly surprised to see that Kagawa took a whole new twist to the vampire saga.  She makes it a world dominated by vampires; where humans are fighting to survive and at times become almost slaves to the vampire kingpins in the citites.  She also combines an almost zombie/monster-like element to the story with the rabids.  Not only do humans have to worry about vampires in the cities but they also have to worry about the rabids in the wilderness. 
I loved Allison's character.  She was anti-vampire and she had vowed never to be anything like them and in the end she ends up what she hates the most.  I can see this happening from time to time in our society.  People seem to be so vehemently against something and are quite outspoken about it and then when faced with a situation they have never had to face may in fact begin turning to things they say they are against.  That's not to say that these people are hypocrites.  I think that it is difficult to fully form an opinion on something unless you have faced that tough choice.  I also love that Allison struggles to find a balance between her vampire self and her human self.  She doesn't want to become a monster and as a result she forms bonds with those around her. 
I don't want to say too much on the book because I don't want to give too much away.  I really just want to convey that I really enjoyed this book and that I look forward to more books in this series.  I think I will forever be a fan of Julie Kagawa because she has such an incredible imagination and is able to beautifully put into words what she is imagining.  Overall I give this book 4 stars out of 5. 

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