Review: The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa

Book summary:

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.

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.

Review: When I got this book, I thought oh boy, more vampires but this is much gorier, and absolutely no sparkling here. Kagawa does a good job of sticking to the traditional vampire lore but with a few interesting tidbits. It is set in a dystopian society where the vamps are at the top of the food chain and the humans are the meat, well the blood source. I was not able to truly connect with the characters, people died and no tears were shed. Allie, the main character is tough, and just trying to survive each day, but once she becomes the thing she hates, she fights to hold onto her humanity. One of the most interesting things about Allie is her struggle between the monster within and her heart, and this is an important theme in this book and I am quite sure it will be in the next installments as well. Really,how do you fight yourself? Now, I felt it went on a bit long and this for me slowed down the pace. I think if was a shorter, this would help the read go much smoother. What is great about this book is the action, lots of cool sequences that are visually stimulating, and would look great onscreen. Which leads to my next point, the movie rights(option) for this series has already been snatched up before this book was even released. Overall, good read! Gory, action-packed and must read for those fanatics that want a more original, yet traditional vampire society. 



Author: Julie Kagawa
Title: The Immortal Rules
Publisher:Harlequin Teen
Publication: April 24,2012
Audience: 14 and up
Genre: Paranormal, Dystopian
Source: publisher via Netgalley
Rating:3.8 out 5
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