Review Detail

The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa is a story to be found in the rain and shadows and ash. It’s a tale of devastation and agony, full of wrenching betrayal and cold philosophies in a world full of people whose humanity is slipping in favor of the harsh survivalist mentality. True trust is a gift not given often because it more than likely will not be returned in the same token. Love is elusive amongst a broken people desperate to go on, who would do anything to continue to live, becoming the user or the fighter, but a nearly emotionless survivor all the same. In this world born of Kagawa’s versatile talents, Kagawa labors to bring in shocking view a bleak, shadowed place that belongs in the darkest fringes of our vast imagination.

Allison Sekemoto is one such survivor, a far from rundown Fringer occupied with basic needs and looking out for her ragtag group of friends. Borderline starvation and a cruel fate of utter poverty, a censored lifestyle does not stop Allie from being a ruthless scrapper with an almost impenetrable heart. Though she secrets her compassion from others, letting so few draw close, Allie has been hardened by her way of life and we find that we’re torn between sympathy and antagonism. No way would we so carelessly shrug off kidnappings of good people or the hangings of fellow Fringers were we in her shoes… or so we’d like to think. But Kagawa vividly paints a grueling, severe reality that forces us to see the monsters within when pushed to a very pronounced and miserable brink.

At first, characters are just people that come and go, too quickly gone to form any real attachments to. And yet, that part of us that reaches out when another is in trouble or reaching a gruesome demise, the anguish of lives lost is so keenly felt. Bounced from her Fringer family to mysterious vampire maker with a troublesome and quite shocking past to a family that genuinely cares, bonded together with steel and determinate and heart at the foundation, the people Allie comes to meet are a roadmap to the various points of Allie’s life as she transitions from vampire-hating, hardcore survivalist human to self-loathing, self-controlled equally BAD ASS vampire who comes to accept the hand she’s been dealt. Kagawa doesn’t just tell a story of a girl who merely turns into another vampire, but paves and cements a road that leads to the definition of humanity. Allie’s story is about working out the definition of each of those terms—human, vampire, life, death, and the shades of gray in between, the choice between heartless loner who always finds a way out no matter the sacrifice or being the outsider that is slowly welcomed into the fold and grows to love and be bonded with.

Death is the predator always hanging back and waiting for the opportunity to swoop in and take, and is never far behind in The Immortal Rules. We become so accustomed to lives vanishing as suddenly and unexpectedly as we grow to care for whether they do live or die. The characters cease to be open secrets with no leverage over our hearts and we feel ourselves give in to connecting with each one, much the same as Allie does. And with Allie letting go of her better instincts—the ones that shout to stay aloof—romance strikes swiftly and softly, despite all the unyielding hardness of their world, the stabbing situations they encounter, because Allie and Zeke’s meeting demands an answer which begs the question: is the love between a vampire and human as doomed as the rest of the world and all its tragedy?

It’s unnecessary to be a lover of vampire novels to enjoy Julie Kagawa’s The Immortal Rules, although fans can expect the traditional route with an overlying freshness that very much has to do with her chosen setting. All it takes is the ability to appreciate the characters and their determination and will to fight, to press onward, the valuable subtle lessons learned by Allie herself, and the action-packed life-or-death situations that accompany those moments of clarity and learning and loving. Despite the daunting length of the book, the pages sweep by in a rush that will leave fellow readers surprised, and, once it’s over, Allie’s journey still feels unfinished, but in an anticipatory way that doesn’t leave us hanging in a rudely shortened moment. It’s unquestionably obvious how much more Kagawa has to give for this darkly satisfying up-and-coming series, and the questions taunting our lack of awareness won’t rest until we receive an answer.

Originally posted at Paranormal Indulgence, 4/18/12