The Immortal Rules (Blood of Eden #1)

This YA dystopian vampire/near-horror tale blends many familiar elements that fans of Blade and Blood The Last Vampire will appreciate, casting them in a post bio-apocalyptic setting. Violent and bleak, but without being -completely- devoid of hope. (But yeah...still -mostly- devoid. So try not to get too attached. >.> Just sayin'.)

Allison Sekemoto presents as a strong, survivalist heroine—simple in motivation, relatable, and beautifully flawed. It is entirely through her perspective (first-person) that the story unfolds. The questions-of-humanity theme runs deep throughout. As one could easily derive from the back cover blurb, Allison is turned into the thing she hated most early on and spends much of the story deciding 'what kind of monster' she is going to be. Abandoned by the vampire who created her, she finds unexpected purpose with a roving band of humans who don't realize what she is. Their quest for a vampire-free city is one that obviously can't end well for her--but she is none the less tempted by the prospect of choosing to be a protector rather than a mere predator.

There is definitely a romantic element, but the development is admirably natural and gradual. Zeke isn't the kind of hero you'd expect from this kind of world—he's a genuinely nice, generous, all-around good guy, in spite of his surroundings. Outside of his leadership role, he's something of a laid-back Beta-male, making him a solid and logical complement to Allison's vampiric (and personality-based) aggressiveness. While not a raging ball of adolescent testosterone and bad-boy angst, Zeke is exceptionally capable of slaughter when slaughter is called for. I'm calling this one a win for nice guys.

The prose is engaging and skilled—morbidly amusing at some points, and emotionally resonant at others. The pacing is rapid once you get through the first 50-page setup, and the fight scenes are numerous and well depicted. Most secondary characters have a bit of believable depth to them, but there were a few that felt pretty flat, in this reviewers opinion. *coughcough Stick coughcough Ruth coughcough*

All in all, a satisfying plot for those who aren't burned out on the darker take on vampires. To this reader the writing shows Kagawa is not only prolific, but still honing her abilities as a storyteller. Always encouraging to watch an author grow along with their work. :)

The Immortal Rules is an unapologetically dark and unflinching story about survival where everyone is fighting for some semblance of an existence. The characters are constantly living within a cloud of despair, but for those strong enough, the despair isn't enough to vanquish their hope for something better then merely existing. The world-building is outstandingly original and compelling, and the characters are surprising in both their resilience and fragility.

The world Julie has created is dark and twisted, with danger lurking behind every corner. The death or disappearance of a loved one is a mere fact of life, and at the end of the day, it's every person for themselves. If that means leaving someone behind, to risk the few in order to save the whole, then so be it. With the complete hopelessness of their situation, it was surprising to see such resilient characters; characters who were not just looking to make it another day, but hopeful for something better. The history of the Red Lung disease, and how it mutated with the introduction of vampire blood to become the disease which caused the Rabids was fascinating. The rise of vampire cities was so logical, the overwhelming presence of Rabids forcing vampires to protect their food source from extinction, that I didn't once doubt it. And after seeing how frail humans are when faced with a Rabid, I also didn't doubt why humans would choose to live within the relative safety of a vampire city, even with the knowledge that they would be used as blood banks for their whole lives.

I absolutely adored Allison. Her life as a Fringer has made her strong, but not unemotional; betrayal still hurts, cutting deep like a knife. Her compassion for others, especially considering how she grew up, is admirable, as is her internal struggle to come to terms with her new-found monster within. She doesn't give herself more credit then she's due, she tries to be as honest with herself as possible, so she's always aware of her limits and when she was becoming a threat to the group she was quickly beginning to see as friends. She knows that she is a monster, but she doesn't let that define what kind of monster she has to be.

"The thought of hunting sent a thrill through me, but I was also scared that I would turn into that snarling, hungry creature from the night with the Blood Angels. I was afraid I wouldn't be able to control myself, and I would end up killing someone. And, deep down, a part of me didn't care. That was the scariest thing of all."

Her strength in overcoming her bloodlust and her inner demon's innate response to see humans as mere food, was fascinating and added an almost-constant element of suspense - would this be the time when she lost all control?

The secondary characters were all really well done as well. I appreciated that Kanin, an assumingly hundreds of years old vampire, had little patience for Allison's tantrums or questions that didn't concern her. His dedication to teaching her about life as a vampire, and his insistence that she embrace her inner monster rather then pretend she could continue to treat humans as anything other then food, was exactly the kind of cold, calculating logic I would expect from a vampire of his status. I couldn't stand Ruth, mostly because she never warmed up to Allison, and I was constantly hoping that Allison would just act on her vampire instincts to remove the smug smile off of Ruth's face. I loved Caleb and his innocence that only comes with childhood. And as much as I knew it would never work, I wanted Zeke to find a way to overcome his prejudices about vampires and accept Allison for who she is. I wanted him to be the person who proved her wrong, who showed her that her actions were worth more then whether she had a beating heart or not. I wanted them to overcome the odds and find a way to be together. Which surprised me, because Allison was constantly reminding herself to keep him at a distance, for fear of what might happen if she let him get close.

"Crawling into my tent, I pulled the blanket over my head and tried to sleep, to forget Ezekiel Crosse. His touch. His warmth. And how badly I wanted to sink my fangs into his throat and truly make him mine."

For being an almost five-hundred page book, the pacing was brilliant. I was constantly on the edge of my seat in fear of a Rabid attack or that Allison's secret would be revealed. I loved the twist at the end involving Jackal, and I'm excited to see how that effects events in the next two books. I did find that the fact that the group only travelled at night to be a little too convenient - and Zeke's explanation as to why didn't make too much sense to me. I also found Allison's complete change of thinking to be a little unrealistic. As a Fringer, if someone fell behind, she took the loss and kept going in order to keep herself safe. As soon as she met the group of humans however, she was constantly sticking out her neck to keep them safe, regardless of her own life. It just went against her desire to live, considering she chose to live as a vampire then die as a human, even though she despises everything vampires stand for.

The Immortal Rules kept me fully engrossed from page one. I became attached to almost all of the characters, and desperately hoped that their search for Eden wasn't an act of futility. I loved watching Allison grow and learn to accept her new life as a vampire, and I'm excited to see what happens in the next instalment!

The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa is what I would define as a vampire, post-apocalyptic, survival-horror. Set in a world where the human population has been decimated by a plague and the attempts of a cure. Human beings have been reduced to becoming bottom links on a food chain that leads up to soulless vampires and the devolved rapids. There is no democracy, no human Government, and no civil society; what once was has now become a country filled with ghost towns and walled up cities where vampires rule the streets and rapids roam the outer wilderness.

Allison Sekemoto is an unregistered inhabitant of the vampire city New Covington. She, like almost every one of her generation, is an orphan and the only family she has are the boys in her group of invisibles who survive by stealing and foraging for anything that aids in their survival. And however hard life was for Allison and her group before it’s getting harder as food becomes scarcer, winter approaches, and rumors spread of the vampires locking down the city. A problem Allison had miraculously found a solution to, but one that quickly leads to tragedy and Allison dead.

The Immortal Rules is a story starkly different from Julie Kagawa’s The Iron Fey series in both plot and format. Where the protagonist of The Iron King (the first novel in the Iron Fey series) had a clear set objective from the very beginning – save her kidnapped brother, Allison’s story does not have a clear narrative path for the reader to follow, at least not until midway through the book. I had no problem with this for the majority of the novel because I prefer character-centric stories and the story of The Immortal Rules was mainly about Allison – her struggles of balancing what she is with who she was.

“The shadows lengthened like grasping fingers, sliding over the ground.”

Julie Kagawa’s writing style, constantly filled with vivid descriptions, always did a great job with unfolding the mood for a scene or setting, especially when it came to tense moments or action scenes and trust me this is a book brimming with action.

Unfortunately, in spite of all of these highlights I can’t give The Immortal Rules a perfect rating because despite me loving Allison’s character and being intrigued by her vampire mentor Kanin I couldn’t connect or care about the other characters in the story. To me they were all mainly just there to fill a role so when it came to moments that should have gained reactions out of me I was just reading quickly to move onto the next scene despite how engrossing the current one should be.

So overall, if you want an action-packed novel about a strong, kick-ass heroine then pick up The Immortal Rules but don’t except to fall in love with the ensemble of characters or to shed a tear over them.

Review copy provided by the publisher through Netgalley

This is the first sentence of The Immortal Rules:

“They hung the Unregistereds in the old warehouse district […]”

From where I sit, there is no excuse for a traditionally published, copy-edited book to contain a mistake like that. Much less in the first sentence.

Needless to say, I didn’t start off this book with the best of first impressions.

Thank goodness the rest of this book was absolutely fantastic! Mostly, anyways.

Initially, the reader meets Allison, a tough girl with an additude who lives on the streets. She spends her days scrounging for food and her nights hiding from vampires and zombie-vampires. She’s independent, stubborn, defiant, strong, and really likeable. Score for Ms Kagawa.

The city Allison lives in, New Covington, is a sort of dystopian haven run by a vampire prince and his minions. Said city has an interesting set-up, a believable infrastructure, and even better, what goes on outside the city is also detailed. Excellent world-building, freakin’ awesome premise. Score for Ms Kagawa.

Then Allison gets Turned by the dark and menacing but secretly compassionate rogue vampire, Kanin. Kanin is enigmatic and mysterious, not very forthcoming with his past actions, but very determined that Allison should learn to survive on her own and become reconciled to her fate. Well. Tall dark and handsome vampire with a tortured hero complex? SCORE for Ms Kagawa.

However, Allison and Kanin get separated. Allison finds herself with a group of religious fantatic humans on a quest for a sort of holy grail. She joins their little group and meets up with Zeke (named after the “archangel Ezekiel.” But don’t look for him in your Bible because there’s no such person in the Judeo-Christian canon—fail for Kagawa.) Zeke is, true to his name, angelic. Almost too perfect at times. Personally, I preferred Kanin. Not score.

Then some truly crazy stuff happens. Vampire gladitorial contests, crazy zombies, child abuse in a graveyard, hijacking of motorcycles, a stereotypical jealous girlfriend. All very interesting stuff that eventually leads up to a very satisfying amount of Kanin-related nightmares on Allison’s part and my hope that in the sequel, The Eternity Cure, Kanin the awesome vampire plays a very large role.

(I am a huge fan of Kanin, in case you couldn’t tell, and not necessarily as a love interest for Alisson. Just because he’s a fantastic character.)

Anyway. That was a really weirdly written review.

I’ve never read urban fantasy before, and I’ve never met a main character like Allison before. I’ve also never heard of dystopian vampires before, which is sad because they’re pretty sweet. All these super awesome things go together so well. Julie Kagawa is a master of writing here. If you like edgy heroines, unique plots, or maybe a more “mature” look at YA fiction, read The Immortal Rules. It’s awesome.

First thing you need to know is that The Immortal Rules is nothing like Iron Fey series. While The Iron King had a somewhat original idea, it was full of cliches. The Immortal Rules is the total opposite. Julie Kagawa took one of the most popular topics today: vampires and used it to write very original young adult dystopian novel.

The picture of the future Julie Kagawa presents is bleak and chilling. A strange virus killed large part of human population or turned them into rabids: a mix of vampires and zombies who mindlessly kill everything. Vampires, concerned that they are going to be left without food, stepped in and took control. The Wild, where you need to be on the run all of the time, or The Cities, where you need to bow to the vampire masters and offer blood donations. What’s a better choice?

Allison Sekemoto choose something in between. She lives in the fringes of the city, running from both vampires and rabids, hiding and stealing enough food to survive. Every day is a struggle but everything is better than submitting to those heartless, soulless bloodsuckers. Allison knows how to make tough decisions and when she gets to choose between death or becoming a monster she hates, she still chooses to live. And as vampire who turned her said:
"You are Vampire, but what kind of monster you become is out of my hands."

And so, Allison’s adventures begin. A lot of things you thought for sure are true are doubted when you have a different perspective on things. And when everyone thinks you are a monster, all your actions are questioned even when you are driven by friendship or even love. Julie Kagawa gives to Allison and to us a lot of interesting questions to ponder.

The Immortal Rules seems like a book that has all the ingredients to become my favorite: good writing, original idea, strong heroine who makes good choices, slow building romance, what-makes-us-human theme…. But for some reason Allison and I just didn't click. And world and monsters (human or otherwise) were too scary and gruesome for me. Maybe at some other time I would have reacted differently. We will never know. I still appreciate originality of Blood of Eden series, so I will definitely read a sequel The Eternity Cure.

IN THE END…
The Immortal Rules was a little bit too dark for me, but I will certainly recommend it to all fans of young adult dystopian novels who don’t mind scary atmosphere and are looking for original idea or to anyone who says that vampires are overused topic and there is nothing new that can be made with it. Julie Kagawa is sure going to surprise them.

Disclaimer: I was given a free eBook by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for a honest review.

I’m really conflicted about this one. I’ve seen/heard all my blogger friends gush and rave over this title, and damn they made it sound really, really good. But upon reading it, I can’t help but wonder if I got the same copy from the publisher or not. There were some parts of The Immortal Rules that I absolutely loved. There were some (okay, a lot) of stuff that was just okay, and a few things that… well, you’ll see what I mean.

One thing I really liked about The Immortal Rules was how Julie Kagawa didn’t hesitate to torture her character. I mean this in the sense that she isn’t afraid to throw all the bad stuff at her character’s direction, and she isn’t afraid to keep the bad stuff flowing. She doesn’t hold back on the details, either. A lot of the books, namely the ones in the YA romance genre, capture the main character as someone perfect in every way possible, though he/she may not know and/or think so. But Allie was flawed. She wasn’t perfect – far from it – and she acknowledged that. And she wants to survive, which is what drives her forward, and makes her do all these things that’ll make you wince and cringe, but you’ll understand why she does it.

I also think that the way she was turned into a vampire was handled really well. There was a clear and understandable motive behind it: staying alive. I know a lot of people would think that, you know, a character should be brave and embrace death, especially since the alternative is becoming something you hate. But when you’re actually dying – which, alone, is kind of a terrifying thought -, and someone hands you an alternative, a way out, I think that most people in Allie’s situation would chose to become a vampire, especially since it means staying alive.

I also loved Allie herself. She’s a flawed character, and she isn’t afraid to admit it. She can handle herself and think for herself, and really has a backbone. Though stubborn, she has a strong will, and does what she thinks is right. Albeit, what she thinks is right isn’t always right, but it’s better than doing what other people tell her to, or mindlessly doing things that’re supposed to be ‘good,’ right? Brownie points for being Asian (you don’t see many Asian YA heroines), and for wielding Kantanas. Which is pretty awesome.

But while I liked Allie, I didn’t like some of the other characters were and/or were portrayed, mainly Zeke, Ruth, and Kanin. Zeke was so… plain and flat. He was sweet, sure, but he didn’t seem very useful – just some side character Julie Kagawa threw in to add romance into the story.

I didn’t like how Kanin was portrayed as someone whom was, in a way, someone Allie looked up to and admired. He was dark and ruthless, and a bit like Allie, though more reserved, and the way he acted and spoke just made him someone I felt like I should question. But Allie actually hung onto his words, and in a way she lived her vampire life by the stuff he told her, which had me a little confused. Kanin wasn’t the type of person I’d look up to or follow.

But even more than that, I really disliked how Ruth was portrayed. I mean, okay, Allie can be seen as some kick-ass survivor, but the other female in this story had to be portrayed as a helpless weakling, slut-shamed, scorned, and clearly designed to be a character everyone hated. Why? What’s wrong with adding in another strong female who’s entirely capable of looking out for herself? But god forbid Allie have some competition for Zeke’s feelings, right? Why is it so bad to throw in another amazing female character?

I also felt like the beginning was really slow, and that this book could’ve been broken up into two separate books: the first half, and the last half. There’s just so many things Julie Kagawa fits into this book, and while it goes by at a nice, somewhat fast pace, there’s also scenes that’re way too heavy with description or too many events packed into one scene when it could’ve been spread out into a couple scenes. There were also scenes that dragged and slowed the story as a result of so many things being crammed into the other scenes, which threw the book off-balance.

Also, I really disliked the ending. It’s not that I disliked how it actually ended, but more like I disliked why it ended the way she did. It’s hard to describe why without giving anything away, but to summarize it all I just really felt that she let her feelings get a hold of her and acted out of pity towards herself rather than consideration towards others.

As always, Julie Kagawa’s writing is almost magical, and her action scenes are breathtaking and startlingly real. They’re also plentiful, which is always a good thing. And these are actually real vampires. The bloodsucking, Run-The-Hell-Away-While-You-Can type. Yay! However, The Immortal Rules had too much in it, and only a few enjoyable characters. While The Immortal Rules isn’t a bad book, it isn’t any of my favorites, either.