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:
Masterfully blending vampires with dystopia, Julie Kagawa
breathes fresh air into a vampiric story that you’ll really be able to sink
your teeth into with the beginning of her new exciting Blood of Eden
series!
Beginning this book, it quickly becomes clear that whoever
said vampires were done certainly never met Julie Kagawa! Telling the story of
Allison Sekemoto and her brave if not sometimes harrowing and lonely journey in
the detailed and descriptive way that only Kagawa can, The Immortal Rules drives
the reader straight into a hard, dark world where the characters struggle to
survive and even to maintain their own humanity.
As with all of Kagawa’s other writing, I found this story
to be richly descriptive while never lacking for danger and action sequences.
Each word flows perfectly to the next, detailing the harsh, barren and plague
destroyed world that our heroine, Allie, lives in. From the dark alleyways and harsh
streets of the vampire city that Allie and her friends live in during the very
beginning of the story, to the vast plains, forests and lands that Allie
travels across with those she meets once she leaves, every detail manages to
captive your imagination and only further catapults you into the world you are
reading about.
Set in this incredible backdrop, the vampires and their
regime that drive part of the plot are very intriguing. We see only the streets
where Allie lives and only the lowly parts of the city throughout the book and
I found I wondered about the other side of the fence. I can certainly see Julie
Kagawa building on this as she expands her world in future books and I look
forward to seeing more of the vampire Kings, Princes and Masters that run the
vampire cities.
Throughout The Immortal Rules we follow our heroine Allison
“Allie” Setemoto in her journey from human to vampire and then onwards. As a
reader I found it really interesting seeing Allie before her change and then
afterwards. There’s that initial change as she becomes a vampire, but she’s
still very much Allison. She many now be one of the creatures she despises, but
she’s still the same girl she’s always been---resilient, bold and quick
thinking. It was very hard not to like Allison in this book, and Julie writes
her well—easy to emphasise with and to follow, but she also allows us to put
ourselves in Allison’s shoes (which I did) and think how we’d react in her
situation. Would we chose death or would we become the thing we hated most,
simply to live? This makes it all the more engaging as Allison makes this hard
choice and untimely seals her fate, setting her path.
The characters that litter the pages of this book are all
wonderful and add a real depth to the novel. They add that human aspect to it
that drives home the fact that there are more than just Allie suffering in
this dystopian vampire world. Even as we see Allie struggling with her Hunger
and her raging vampire desires, the other characters she meets including,
little Caleb and shy Bethany, mingle with the stronger ones of Zeke and Jeb to
enhance her struggle not to hurt them and her desperation to maintain the
humanity within herself.
The relationship that develops between Allie and her
sire, Kanin, is a central one in the story to me, even as it gets lost in
amongst the danger and the romance because here are two people who were so very
different, now bound together forever because he gave her a new chance at life.
The predator and prey; the monster and the innocent who become the same when he
turned her and made her like him. The father/daughter dynamic that develops is endearing
and strange, albeit in an oddly comforting way. There’s this otherworldly and
old-timely feel to Kanin that seems so different to the rough around the edges
feel that we see with Allison—it’s a strange combination, but it works for
them.
Another thing I enjoyed about this book was that I didn’t
feel that Julie Kagawa romanticised her vampires. She doesn’t make Allison, or
even Kanin, out to be more or less than what they are. She gives it to us
straight and doesn’t skirt around the fact that, despite her kindness and good
intentions, Allie is still a monster. And no matter how hard she fights,
there’s still that part lurking inside her, waiting to get out. And in turn,
this is what makes so many of Allie’s decisions all the more
powerful....because it’s goes against what she is and she’s
choosing to go against what she is---I love that!
With a heart-racing few final chapters that are full
steam ahead all the way until the very end, The Immoral Rules will leave you
grasping for more and wondering what Julie Kagawa will do next!
Rating: 
Source: Sent for review by HarlequinTEEN Australia (Thanks so much guys!)
AU Release Date: Available now!
Buy it: Booktopia // The Nile // The Book Depository
Recommendation: This book will thrill Julie Kagawa fans, but is also a brilliant read for anyone who loves vampires and dystopians.
Cover: It's so creepy it's brilliant.
Will I read sequel/continue with series: Definitely.
Great review! I totally loved this book. Probably a little more than the author's Iron Fey series!
ReplyDeleteThanks. I loved this book too, although so far I'm still more in love with the Iron Fey. Just a little bit more :)
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