Review: The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa

Book Description via Goodreads:

ARC, 485 pages

April 24, 2012, Harlequin Teen

In a future world, Vampires reign. Humans are blood cattle. And one girl will search for the key to save humanity.

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.

Source: Karen and Harlequin Teen (Thank you!)

Contest reminder: Don’t forget to enter my giveaway of a Hardcover of The ImmortalRules! Ends April 24^th. US/Canada only, my lovelies. (sorry – prize will be mailed by the publisher!)

My Thoughts:

Allison Sekemoto was an Unregistered. After the death of her mother, she refused to be Registered and serve as blood cattle to the vampires within the walls of New Covington. Together with her gang, Lucas, Rat and Stick, she scavenged, stole, begged and basically, did anything for food. She looked out for herself and even though she lived in a world where you’re supposed to survive on your own, she took care of Stick because he couldn’t do it for himself. I loved how Allison strived for survival on a daily basis. She was strong, brave and stood up for herself. She might not be the most hopeful and positive person in the world but she definitely burned with the desire to live.

One of the characteristics of a Julie Kagawa book is this: after reading I always feel like I went on a journey. In The Immortal Rules, Allison’s journey was different. It wasn’t the kind of walk-this-long-road-until-I-get-to-my-destination-journey. It was a journey beyond humanity, through vampirism and stretched over Allison’s adapting, struggling with her new self and existing as the very kind of monster that she loathed all her life. Seeing Allison change from being a human to a vampire, from being the prey and becoming a predator, from being weak to being strong was entirely satisfying. Kagawa showed Allison’s evolution in a very realistic way, with attention to the smallest detail, from the flickering of her feelings and her Hunger to the shift in her way of perceiving the world and everyone around her.

The characters in the novel were well-developed. I enjoyed reading about each and every one of them, from the mysterious kickass Sire, Kanin, who was very intriguing and complex, to the hero-type human, Zeke, who was strong, sweet, and positive.

After Allison adapted to her inhuman state, she was forced to leave New Covington behind, to survive out in the wild and to get stronger. She stumbled upon a group of humans headed to a city of hope and she stayed with them. Fighting off the monster in her was not an easy thing to do. It was a part of her and she could not get rid of it. She lived with that dark side of hers while somehow she maintained, held on to her humanity. She considered other people, tried to do the best in each situation and she felt – she felt guilt, hurt, pity and concern, not just Hunger and anger. But traveling with humans was very difficult, could Allison keep pretending and playing by the rules or would she lose control and feed on them?

The Immortal Rules offers a dark, strengthening and trying journey in a world filled with monsters. With the bite and terror of The Hunt by Andrew Xia Fukuda, The Immortal Rules is ugly and beautiful at the same time, horrifying and addicting. Join a kickass katana-wielding vampire heroine as she sets foot out of the city that caged her. I highly recommend this to post-apocalyptic readers and paranormal readers.

Rating: