The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa

Title: The Immortal Rules
Author: Julie Kagawa
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Release Date: April 24 2012
Pages: 485
Genre:Dystopian/ Paranormal

 "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.

Julie Kagawa's previous series, The Iron Fey series, was a series I enjoyed. But it didn't blow me away- not like this book did. I think that not only did Julie Kagawa's writing improve since her first book but her ability to formulate a plot did too.

If the plot of this book brings to mind a typical vampire story, one that's been done 100 times before, throw that idea in the trash. This book was fully it's own. The vampire aspect of it was different from any other vampire story I've read before. It was set in a dystopian world where vampires have basically enslaved the population. Humans have no power and are forced to donate their blood. Allie's hate of vampires is overpowering. But she eventually finds that their is so much more to her world and maybe even vampires than it seems.

The Immortal Rules was divided into several parts and they're each so different from each other. Allie starts out living on the fringe of a vampire- inhabited city and lives a life filled with a hatred of vampires, all while struggling not to starve and protect her friends.  After becoming one of the dreaded vampires, Allie ends up on this epic yet dangerous journey with a bunch of humans. She begins to question everything she's ever known and worries that maybe she's her new friends biggest threat. Allie goes through so much in this story and judging by the cliffhanger, she is going to go through more.

I loved watching Allie's character develop throughout the story. From an early age Allie learned not to trust anyone and to harden her heart against love. But she starts to discover that sometimes that's not possible and maybe she doesn't want it to be.  She isn't afraid to be straight up with people and even kick some ass. She often leapt into battle without thinking, especially if it was in defense of a loved one. She's such a strong yet flawed character and I loved reading about her. Zeke appears to be innocent and trusting. He has a good heart and cares about anyone and everyone. He is just such a good guy and can't help but find the good in everyone. Seriously, he's one of the best guys I've ever had the pleasure of reading about. He was a realistic guy- vulnerable at times and perhaps slightly messed up from his past. But there was more to him than just a good guy. Because he hasn't lived years on the run from vampires for no reason. He's tough and would do anything for his make-shift family. Finally, there was Kanin, Allie's vampire mentor. He created her instead of letting her die so there was good in him. However, he has lived a long time and came to his conclusions a while ago about the location of humams on the totem pole. He had a dark side to him but it was kind of delicous. Also, at the same time, he's fair and did have a soft side to him. Kanin is a very intriguing and mysterious character and I would like to get to know him better.

Julie Kagawa's writing got so much more scrumptious in this book. It was like a cake. But not just any cake- it was a 3 layered milk chocolate, dark chocolate and white chocolate cheesecake drizzled with fudge sauce and chocolate chips and layered withfudgy chocolate with cherries on top. The writing enchanted me and forced me to care for the story. The descriptions were beautiful and insured the world was well built. I feel like I only got to eat the first layer of the cake and am salivating for more. I hope Julie Kagawa hears that- I need more! More! More! More!

I would definitely reccomend this book to people who crave a novel to get lost in. It's a paranormal dystopian with vampires but the vampires were the opposite of cliche. But if you get this book know that you will be left desperately yearning for the next one. It was that good. Consider yourself warned.

Memorable Quotes

 

“The mighty hunter,” I quipped as we snuck out the backdoor, escaping into the yard. “He can take down vicious rabids and rampaging boars, but one old lady can make him flee in terror.” (Allie to Zeke)

 

“You are a monster.” Kanin’s deep voice droned in my head again, as I forced myself to move, to walk away. “You will always be a monster, there is no turning back from it. But what type of monster you become is entirely up to you.”  ( Kanin to Allie)

 

 

5/5 Mugs of Piping Hot Chocolate (Yummy times 5!)