Goodreads Summary: To survive in a ruined world, she must embrace the darkness…Goodreads / The Book Depository
Allison Sekemoto survives in the Fringe, the outermost circle of a walled-in 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 ofthem—the vampires who keep humans as blood cattle. Until the night Allie herself dies and becomes one of the monsters.
Forced to flee her city, Allie must pass for human as she joins a ragged group of pilgrims seeking a legend—a place that might have a cure for the disease that killed off most of civilization and created the rabids, the bloodthirsty creatures who threaten human and vampire alike. And soon Allie will have to decide what and who is worth dying for…again.
Enter Julie Kagawa's dark and twisted world as an unforgettable journey begins.
Genre: Young adult, dystopia, fantasy
Pages: 485
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
First Line: "They hung the Unregistereds in the old warehouse district; it was a public execution, so everyone went to see."
Favorite Quote: In review
Review:
I put off reading this for until about a year after it came out, because vampire books usually aren't my thing. But I finally decided to pick it up at the library, since the sequel is coming out soon, and the author is Julie Kagawa, only one of my favorite authors ever. I am always wary of these kinds of books, but I shouldn't have worried - she delivers just like always. However, I'm kind of annoyed by the fact that the heroine is Asian and the model is white. Plus, the cover of The Eternity Cure is pretty disappointing. It doesn't convey the feel of the story at all.
The world of The Immortal Rules feels darker than the world of the Iron Fey, but I love them both. Really, it would only make sense for vampires to take over the world if they actually existed, what with the way of nature and all. I wished I had a map to look at in the beginning - it would have been cool to see the Inner City and the Fringe and all of that drawn up. Everything was described very well, as I knew it would be.
The heroine the story follows, Allison, is everything an awesome leading lady should be. She's strong, resourceful and most of all, resilient. I loved her as a human, but I loved her as a vampire even more; reading about her external struggles with the rabids, the raiders, etc. was intense. Speaking of the rabids, they reminded me a lot of the Freaks from Enclave, a book I just finished not too long ago. Though the idea of these zombie-like things isn't exactly original, they really worked in this story, and I can say that I was genuinely creeped out by them. And, well, not just them but by a lot of things in general. The quote on the back, for example:
"Sometime in your life, Allison Sekemoto, you will kill a human being. The question is not if it will happen, but when. Do you understand?
I didn't then, not really.
I DO NOW."
Like I said, the action and the fighting were all good, but I also really liked reading about Allison's struggles with the Hunger and her new vampire body/abilities. I thought the explanations about how they functioned was very realistic (or you know, as realistic as fictional creatures can be). I also enjoyed the torment she went though in having become what she hated the most - it was good food for thought. I probably sound horrible, listing all the things I liked, and all of them centering around Allison's suffering in some way, lol.
The cast of characters were interesting. I didn't care enough about Lucas and Rat to feel bad when they (view spoiler), but after that, people started sticking around on a more permanent basis. I hated Jeb when we first met him, and I continue to now. I was surprised how much religion was an underlying theme in this novel, and I kind of disliked it, but it's to be expected when the world is going up in flames, I guess. I was also a little irritated about Ruth, who is portrayed as being a jealous overbearing shrew to Allison most of the time; I feel that characters that are constantly like that feel kind of flat.
My favorite character was Kanin; I loved the mystery surrounding him, and I was really sad when he exited stage left after maybe the first two hundred pages or so and didn't show up again. There's a lot more to find out about him, and I really hope he's in the sequel a lot more. The other guy to talk about is Zeke; I liked his character, and I think I could love him in the future, but for now I'm unsure. His romance with Allison was slow and believable and sweet, but it had nothing on Meghan and Ash's (I'm sorry, I can't not compare it). I've seen Team Zeke and Team Kanin buttons floating around, and though I'm eager to grab the latter, it confuses me a bit. Allison doesn't seem to have any romantic feelings towards Kanin - it's supposed to be like a father thing, I guess? But who knows, maybe that'll change (can't say I'd be against the idea). I'm super excited for The Eternity Cure and can't wait to get my hands on it.
4.5 stars
Books in this series:
1. The Immortal Rules
2. The Eternity Cure
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