{Book Review} THE IMMORTAL RULES by Julie Kagawa

The Immortal Rules
by Julie Kagawa (blog, twitter, facebook)
Publication Date: April 24, 2012
Publisher: Harlequin TEEN
Format: ebook, 504pp
Age Range: 14 years+
Series: Blood of Eden Series, #1
Genre: YA Paranormal, Dystopian
Source: Received from NetGalley.
Buy: Barnes and Noble | Amazon

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.

*flails around, screaming* This. Was. The. Definition. Of. Badassery. I have a hard time believe anyone could not like this book. I can't put it into words about how different this was from her Iron Fey series. Not bad different, believe me. I have nothing bad to say about this piece.

Julie Kagawa didn't fail me with this one. That's for damn sure. Before this book, I was about done with vampire books. Like, almost completely wiping them off my genre criteria. But when I heard that she was writing a vamp book, I couldn't resist the hella strong urge to pick this book up. (Even thought I got this as a eBook through NetGalley. <3 Thanks NG, I love you.) Julie developed basically a whole new breed of vampires that definitely do not sparkle. They drain you, not become besties with you. Like most YA books that have even one vampire in it. -__- It was like taking a breath of fresh air. <3

I loved how she came up with the rabids too. I'll be damned if that's not what caused the nightmare I had when I went to sleep after I finished TIR. (I shit you not. I almost woke up screaming. *shudders*) Those things are basically have all the killer works. Something I definitely do not want to run into when I'm taking a nice walk out at night.

The scenery in this book was insanely awesome. I could picture a combination of, like...Priest and Silent Hill together. (Minus the gore from SH. x_x) The action in it was so vivid, I had to reread over some parts, it was that intense.

The character development in this was amazing. Every character almost has their own kickass trait. Except for maybe Ruth. *recoils in disgust* Allison Sekemoto has to be one of the most badass heroines out there in the YA lit world, as for as I'm concerned. With her being a vampire, and wielding that katana, just screams that she could drop your ass like a dime in less than five seconds flat. Aside from her skill to take someone down, I seriously loved her personality; brave, independent, courageous, kind when she wants to be(which was rarer than red steak). She takes nothing from anybody. And she has a mouth on her like a viper. ;3 I love her.

Her mentor, Kanin, was my second favorite character, since Allison was totally my first--which is rare, because I hardly ever pick the heroine out of a book as my favorite character. Kanin was so incredibly mysterious and...and...brooding. So much so, I don't even think I saw a description for his hair. (Which bugs the ever lovin' noodles out of me.) Though, him not taking any crap from Allison just makes him all the more awesome. I'm tired of mentors or teachers or whatever going easy on their "students." It's almost borderline pathetic. I think I almost had a heart attack when got taken away. I think I almost let a tear shed. But I didn't let it fall because I thought, that cannot be the last we see of him.

And Zeke, being as cool and skilled as he is, I didn't find him to be the most perfect match for Allison that I thought he would be. Sure, he's awesome, no doubt. But (and it's stated in the book) he's sees the good in everything. But it's not like I don't like him for Allison, I do. I'm just saying that Allison...is what she is, and Zeke is so...pure and good. xD They're complete opposites. Then, when shit hit the fan, he got down to business. Aside from that, I definitely loved him. <333 (What's not to love? Blonde, blue eyes, lean muscles, and scars. They're sexy.) I hated Ruth, the nosy bitch. So there's not much to say on her. And I didn't like Jeb either, so I'm pretty content with how things turned out. ;)

JK had me in awe with writing this little precious. The level of badassery is so high, I cannot even comprehend. She can definitely make that happen, with her wicked world building skills. I loved every moment of this book, and do not regret not waiting for the release date, and savoring it with everybody else. xD I'M GREEDY, AND I CAN'T HELP IT. I read this within one sitting, and couldn't believe my eyes when I finished it. YOU DUN IT AGAIN, KAGAWA. This has to be the longest review I've written so far.

Also, the sneak peak of The Iron Prince wasn't anything like I imaginied it would be. I'm going to like Ethan Chase...

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