Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa

The Immortal Rules (Blood of Eden)
Synopsis:
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.



My thoughts:
When I started reading this, it reminded me of the world Lauren Oliver created in Delirium mixed with the world Lauren Hammond created in Famished. So I liked it right off the bat. This is a society where humans are basically enslaved by vampires. But the ones who refuse to give in, like Allison, are starving and fighting to survive. Between the vampires and the rabids, death is all around Allison and her gang. And when Allison is almost killed by rabids, a vampire by the name of Kanin gives her the choice to become immortal. Kanin teaches Allison about being a vampire, but she's separated from Kanin when other vampires attack them. Allison finds a group of humans searching for Eden, a rumored place where rabids and vampires don't exist. But Allison has to keep her true identity a secret from them. After all, she's the bad guy as far as they're concerned.
I won't spoil the story and tell you what happens. Instead, I'll say Allison is very likable. Her struggle to keep some of her humanity makes her endearing. I really enjoyed this book, though the one downside for me was a lot of description. I know it's part of world-building, but I prefer to leave some things to the reader's imagination. That's just my personal preference though. And I heard this is being made into a movie. I'll be interested to see it.


Just for fun:
Allison is given the choice to die or become a vampire, the very thing she hates most. What would you do given that choice?

28 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  2. Sounds like an interesting book. I'm pretty sure I'd pick survival over death. Where there's "life" there's hope, right? Do vampires count as being alive?

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    1. Technically no, but I know what you mean. ;) And that's exactly how Allison feels in the story.

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  3. Humans being controlled by vampires sounds pretty terrifying. I think this would actually scare me to read, which is a good thing, since I am not easily scared!

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    1. It's really not that scary, but the world Kagawa creates is very realistic--wait, I guess that is scary. LOL

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  4. I wonder sometimes, Kelly, if you have nightmares? I confess to loving dark tales - always have-- but they slip into my nighttime life. I don't know about becoming a vampire. I do like the idea of not needing as much sleep the endless learning potential, but I fear I am giving way to the modern day notion of vampires. I can't answer your question because I think I'd rather be a witch, with the potential for goodness. Fair?

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    1. LOL. Brenda, you always break the rules and I love that! :) I'd rather be a witch, too. In the book, vampires do need sleep, though. And, yes, I do have nightmares on occasion.

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  5. Another nice review. It's a little different than the types of books I read.

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    1. This was the first vampire book I've read in a while. It's definitely got a different spin on the whole vampire thing, though.

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  6. I've never read a vampire novel. I'm not sure what I'd think of one. It sounds intriguing, but weird. :)

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    1. LOL. Not everyone's in to vampire books. I still haven't read a mermaid book. I can't seem to get myself into one.

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  7. I think I'd have to just request a quick and relatively painless death. Living forever sounds cool but there's so many rules and all that murdering and being hunted and losing your soul doesn't sound fun at all.

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  8. I'd definitely choose to die and go to heaven :)

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  9. I'm not too fond of stories about vampires, but you did a great job on the review. I don't even like to think about having to make a decision between death and being a vampire...one is as bad as the other to me.

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    1. I love hearing everyone's opinions on this topic. You make great points, Nancy.

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  10. You did an excellent job on this review. I think it is great that the main character is so likeable. The story sounds interesting and what you said about description made me think.

    ~Jess

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  11. The last time I read a vampire book, I was 14 and it was ... uhm ... Romance. I'm probably with Ellen, survive first then figure out the rest. 'Humans are blood cattle' gave me the chills.

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  12. What an interesting choice! I think I'd choose death over being what is destroying humanity, though. Seems like a selfish choice, unless you have a specific reason to stay alive, hm?

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    1. It is interesting. Everyone has such different answers, too. :)

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  13. Very nice review. As for choosing to be a vampire, I don't know. They're not my favorite "people" and to think of eternal life living on blood. Maybe not.

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  14. This sounds like a great read. I'm with you about the over-description.

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  15. Great review. I enjoyed The Immortal Rules too. I can't wait to read the sequel, as I want to see how much of her 'humanity' she holds onto the longer she's a vamp...having said that some of the humans in this world aren't exactly humane!

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    1. Oh, I know. Some of the humans she encounters are worse than the vampires and rabids put together. LOL

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