Review: The Immortal Rules - Julie Kagawa

Release Date: April 24th, 2012
Harcover: 485 pages
Publisher: Harlequin

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.

The Immortal Rules was everything I expected to be: completely enthralling! After reading and loving The Iron Fey series, you can't help but expect something grandiose from this great author. Julie Kagawa's new series doesn't disappoint, as she once again delivers a novel with a great premise and wonderfully written characters. If I had any doubts about the all-new Blood of Eden series, they completely disappeared after finishing The Immortal Rules.

The main character Allison lives in a post-apocalyptic world, which is overrun by Vampires. Both humans and vampires are at the brink of extinction since Rabiddism infected Vampires and humans alike. Allison and her "friends" live in the fringe, one of the outer circles of one vampire city, where they have to scavenge for food, clothes and other necessities. In this society the humans are controlled and abused by these monsters, having to donate blood and work in their city.

The Immortal Rules is divided in four parts. In the first one we get to know Allison as a human and her friends. It ends when one day they go searching for food in the dangerous ruins and are attacked by Rabids. Allison is given the choice: to become a vampire or die. As a surviver, there is no doubt that Allison decides to become a vampire, even though these monster are the very thing she despises the most. Each part marks an important milestone/transition in her journey. From human, to vampire, then to monster and finally to wanderer.

Kagawa once again accomplished to write captivating characters, each relatable in their own way. Allison was a really strong character, who after living in such regrettable situation rather mistrusts everyone and cares mostly for herself. Or that is what she wants to believe because despite trying, she still wants to hold on to her humanity and have friends. I found her struggle in being a monster, something she despises, really interesting and well-written; Kagawa's writing enables us to connect with Allison and experience her feelings and changes really well. But even the secondary characters had their appeal. I found myself loving every and each character Kagawa threw my way in The Immortal Rules. Kanim (Allison's creator) and Zeke being my favorite ones! Can't wait to get to know more about them both!

I loved the plot the best. If are also like me, and had enough of vampire novels, be assured that Kagawa's latest novel is a surprising breath of fresh air to this popular genre.The idea of dividing this book in four parts so that we get to experience the main character's different facades was really innovative. And the romance is not in the foreground of the story, which is another plus. Zeke and Allison's romance was sweet and full of twists and turns. If you found out the person you like is a vampire, would that change the way you see her, even though she is still the same "person"?

Kagawa's writing is still one of the best there is and in my opinion it only gets better and better with every new novel. I have to admit that I'm now an even bigger fan of Julie Kagawa and her work; for now I know that her writing has many sides to it. If you are a fan of Julie Kagawa, you will be surprised by her more mature writing and fresh premise: post-apocalyptic meets vampires!

With that said, I can't wait to get my hands on the sequel of this fantastic novel.The Immortal Rules has it all: surpense, action, drama, amazing characters and a bad-ass protagonist who wields a katana! If you enjoy dystopia and vampire titles, this one is a must-read!

A big thanks to Harlequin and Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read and review this fantastic book.

Julie Kagawa was born in Sacramento, California. But nothing exciting really happened to her there. So, at the age of nine she and her family moved to Hawaii. Her love of reading led her to pen some very dark and gruesome stories, complete with colored illustrations, to shock her hapless teachers. The gory tales faded with time, but the passion for writing remained, long after she graduated and was supposed to get a real job. To pay the rent, Julie worked in different bookstores over the years, but discovered the managers frowned upon her reading the books she was supposed to be shelving.   For more on Julie: Website / Twitter