The Immortal Rules

The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Being that I was introduced to the world of Fantasy and Science Fiction YA books by vampires, I still have a soft spot for their stories. This made it easy and instinctive for me to want to read this book. That and the fact that it was written by one of my favorite authors. Many people believe that the vampire created and portrayed in so many ways that it's impossible for it to be unique any longer. Julie Kagawa took a risk by fighting these thoughts, and it sure paid off.

Let's get straight to the point here. These vampires are bloodsuckers, and they must feed on human blood for survival. No one sparkles, and they all monsters. But according to the very wise Kanin, "There will come a time when the road before you splits, and you must decide your path. Will you choose to become a demon with a human face, or will you fight to become a demon until the end of time, knowing you will forever struggle alone?"

Allison Sekemoto is an Unregistered living in the Fringe of a vampire city. The advantage of this is that she doesn't have to answer to any vamps or their pets, doesn't have to go to the regular bloodletting. This also means that she is not provided with food, and she resorts to living with a few other teenagers in a "gang" to scavenge for food and for survival.

One day when her gang leaves the boundaries of the city in an attempt to retrieve a large store of food, they are attacked by the ravaging rabids. As Allie lies dying as a result the assault, a vampire known as Kanin offers her a choice. Death, or death and another chance to "live." Of course she picks the latter, and the show must go on.

When Allison ends up on her own, she eventually joins a group of humans where her struggle to remain as human as possible begins. But she will always be a monster.

I don't want to spoil anything, since that wouldn't be fun for anyone, so I'll just say that this story is one to remember. The internal struggle is just as thrilling as the ever so present action scenes. The mechanics of living life as a vampire are flawless and completely unique, as well as the concept of creating rabids. The only aspect that I didn't like was the times spent traveling and searching for food. Although I know it's essential and needs to be included, I've read a bunch of books where that's all it consists of and now it will get on my nerves in the slightest doses. So most everyone else will likely not be bothered by this.

And, as always, I must make a comment on the leading man of the book. Ezekiel. Stay strong. The odds will be overcome...hopefully. If the sequel to this comes out on NetGalley, you can bet that I will be requesting it :).

Highly recommended.

View all my reviews